Hey Mark, I’m really intrigued by this idea of “releasing” on DISCO. Are you personally cold pitching, or maybe a mixture of that with established contacts you’ve made in sync?
I’ve hardly ever heard of artists finding success independently with this but you’ve caught my attention. Thanks!
DISCO is just a "base location" for my recordings. Because I switched the main focus for my new recordings to licensing, DISCO is a necessary component.
When a recording, or a collection of recordings, is completed, I can upload it to DISCO and apply all the usual description, metadata, genres, etc. While at DISCO, the recording can be classified it as an "album", put in a "channel", and/or I can create "playlists" to broadcast these recordings to existing licensing libraries I've been feeding, or new libraries I want to attract. I've also opted for DISCO's "Discovery Suite", which allows people on the library/supervisor side to search for works for possible licensing opportunities.
Yes, I'm pitching existing and new libraries using DISCO. I have a separate Airtable database with a list of libraries. My wife does research on all of them, and crafts high level details for me to review prior to deciding whether to pitch them.
Simultaneously, I'm putting this same music in stock (micro-sync) libraries. I'm in Pond5 and some others.
If recordings aren't interested by the existing libraries I work with, ignored by prospective libraries, or not "discovered" in Discovery Suite, then they'll be considered for release to DSPs and Bandcamp at some point.
I know of a lot of recording artists who are doing quite well with this kind of process. They aren't chasing streaming services. They don't want to be a "name". They don't want to play live or go on tour. They're older. Have families.
It does take time to build up those relationships with libraries. It's a lot of work. It's a lot of "process thinking". Any payment is way off in the future, not guaranteed, and generally unknown.
What attracts me the most to this process is the ability to regularly create new sounds and to try to find a home for them. I have a very high output. At this point, I feel like the creative well will never run dry. There's no need to chase the muse because it's always there.
What a generous response. Thanks, man. This is super interesting…
As it pertains to my artist project (which is in the indie/alt-pop world), I’ve had only mild success with sync over the years, working non-exclusively with a few companies for pitching and also doing work with libraries as a composer or session singer. I signed exclusively with a company like 3 years ago and have gotten zero placements, so I’m considering next moves.
All this to say, I’ve done a similar hustle to what you’re describing in the more traditional music mgmt sense (pr, marketing, booking, etc) for years and at the end of the day, my greatest asset is my unreleased catalog of hundreds of songs (the catalyst for my newsletter actually) and to imagine them living somewhere off my hard drive where they could potentially get placed or repurposed seems super smart.
You are absolutely on the right track. While I've released to DSPs over the past 20 years, I did nothing with stock or sync - a big mistake on my part. I did opt-in some music to licensing offers through Harry Fox Agency and Music Reports and that's done well.
Right now, I'm busy with getting my catalog onto DISCO, Pond5, and other platforms. It is a grind, but it doesn't do anything sitting on a hard drive.
Hey Mark, I’m really intrigued by this idea of “releasing” on DISCO. Are you personally cold pitching, or maybe a mixture of that with established contacts you’ve made in sync?
I’ve hardly ever heard of artists finding success independently with this but you’ve caught my attention. Thanks!
Good question.
DISCO is just a "base location" for my recordings. Because I switched the main focus for my new recordings to licensing, DISCO is a necessary component.
When a recording, or a collection of recordings, is completed, I can upload it to DISCO and apply all the usual description, metadata, genres, etc. While at DISCO, the recording can be classified it as an "album", put in a "channel", and/or I can create "playlists" to broadcast these recordings to existing licensing libraries I've been feeding, or new libraries I want to attract. I've also opted for DISCO's "Discovery Suite", which allows people on the library/supervisor side to search for works for possible licensing opportunities.
Yes, I'm pitching existing and new libraries using DISCO. I have a separate Airtable database with a list of libraries. My wife does research on all of them, and crafts high level details for me to review prior to deciding whether to pitch them.
Simultaneously, I'm putting this same music in stock (micro-sync) libraries. I'm in Pond5 and some others.
If recordings aren't interested by the existing libraries I work with, ignored by prospective libraries, or not "discovered" in Discovery Suite, then they'll be considered for release to DSPs and Bandcamp at some point.
I know of a lot of recording artists who are doing quite well with this kind of process. They aren't chasing streaming services. They don't want to be a "name". They don't want to play live or go on tour. They're older. Have families.
It does take time to build up those relationships with libraries. It's a lot of work. It's a lot of "process thinking". Any payment is way off in the future, not guaranteed, and generally unknown.
What attracts me the most to this process is the ability to regularly create new sounds and to try to find a home for them. I have a very high output. At this point, I feel like the creative well will never run dry. There's no need to chase the muse because it's always there.
What a generous response. Thanks, man. This is super interesting…
As it pertains to my artist project (which is in the indie/alt-pop world), I’ve had only mild success with sync over the years, working non-exclusively with a few companies for pitching and also doing work with libraries as a composer or session singer. I signed exclusively with a company like 3 years ago and have gotten zero placements, so I’m considering next moves.
All this to say, I’ve done a similar hustle to what you’re describing in the more traditional music mgmt sense (pr, marketing, booking, etc) for years and at the end of the day, my greatest asset is my unreleased catalog of hundreds of songs (the catalyst for my newsletter actually) and to imagine them living somewhere off my hard drive where they could potentially get placed or repurposed seems super smart.
You are absolutely on the right track. While I've released to DSPs over the past 20 years, I did nothing with stock or sync - a big mistake on my part. I did opt-in some music to licensing offers through Harry Fox Agency and Music Reports and that's done well.
Right now, I'm busy with getting my catalog onto DISCO, Pond5, and other platforms. It is a grind, but it doesn't do anything sitting on a hard drive.