OK I’m ashamed of myself.

I don’t even know how long it’s been since I posted anything here. I have not worked on my music for a painfully and shamefully long time. I’ve gotten to the point where I am ashamed of myself when someone asks me how the music is going because I have not done anything for a long time. I guess life just kind of got in the way.

However, I will not feel sorry for myself for long. I will get back in the studio immediately. In fact, I am promising you a finished song by the weekend. I’m at the point where I have no idea when I will finish the album. Both of the previous dates have gone by already. I will however set another. I will be DONE with this album by my son’s second birthday, which is September 15th. There, I’ve said it. I will do it. Have faith and keep listening.

TAXI FINALLY FORWARDED MY SONG!!!!

I am one happy camper today! TAXI finally thought one of my songs was good enough to forward to the listing. “So Much Whiskey” was forwarded to Crucial Music for consideration to be used on TV or in a film. When I saw that I was forwarded, I got a little misty. FINALLY I feel like I actually have some talent and I haven’t been fooling myself. I mean, of course family and friends have been supporting me but to get validation from professionals who do not know me from Adam is really great.

Now, if the song actually gets used, I will make some money, and possibly a lot of it. Keep your fingers crossed. Or, better yet, PRAY for me! Thanks guys. Keep listening.

Got 2 More Sonicbids Gigs

Hey yall, if you didn’t know, I finished 2 more songs recently. One of them is a blues song I did with my mom and my father-in-law called “So Much Whiskey”. The other is a cool Neo-soulish song called “Is It Cool”. So, I submitted to a couple of Sonicbids gigs and “So Much Whiskey” and “Find Out Who She Is” were selected to receive airplay on Indie Life Radio. Yea, it’s another no royalty station but I guess it is exposure. However, I’m getting a little frustrated with the no royalty thing so this will be the last time I submit to something that won’t pay me.

Of course I couldn’t leave TAXI out. I submitted the songs to a couple of TAXI listings too. I haven’t heard anything yet. But if they don’t like these songs……I give up. I’m going to the Road Rally in November and hopefully I will make some connections there. I gotta get something out of TAXI for that membership fee! My membership expires in December and if I don’t get something by then, I won’t join again.

Anyway, it looks like I probably won’t have 8 songs by the end if September but I should have 6. I am going to redo “Already Mine”. I never really liked it. So, I need to turn it into something I like. And I’m going to do a really nice ballad. Keep listening.

Good News From Billboard!

Hey guys, I got some good news today. My song “Find Out Who She Is” got an honorable mention from the Billboard World Song Contest! I know it doesn’t seem like much of a big deal but I think its great considering that the contest is worldwide and they only select 1500 songs total to either award or give honorable mention.

I received a certificate in the mail today. I already framed it and hung it on the wall in my studio. I look forward to the day when I can hang my gold and platinum records too! It shall be. In the meantime, I gotta get to work. I will be finishing another song this week by hook or crook. All I have to do is sing the lyrics and mix it again. And I’ve already started the music on a new blues tune. I am determined to have 8 marketable songs by the end of September. So far, I have 3 and 2 more in the works. I’ll make it.

I have not submitted any of my songs to any TAXI or Sonicbids listings for a while but I will again once I finish this one this week. As usual, I will let you know how it goes. Just wanted to share the good news today. Keep Listening!

The Latest

Hey yall, I know i haven’t written anything in a month but that’s not because I don’t want to. I just wanted to wait until I actually had something to say. “Already Mine” is done now. You can listen if you look to the right and click on my Sonicbids EPK. I have not submitted it to any listings or anything. I have been a little frustrated with that lately. I’ll start to submit to listings again soon. I just want to wait until I finish the song I’m working on. I’ll let you know when it’s available.

I am getting airplay on Jango and Women’s Radio so it’s not all bad. I think I’m just frustrated with TAXI because they refuse me every time I submit anything and I don’t really know how to fix my music so that it is acceptable to them. I’ll just keep making it until they like something I guess. And if I’m unhappy once my subscription is up, I can cancel and get my money back. That’s enough of my sob story! I’ll be optimistic again pretty soon. Nothing keeps me down for long.

