Posts Tagged ‘Publisher’

Lisnmusic Publisher Profile: Ethereal Motion

Monday, November 28th, 2011

Ethereal Motion is the personal music project of Scott Ross, an accomplished recording engineer/producer/composer based in Seattle. The sounds and songs of Ethereal Motion blend melodic grooves, real drums, live drum loops, tasteful keyboard layers and real horn sections. Here’s what Scott had to say when we caught up with him for a chat…

Ethereal has a diverse catalogue of music – how would you describe the style(s) of music you release?
I record and produce in a large variety of styles, including rock/hard rock, jazz, new age, pop, dance etc. Most of my songs are instrumental, as I am predominantly a horn player (sax and trumpet).

What is your musical background?
I’ve been playing the saxophone (alto and tenor) for many years now, along with the clarinet. I picked up the trumpet about 10 years ago, as I wanted to be my own horn section!!

How would you describe the style(s) of music you make? Do you focus on any specific instruments or equipment in your work?
Being a horn player, a lot of my music tends to have big horn sections and be more pop/jazz oriented. I own a commercial recording studio in Seattle, WA, so I use the studio as a home base for all my personal recording.

Ethereal Motion – Lisn Music Sampler by LisnMusic

Do you have plans to bring other artists into your publishing company?
When I can’t play the various instruments the way I want, I’ll bring in other people (drummer, bassist, guitarist etc.) to enhance my songs and add a little variety.

What are your biggest achievements in the synchronisation industry so far?
As a recording studio owner, engineer and producer (see Elliott Bay Recording Company), I have recorded over 500 songs for Muzak, and 150 for Pioneer America, which have been played all over the world in restaurants, airports, on hold music etc. My own music has played on various reality shows, indie productions, radio spots etc.

When creating music what is your inspiration? Do you make music with specific ideas and projects in mind?
When I start a new song, I generally don’t have a specific idea in mind! I’ll start with an idea, go somewhere with it, and it generally changes many times before it’s finished. I might start out trying to do a hard rock song, and in the end it will have a complete horn section and be more of a pop jazz song!

Do you have any specific goals for the future?
I will continue to produce music for the rest of my life. It’s my life’s work and my hobby. I enjoy producing and engineering for other artists and I certainly like working on my own music too. I continue to try to get my music out into the world!

Anything else you would like us to know?
I’ve been producing and engineering for over 25 years now. I’ve recorded over 400 records for various artists around the world. 8 records have been certified gold so far. I’ve worked with a wide variety of artists throughout the years and will continue to do what I do for as long as possible.

To license music from the Ethereal Motion catalogue for TV, film, advertisement, game, corporate or other media projects please visit the Ethereal Motion page on Lisnmusic. If you are interested in Scott Ross from Ethereal Motion creating a bespoke composition please contact us.

If you’re an artist, record label or music publisher interested in licensing your music for media projects please get in touch to see how Lisnmusic can help you.

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Lisnmusic Publisher Profile: Aedan Sherry Publishing

Tuesday, June 28th, 2011

Nestled at the edge of the Mourne Mountains in Northern Ireland, Aedan Sherry doesn’t have to look far for inspiration. Through his music, he shares with us this inspiration. With his enrapturing, moving, evolving melodies and creative beats and rhythms, you can get lost in Aedans playful compositions. With over 14 years experience in writing music, his tracks convey happiness, optimism and more! Aedan works in several styles and genres, including Electronica, Dance, Chill Out, Alternative, and Electro.

View and listen to Aedan Sherry’s catalogue on the Lisnmusic website.

What is your musical background?
Apart from being sent to accordion lessons when I was younger, I would say I’m mostly a self taught musician. I think my love for music probably began unconsciously throughout all those years of growing up at home to the background score of my Dad’s record collection. I would be playing with colourful toy bricks and building little wooden train tracks to the score of Vivaldi or the Beatles or even Kraftwerk. So I’m sure I’ve been influenced right from the beginning to have an ear for music. Also there was the Playstation era where I did nothing but play games for hours on end providing me with a soundtrack of mixed musical genres and styles from right across the globe. I could be playing Final Fantasy for an hour or two with its wonderfully melodic Japanese instrumentals, then later I could switch to Tony Hawks Skateboarding and be listening to the Ramones’ Blitzkrieg Bop. So I definitely wasn’t left short for inspiration.

Things really started to evolve for me when I received a music sequencing game for the Playstation (Music/Music 2000). At last I could sit and create a whole song from scratch using my own melodies, beats and rhythms. I got lost in a world of composition which continues right to this present day. The love never dies.

