Independent artists: Are you searching for a unique way to display your talent for creative projects?

Wouldn’t it be great to be able to submit your songs or instrumental music in a way for individuals to hear your work-and license it for use in media?

Or wouldn’t it be helpful to have another option for your creative media project-something other than stock music?

indieTracks, a Boston based music library, offers solutions for both in a collection which categorizes music submissions from independent artists in an easy to use format.

According to the site, “indieTracks library contains a diverse collection of songs and instrumentals from over 100 independent bands, singer/songwriters, composers and other musical artists for placement in all forms of media. Right now the library includes 900 plus songs covering a vast range of styles, themes and production qualities, with new music added weekly”.

Not only innovative and creative: organized. One can browse using a customized search engine by keyword, genre, mood, instrumentation, tempo, era, length or production quality.

The company states that “The indieTracks artist agreement is completely non-exclusive. Basically, it gives us the right to represent and promote your music and you as an artist to music supervisors in the industry. In return, we will split any licensing fees we make off of your music with you 50/50. You keep all writers’ public performance fees, while we only keep the publishing royalties that are generated from usages licensed through indieTracks. If you plan to sell exclusive rights for a piece of your music, just let us know and if it’s not being licensed by one of our clients at the time, we can just remove it from our website and it’s all yours”

Artist/Production Manager Jeff Peters explained his take on why indieTracks is beneficial to independent bands and composers.

“In my eyes, I see indieTracks as an independent promoter for these artists (bands, composers) for TV, film, advertising, and media placements. We’re not pounding the pavement trying to get these bands gigs and such, but it is a mutually beneficial relationship – essentially a low-risk promotional avenue for both sides. We don’t pay for the songs to be composed, and the artists don’t pay to have their songs featured in our library. The simple motto of “we only get paid when you do” fits quite nicely … We are just offering our website as a link between those who need music, and those who have music to supply,” said Peters.

As for musicians involved, indieTracks has proven to be helpful and not at all complicated. “indieTracks is a great resource for independent bands. It has the potential to open up new avenues of opportunity and exposure. indieTracks is also easy to enroll in and easy to use. For us, it was a no brainer.” said Dave Sicilian of The Shills, one of indieTracks’ featured bands.

“The idea for indieTracks initially came from the founder of AirCraft, Robert S. Cavicchio. indieTracks was initially thought of as a creative pursuit to both broaden AirCraft’s music offerings and showcasing the talent of various independent musicians” said Marketing/Licensing Manager Jennifer Ruggiero.

(Aircraft Music Library is a production library which has been providing music for production professionals for over 25 years, www.aircraftmusiclibrary.com)

Tim Reppert, producer/engineer explains how indieTracks impacts independent artists in a positive light by helping them to expand their reach into different markets.

“We have many friends who are blossoming composers who we have tried to include in our traditional production music library AirCraft, but this is the perfect way to work with them, to represent their own material and allow them the chance to make a profit from their hard work,” said Reppert, “something that young composers don’t always find easily because artists often struggle with the business of selling their product. We are happy to lend a hand. Our non-exclusive agreement allows artists keep the rights to their music, only sharing the rights for the jobs that we bring them. Otherwise, they are free to use it, or sell it, on their own through their own connections.”

Reppert went on to explain how indieTracks works to ensure artist freedoms, “I see this as opening up their world of possibilities. Either they can just leave it up to us and the exposure of our website, and to our clients, to get them work, giving the artists more time to create more music. Or, their freedom can be realized as they use our service and learn more about the Music License business through interacting with our site and our staff as they submit their music to our site.”

The site offers an area for musicians in the “I Want to Submit Music” area, and for clients in the “I Am Looking for Music Area” in a neat layout and organized catalog-as a client you may also listen to full length cuts, download MP3s and WAV files, keep track of your usage and request custom music searches by registering online.

“indieTracks was born from the desire to make more music available to our clients … in the process we are helping bands and composers who are struggling to find ways to get their music out in the world, and get them more exposure in places that they wouldn’t normally have access to, ie, Film, Documentaries, TV Shows, Advertising, Web media and so on,” Reppert said.

Reppert added, “This empowers the artist to go out into the world armed with what they learned to make more connections and grow their own client base. And all the while we are still working to get their music licensed to our clients. A win/win as they say.”

Indeed. Musicians helping other musicians? A creative database for clients? In a business world driven by networking, bands and composers can have the support of indieTracks, opposed to just showcasing their work on a site like MySpace, because indieTracks has the client base for you to work with.

IndieTracks is forging a new path in the music industry with a business model that partners with the artist, rather than contracting them and by approaching the business from the musician’s angle.

By the way: Because of incorrect information provided to Blast, the name of Robert S. Cavicchio was spelled incorrectly.

About The Author

Farah is a writer and producer who works mainly with music and educational media. When she is not at work or writing about music, she plays the drums in an indie jazz band. She enjoys sci-fi, prefers to sing show tunes while she cleans, and consumes an obscene amount of seltzer water. You can follow more of her writing and music on Twitter at @LaParadiddle.

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