I’m going to have at least 8 songs done by October so that I can put together an album. I need to have it ready by November so I can take some copies with me to the Road Rally, the conference that TAXI hosts every year for members and A&R executives. I must go because at least there I can hand music industry professionals my music and not have to go through TAXI first. It will be exciting for me because I have never been to Los Angeles before. And I will be going all by myself. That’s it for now. Thanks for listening.

Exploring Me

Hey, I just realized that it’s been about a month since I’ve posted anything. I need to do better. Anyway, I’m feeling a little differently about my songwriting. The songs I have written so far are pretty decent but I’ve been trying so hard to make them commercially appealing that they don’t really reflect me much at all. I’m rewriting “Already Mine” right now, and it will be the last one that I don’t really put myself into. Don’t get me wrong, I like all of my songs BUT I need to get out of my comfort zone and be a little more genuine and personal in my music. Only then will I write songs I am truly proud of. I’m also thinking of adding some video to my pages. That would be a total departure for me since I have always had an aversion to video. It’s so bad, I have never used a webcam! But people do enjoy visual representations of music so…..

I’ve also realized that although my objective is to sell these songs, I still need to market myself as much as I can to get the music out there. So, even though I didn’t want to be the star diva, I gotta do it anyway! Ain’t that a kick in the teeth. I’m counting my blessings and thanking God for it all. Keep listening.

Sonicbids : 2, TAXI : 0

OK, as most of you know, when I started this journey, I joined two online services to get my music heard. Those are Sonicbids and TAXI. So far, my song “Compelled” has been chosen for airplay and a mixtape through Sonicbids. I submitted the same song for two listings on TAXI and it did nothing. Of course, I got 2 critiques along with the news that the song was not going to be submitted to the listing. Here is one of them.

N/A 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 (10=best)
Melody 8
Lyrics 8
Marketability 8
Song Structure 8
Production 8
Engineering 8
Musicianship 8
Lead Vocal 8

You have an engaging song concept here…very creative! You have some clever action phrases that gives the listener a nice visual, such as “I’m watching you eat with her at our favorite restaurant” and “I try to move but my feet are made of stone” and “now I peek in your window and open your mailbox” …very nice. You may want to add some more telling details like this to your narrative while using unfamiliar and unconventional lyrics to do so. The hallmark of strong lyric writing is to find creative clever ways to say what others are thinking in a way they have never heard of before or to make them think of something in a way they have never thought of before. The use of colorful metaphors and similes are often a good approach to create those kind of creative phrases with visual imagery.

You may also want to consider digging a bit deeper lyrically in the chorus. Adding a more catchy descriptive phrases may better draw the listener in and make the chorus more memorable. Perhaps describe a bit more what you mean by “compelled.” This is a very emotionally charged song …by adding more telling details in the chorus with catchy memorable descriptive phrases you may better make the listener feel what you are feeling and give the listener that “big hook” feel, a la Leona Lewis and Alexandra Burke, that this listing requested. Another suggestion, you may want to shorten your verse a bit to lengthen your chorus. Of course, how you choose and if you choose to re-work your chorus is at your own creative discretion. See the “overall comment” section for more details.

I got an 8 out of 10 for the song! I think that is really good but apparently, not good enough. Now usually, I use the critiques to improve my songs so that I can re-submit them later. However, this time I’m going to be the tempermental artist and not touch this song. I simply will not submit it to any more TAXI listings.

I have also reconstructed “Find Out Who She Is” yet again based on my TAXI critiques. I’m going to submit it to some listings this time around and see what happens. If they finally accept one of my songs, I just might pee myself!