Aeden Sherry – Lisnmusic Sampler by LisnMusic

How would you describe the style(s) of music you make? Do you focus on any specific instruments or equipment in your work?
My style varies a lot. I could be working on an orchestral piece for a week or 2 and when I’m done I could move straight into a trance or electronic tune for my next project. It all depends on how I’m feeling when I start writing. If I had to categorise my style or styles I would say I mostly work in electronica and in its many forms (electronica, ambient, dance, trance, break-beat, IDM), then in orchestral and then in world music. A lot of the time when submitting music for synchronisation I am asked what bands or existing acts my musical style sounds similar to. I find that the most difficult question to answer as I feel my music usually doesn’t sound very similar to any of them!

Most of the time I won’t have a specific idea of what I want to create. Just a very strong urge to start creating. Sometimes I’ll start with a beat, sometimes a melody, and then build from there.

At the moment my computer is my studio. I always use the same software which consists of three or four electronic synths, one software drum machine and one sampler. I have all the sounds in there that I could ever possibly need. Real instruments, flowing strings, woodwinds, brass etc. right down to hard and heavy electronic leads, fat basses and thousands of individual drum hits which I use to compile my beats and rhythms.

What successes have you had in the music/synchronisation industry so far?
I’ve been writing music for about 14 – 15 years now but only decided about a year and a half ago to go full steam ahead into writing music for synchronisation . It took a little while before things got started for me. You need patience in this business! A wait of about six months ensued before I’d made my first sale. After that it became more of a weekly or fortnightly occurrence. I am now at the point where I’ve made nearly forty sales in total since I started. My biggest success in the industry so far has actually come from right here at Lisn Music where I’ve had a song synced into an American TV series, VP Challenge . So thanks for that Lisn! I’ve also had music placed in a couple of live theatre performances for the Open Learning Initiative and for the Colorado Children’s Hospital and just recently I’ve been asked to provide music for an up and coming free running online video project which I’m quite excited about. Also there were a few television sync opportunities I had to turn down due to conflicting contracts between libraries which was unfortunate, but it was still a boost to hear that my music had been successfully selected for use in sync for television here in the UK.

Have you been involved in any exciting projects?
I had a single released on iTunes about 3 years ago with a small label in the US. It was a one off project but it was still a cool experience. The label heard my track on Myspace and got in touch with me asking if they could put some lyrics down on it. I said yes and then 2-3 months later the track was released on iTunes. Even the local paper called round to my house, did an interview and had me on the front page of their music section. It was great!

What are your goals for the future?
My main goal for the future is to be able to continue writing and hopefully reach the point where I can write on a full time basis and support my family from my musical income. At the moment I’m only writing on a part-time basis which is enough to get some good music together but with a little more time I think I could produce something that little bit extra special. One personal goal of mine is to be the guy who writes the theme music for the coverage of the next world cup on the BBC or on ITV. Its in Brazil, and there’s plenty of musical culture to source inspiration from there! You never know, it might happen! But even just to be able to tell people that I write music for a living would be a nice feeling.

To license music from the Aedan Sherry Publishing catalogue for TV, film, advertisement, game, corporate or other media project please visit the Aedan Sherry page on Lisnmusic. If you are interested in Aedan Sherry creating a bespoke composition please drop us a line.

If you’re an artist interested in licensing your music for media projects please get in touch to see how Lisnmusic can help you.

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How To Submit Your Music to Lisnmusic for Placement in Adverts, TV and Film

Wednesday, April 13th, 2011

At Lisnmusic we’re always on the look out for great new music and to help you get your tracks licensed for use in advertisements, TV shows, films, computer games, viral campaigns, online marketing, corporate products and indents, and a whole load more of synchronisation opportunities. Read on to find out how to submit your music to Lisn.

Whether you’re an artist, a record label or a publisher Lisnmusic can represent your catalogue and actively promote it via our website and through the targeted briefs and pitching opportunities we receive. Our deal is weighted towards music creators with 60% of all license income being paid to our artists, labels and publishers. Our flexible approach means that your control which of your music we represent by uploading it directly to Lisn through your own private user area.

Submitting your music to Lisn couldn’t be simpler – simply send an email or get in touch via the contact page. When contacting us Lisn please include some information about your music style, any successes you have had to date including any synchronisations and don’t forget to include a link to somewhere we can hear your music online. After we’ve listened we’ll be back in touch with you.

Recently Lisnmusic and the artists we represent have had placements and pitches with clients including:

Max Factor / ESPN / CBS / Yell.com / VP Challenge (Las Vegas) / Tempo Tv Advert / ITV / North Shore Pictures / Loaded Dice Films / Burnley FC / Suzuki Swift / See Saw Films / Wrestlemania XXVII / Dreamscape Cinema / Tigerhouse films / Yum Yum / Youngs Branding / Leeds College of Film

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Publisher Profile: Christian Andersson

Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011

In the first of a new series of articles where we look in detail at our artist, label and publisher clients we caught up with Christian Andersson from Sweden, who holds a publisher account with Lisnmusic.

