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Frequently
Asked Questions
A&R, Artist Development and
Consulting
How do I get my music
ministry started?
I feel alone in this, can you help?
Will you listen to my demo?
What can I do to get more bookings?
I want to do this as my career, how can I do it unsigned?
Can you help someone get signed?
Someone
has offered me a record contract, should I sign it?
Does Creative Soul sign
artists?
Do you offer consulting on music production, songwriting,
etc.?
How do I sell my songs?
How do I copyright my songs?
How do I know I'm good enough?
What is the best way to contact people in the music
business?
Studio Production
Why should I record a CD?
Will you produce me and/or my music?
How much does it cost?
Who will play the instruments for my production?
Where will we record?
Why is recording in Nashville different than recording
in my home area?
How do I become a music producer?
Music Services
Where can I get better
original songs?
What if I have songs but need arrangement help?
Can you write melodies to my lyrics?
I'm a musician, but want to get better, can you
help?
General
Where are you located?
Who are you? What do you believe?
Other Topics
I have a CD recorded.
Can you help me promote/distribute it?
We just want to get signed, how do we do that?
How
do I get my music ministry started?
First you need to make sure of two
things:
Is your talent ready? Had God made
it clear, both by what your friends, family, and peers say and
on the advice of several professionals, that your talent needs
to be heard?
Secondly, do you feel God's call do
enter into ministry through your music? Has His voice been unmistakable
and have you sought counsel on this?
If those determining factors are strong,
then starting a music ministry is easy. First you need to begin
sharing your talent. You can do this through the music team at
your church, singing or playing at local churches and functions,
and beginning to work very seriously on your craft.
Then when your beginning to get requested
back at churches and known as a music ministry, you can begin
to think about expanding by recording a CD to help support and
bring legitimacy to your ministry.
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I
feel alone in this, can you help?
Yes we can. Either as your producer
where we work with you in the studio, or as a music ministry coach,
we can walk with you through each step of your music ministry
journey. We care about your ministry and want to see you succeed.
Our production rates are generally $500 per day, and we can also
work with you as a consultant by the day or on a month to month
basis. For more on production click here.
For more on our consulting, click here.
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Will
you listen to my demo?
We do accept demos, but truly have
a very limited time to listen. We'd much rather get an email with
a link to a site where demos are posted. If you'd like a professional
demo critique, we offer consulting services that will help you
decide where your songs are from a developmental standpoint. Click
here to find out more about
our demo consulting services.
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What
can I do to get more bookings?
First, begin asking pastors, friends,
and family what churches they know of and begin to get a list
of referrals to begin calling. This alleviates having to call
"cold". You can call the church or pastor and tell them you were
referred by someone they know. This makes that first call easier.
Check out Dawn
Jones' "Booking Workshop". It's a step by step guide to
learn how to effectively have yourself booked as much as you want
to be.
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I
want to do this as my career, how can I do it?
The key is determination, the ability
to sell product and demand concert fees, bookings, and smart marketing.
Determination: Having the will to
see things through. Staying with your music when the going gets
tough. Thinking of yourself as a creative, ministering person
for life. That in 20 years, you will still be doing this
work.
Product Sales: This will mostly be
CDs in a music ministry, but could also include DVDs, T-shirts,
Hats, 8x10s, etc. While there will be some expense to produce
your CD and other items, the profit from these is usually very
good and perpetuates making more product.
Concert Fees: As a working musician,
this is your bread and butter. These can rise from nothing to
a Love Offering to a rate based on church or function size.
Bookings: This will be your main job.
You'll need to be out ministering if you expect this to support
you. Successful booking comes from referrals, calling, and word
of mouth. You can long for raido exposure, distribution to stores,
and publicity. But all those cost money, and on an independent
scale usually about break even. But consistent bookings almost
always result in income for your ministry, product sales, and
the most important thing: ministering to the world with your gifts.
Smart Marketing: Make inexpensive
buttons, flyers, cards, and pictures to give away to guide people
to your web site even if they didn't buy anything at the concert.
Make free singles with only a few songs, for people to give to
friends. Anything you can do to get people interested and checking
your ministry out.
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Can
you help someone get signed?
The business of music is changing.
Are you sure you even want to be signed to a large label deal?
Many artists are leaving the major
label fold because they have just found they can make a better
living and have more creative freedom.
Getting a record company to sign you
means that you have something they think can sell, that they can
be successful with, and will put you to work for them. They look
for incredible talent, communication skills with an audience,
A Christian heart, very strong current fan base, and how many
CDs you've already sold and are selling regularly. If any of these
things are lacking, most labels will not be interested.