Thanks for letting me vent! Keep listening. Oh, if you are new here, you can hear the songs I’m talking about by looking to the right and clicking on my Sonicbids EPK or going to my music page on Facebook. That link is also on the right or you can click here http://www.facebook.com/pages/Miss-Minis-Music-by-Catrese-West/336330380658

Another Sonicbids Success!

Hey, I got another gig through Sonicbids! “Compelled” will be included on the Triple F Unlimited mixtape for Sonicbids artists that has a distribution of 30,000! That’s an exciting thing for me. Being chosen for this compilation CD means that I may also have a chance of being chosen for their larger “unsigned” mixtape that has a distribution of 100,000. Here is an excerpt from the notice I received about the gig.
Gig Name: Triple F Unlimited Mixtape Series First Reviewed: March 30, 2010 Status: Selected Updated On: March 30, 2010 Response: It will be a extreme pleasure placing your music on the SonicBids digital mixtape by Triple F Unlimited. Please remember to subscribe to the podcast via Itunes, by going to the podcast area and searchng for Triple F Unlimited or by going to our blog

http://blog.myspace.com/fffunlimited

http://www.myspace.com/fffunlimited

I still haven’t made any money yet but the way things are going, it shouldn’t be long. The last gig I told you about for WomensRadio was royalty free. I found that out when I got the contract. But that’s OK. Exposure is still great. You never know who may hear your stuff and want to license it.

I also got a letter yesterday from Hilltop records wanting to include my music on an upcoming project they are working on. I researched them on the web and found some disturbing reports about them asking for money and not doing what they promised. But, they do actually have CDs on Amazon so, they are obviously a real record company. I also went to their website and their blog and they addressed the issues to my satisfaction so I will send them some music. If they do ask me for money in order to be included on their CD, I won’t send them any. If they really want me on their CD, it would make no sense for me to have to pay for it.

There are some good listings on TAXI this time around so I will finish working on my current songs and submit them yet again. I haven’t had any success with them yet but it’s not their fault. It’s all mine. I am the one who is green and have not yet learned all the skills I need to write good, marketable songs. I am getting better though and my optimism has not been dampened. I’m in it to win it!

Good News From Sonicbids!

OK, I know I have been a little slack on the blog posts but I will try to do better. But, this time, I have some good news! One of my songs, “Compelled”, has been chosen to be played on the internet radio station WomensRadio on Live365! YAY!!! This means that I may actually get some airplay royalties and make my first dollar as a songwriter. I’m waiting for them to send me the contract, which they say will take about 2 weeks. This came just in time. I was getting a little frustrated and this was just the push I needed.
I am still working on the other songs I have. Since there weren’t any relevant listings on TAXI this time, I’ll just improve the songs I have based on my reviews. Keep listening and thanks for your support.

And Another One

Hello all,
I have completed another song! This is one that I wrote the lyrics for back in my 20′s and actually recorded it with someone else making the track. However, this time, I made my own track and used almost the same lyrics. The song is called “Already Mine”. It’s about a woman who wants a man who also wants her but he’s with someone else. Again, I was under a deadline because I wanted to submit the song to a TAXI listing for a female R&B song where the vocalist has a wide range.

Once again, I finished it TODAY, the day of the deadline. This time it was not because of technical difficulties. Actually, Sonar 8.5 is really working well for me. I still get some dropouts when I play music back but the software just makes things sound sooooo much better than Sonar 7 did. I’m not trying to do a commercial or anything but I am really enjoying my new software now that I have gotten used to it.

When I sang this song, I had a sore throat but again, I was under a deadline so I didn’t have time to wait it out. So, my voice has a very pronounced rasp to it on the high notes. I don’t know if I like it or not. It’s not bad though. Anyway, go to the EPK and give it a listen.

Of course you will be notified if any of my songs get submitted to the artists. I have a good feeling about this one and “Find Out Who She Is” since I re-did it. I can’t wait for the day when I can finally post that one of my songs got licensed i.e. I MADE SOME MONEY! I remain confident however that it will happen and very soon.

Peace and Blessings