Listen to samples of music on Christian Andersson’s Lisnmusic page.

Swedish composer Christian Andersson recently received a scholarship from the Swedish Musicians’ Union for his unique artistic work. Starting music at an early age, he learned to play several instruments like the piano, recorder, trumpet, and guitar. His genres include Funk, Jazz, Rock, World, and Classical with a passion for huge orchestral arrangements perfect for films, trailers and video games where moods and styles vary from dark and epic orchestrations and spooky arrangements to bright and majestic.

Christian Andersson by LisnMusic

What is your musical background?
I grew up in a family where all family members were involved in music, so music has always been a big part of my everyday life. My mother was a professional musician, a piano teacher, so I learned to play the piano, recorder, trumpet and guitar pretty early. The harmonic knowledge from piano and guitar gave me some great possibilities to start writing my own music and also to try some really big orchestral compositions. In the 1990s, I started to produce music on my Amiga 500, and then I simply followed the technical evolution for home studios from primitive tools to today’s high-end professional virtual instruments and production software. Today, I have a home studio with professional studio equipment and a huge collection of the best virtual instruments available on the market.

How would you describe the style(s) of music you make? Do you focus on any specific instruments in your work?
I focus on melodic production music with an orchestral sound. For me, it’s really important with a strong melody, so I try to enrich my songs with interesting melodies that make them stand out from the average music producer. I believe (and hope) that this was one of the reasons why I was awarded a scholarship by the Swedish Musicians’ Union. For instrumentation in my orchestral pieces, I love the mighty brass sounds from French horns and also the cello sections playing a tense spiccato/marcato in orchestral arrangements. I also enjoy working with emotional solo instruments, for instance a melancholic and lonely Stradivarius violin or a soft and melodic fairy-tale-like harp.

What successes have you had in the music/synchronisation industry so far?
One of my songs was recently picked out by a major cable network for usage by 20 TV-channels. This was a great success, as it will (very likely) give good royalty payouts. Right now, I am also very close to sign a deal with a feature film production for one of my songs where a nice sync-fee will be paid out, and then there will be royalties on that.

Have you been involved in any exciting projects?
Last year, I wrote the complete sound track for a great online video game. I also licensed music to many of the emerging video games produced for the iTunes/Android market.

What are you goals for the future?
My artistic goal is to continuously develop my skills and find new interesting styles and musical figures. I also aim to double the size of my portfolio and to write at least 10 new epic orchestral style tracks during this year. My commercial goal for this year is to double the amount of film placements from last year and to triple the sale figures from last year. I have worked hard during the beginning of 2011 to establish some really serious business relations, and I feel that Lisnmusic is a great partner in this business, and I look forward to a great partnership and a common success.

Anything else you would like us to know?
I’d like to say something about my relation to music as a profession. I often think about that. I used to work as a software developer. But after having written my first big orchestral compositions, everything around engineering and technical stuff suddenly seemed very dull, dry and boring. For me, music is art and passion. When I have written a new song that feels perfect, I get tears in my eyes, and it’s almost like falling in love. I have never felt something like that when I constructed some great piece of software or engineering work, and I doubt that someone can feel like that for those technical things.

Music is something completely different. Once you start to write music and once you get this strong emotional connection, like a direct link to your soul, there is no turning back. I understand that I am now stuck with music forever, so I will continue to write music as long as I live. I often think about a Latin inscription, written by Tycho Brahe, a famous Danish astronomer: “Non faces nec opes, sola artis sceptra perennant”. It means: “Neither power nor wealth, only Art and Science will endure”, which very much applies to music as an art form.

So can music as art coexist with financial interests? For example: I need to write music that sells, not only music as “art”. Yes, I believe so, but it’s a constant struggle to find a good balance. I allow myself to sometimes forget about if the music will sell or not. That will often yield a piece with a variety of moods, but with a very high quality, interesting melodies, and great emotional content – a song that is really interesting as piece of music art, but not very commercial (because it has too much variety in moods). However, from those creations, I can often spawn some new commercial creations. For example, one of my songs – “Tales from the Forgotten Monastery” – would be hard to place commercially, but it gave me 2 very nice separate creations that I could break out from it – “Peaceful Thousand Oaks Forest” and “The Desecrated Sanctum” (and I have had great commercial success with “The Desecrated Sanctum”). So yes, I think that it’s possible to create true art, and that this will give some great opportunities to find and produce commercial elements from this art.

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