There's kind of a joke right
now that the kind of artists the labels are most looking for,
are the artists who don't need a label.
Our goal with any artist we consult
with, work for, or bring into our organization, is to build a
strong music ministry, with quality products, that can minister
to a hurting world. The end result being a ministry that can walk
down any road that God puts in front of them. Major label, indie
label, or just getting out there to do God's work.
We have had artists negotiate and get
signed to label deals after working with us and improving their
music, ministry, and quality. Many more though have had national
and worldwide radio airplay, distribution, and touring success
as a result of the work we have done together.
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Someone
has offered me a record contract, should I sign it?
A few questions to think about if a
company offers you a record deal...
Q) Have they met you in person? Or
have they met and offered this to you online or on the phone?
A) No reputable record company is going
to give anyone they haven't met in person any kind of real deal.
Run, this is a scam.
Q) Have they offered tens of thousands
of dollars 'investment' in return for a few thousand of yours?
A) Do you REALLY think that it works
this way? Run, this is a scam.
Q) Are they located in the Nashville
area?
A) Most Christian labels that offer
anything close to a national recording deal are located in the
Nashville, TN area.
If you work with Creative Soul, it
will only be after we have sat down here in in person here in
Nashville, at a reputable studio, and spoken at length about your
music, your ministry, and we've both had time to continue to communicate
and pray after this meeting.
Does
Creative Soul sign artists?
We provide very high-end artist development,
production, and promotion services for Christian artists.
We offer the Creative
Soul Records services umbrella to the artists we develop
and produce. Our label brand is well-known and respected inside
the Christian music industry through a multitude of national radio
singles, national press releases, and hundreds of thousands of
CDs sold worldwide. Click here to contact
us about how we get started with all new artists...
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Do
you offer consulting on music production, songwriting, or just
what my best course is in music?
We have many clients that say, "Wow,
if I had only met you years ago, I wouldn't have spun my wheels
and I would have spent my money more wisely."
What we now offer is consulting based
on what you need. We can have you visit us here in Nashville,
consult online, or on the phone. For a price that works for the
both of us. This is done on a case by case basis. Click
here to find out more about this now.
If you are a songwriter and need great
demos of your songs, we have been high quality creating masters
and arrangements for 20 years for folks just like you. Check
out our publishing company From the Moment Music here.
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How
do I sell my songs?
You never sell your songs. If you wrote
them, no one should ever ask about "buying" your songs.
You own the publishing rights. Now,
you may co-publish with someone if they want to publish your song.
You still should get 50% in signing the song to the publisher.
We recommend the Songwriter's Market
to any writer with questions about this. You can find it in most
larger book stores.
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How
do I copyright my songs?
Go to The Library of Congress and the
US
Copyright Office.
Here you will find all the forms
in downloadable form to send your songs to be officially copyrighted.
Please make sure you copyright your
songs with the US Copyright office before sending them to us.
You can also copyright "collections"
of song to save money.
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How
do I know I'm good enough?
This is perhaps the hardest question
of them all.
Do people say you have an extraordinary
gift?
Do you love to make music and play
it for others?
Do you have talent in one area of music,
and know that if the right "other half" would come along,
you'd have something really special?
All these are reasons to pursue music
as a hobby, vocation, or dream. But only you can decide if this
is where you need to be or where God wants you.
If you are not committed to putting
time, effort, money, and practice in, then maybe it's not for
you.
But if you have a burning desire to
make music, and make it part of you, then do it. Make it your
life. Make your goal to improve, to learn, to grow, and to dream.
No one is ever there...music is a journey.
And it is important in this work to be able to enjoy that journey.
Making a living in music is an up and down roller coaster ride.
But in some ways, you don't choose music as a life, music chooses
you.
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What's
the best way to contact people in the music business?
Email is a good way, but read
this article from CDBaby before you do. It can make the difference
how people perceive your music (or if they even read it at all!)
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Why
should I make a CD/DVD?
Having a product allows you to leave
a part of your ministry at every function or service you appear
at. It also serves as a ministry tool on its own long after you
have ministered in person.
The biggest reason for making a project
is to have a product to sell and to generate income for your ministry.
While money should not be your motivating factor in this, it is
important to have some income to put back into the ministry.
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Will
you produce me and/or my music?
Understand that Creative Soul is a
"for hire" music production company. Also understand,
we are looking for Christians who are serious and truly want to
use their talent for the Lord in the way He has for them.
We work to help you create a commercially
viable music product that will sell and support your music and
ministry.
We work strictly on a "for hire"
basis. We do not work for free or in hopes of you becoming "famous"
or getting a recording contract with a large label.
Is it possible you might "make
it big" after working with us? Well, that's ultimately up
to God, you and your songs.
But we definitely can help you get
the next level, whether that means from "home-produced"
to pro studio, or from dream to reality.
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How
much does it cost?
Creative Soul is specifically the artist
development and production arm of Creative Soul Records. Everything
we do for artists is designed for national and international marketplace
success (including radio, stores, publicity, television, etc),
this is not a bargain basement studio approach. Remember:
- Our process is a full service
package include consulting, writing, arranging, complete
studio, music, and vocal production, plus photos, design,
and guiding the process from songs to CDs coming to your door.
- We are working with the
very best that the Christian music industry here in Nashville
as to offer.
- And our results
are quantifiable.
This kind of quality can
easily cost $1000-2000 per song.
When we work at a studio
for writing, recording, or mixing, or use other musicians and
engineers, you pay the cost of studio time, engineers, and musicians
as needed.
The good news is you pay
as you go, and you can pay in increments instead of having to
come up with a huge sum all at once.
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Who
will play the instruments for my production?
We have access to the
finest musicians in Nashville. No matter what your budget
is, you can be assured that we will find the best players and
singers in Christian Music. And these are musicians who may be
in the studio for a major label artist one day, and in your session
the next. Just working with these folks will help you grow to
be a better artist (and you'll laugh alot too).
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Where
will we record?
Throughout Nashville and all the outlying
areas, like Franklin, there are literally hundreds of studios
to choose from. Depending on what needs to be done, what your
budget is, and what's available, we could be working in a beautiful
multi-million dollar facility, a custom-built set of studios on
a horse farm, or a professional room in a home recording space.
Wherever we choose, you'll be treated to years of experience as
well as the best equipment and engineers.
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Why
is recording in Nashville different than recording in my home
area?
Well, if you've been reading, you probably
know the answer to this. Just by working in the studios with the
producers, engineers, and musicians, you get to learn alot more
than you would in your local studio. But more than that, being
in Nashville, you'll feel the synergy of being with people than
can help you grow as an artist. Recording here makes it easy to
meet with distributors, publicists, songwriters, label folks,
non-label folks, and much more.
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Where
can I get better original songs?
We can write quality songs for you
in your style, based on your personal thoughts and ministry. Clients
find this to be a VERY effective service. It gives you fresh,
original songs tailored just for your voice and style. We can
also work with your songs, helping to add a more commercial feel,
or help you get it to the next level. For
examples, take a listen to our music samples...
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What
if I have songs but need arrangement help?
We can develop an arrangement that
fits you individually, and with the additions of the best Christian
musicians in the world, it will sound even better! This has been
our major business for 15 years. For examples,
take a listen to our music samples...
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Can
you write melodies to my lyrics?
We call this co-writing. Since we charge
for our time, we will be happy to co-write with you, but there
will be a charge for our time. Do not mistake this charge
for a common bit of bad practice in the music business. You should
never pay anyone to put music to your lyrics. But usually co-writing
and arranging go hand in hand sometimes too, so it all kind of
melds together in the project. For
more information about this kind of service, check
out our songwriters services at our publishing site.
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I'm
a musician, but want to get better, can you help?
By being brave enough to step out of
your comfort zone and come to Nashville, you WILL get better.
You may go home feeling like you are not as good as other musicians
here, but hopefully, you will learn and grow from the experience.
You can't help it. "Tribulation brings about perseverance;
and (through) perseverance, proven character." Romans 5:3-4. It's
OK to feel like you need to work to be better.
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Where
are you located?
We use offices and studios located
in Franklin, TN, just south of Nashville, Tennessee. As you'll
see, most of the Christian music industry resides in Franklin.
Most all of our consulting, development, and production work will
be done here, although we often work in Nashville, on Music Row
and elsewhere.
We have many studios at our disposal,
from pre-production studios to major recording facilities, all
to ensure you get a quality project no matter what budget you
may be working with.
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Who
are you? What Do You Believe?
Good question. Read about who we are,
read our mission statement, and read what we believe in our About
Us section.
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I
have a CD recorded. Can you help me promote/distribute it?
We do offer a full artists promotion
service through our label services company Creative Soul Records,
but our quality standards are extremely high. Check out our label
side at Creative
Soul Records.
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