General Music Chat

I was contacted after submitting a demo and I'm really kinda excited... does anyone know anything about TMG? I'm just looking for what to expect while talking to them! This could be a big break! Any thoughts?
please listen to my newest stuff, I wrote a symphony two weeks ago... I think its pretty sweet.
Peace
Micah ' After Ashes'

I have some friends in an alternative rock band that used Tate Music in OKC and they seemed to have had a good experience with them. I'll check with them to see how the follow up went, as we haven't talked about that in quite a while. I'll let you know something when I find out.
Welcome to the mix.

thanks man... I hope to hear good things...

go to google

Start typign in "tate music

By the time you get to the C in "music", google autofill's FIRST choice (most searched) is "Tate Music scam"

This is not a good sign.

Upon glancing at a couple of the web results, I saw a few first-hand accounts that did not reflect kindly on tate.

Tate came up at at the CMMC (Cap may music conference) and the general opinion from the industry peeps there was to avoid them.

So there's two red flags for ya.

Usually one is enough for me.

as far as your initial poll question, submitting a demo to a label isn't necessarily a bad idea, but it's certainly a nearly pointless one.

Labels are interested in musicians who are making a name for themselves, playing out, building a following, etc..

They are not interested in musicians who make demos, but don't perform (frequently, regularly). You might want to see a publisher if that's what you do.

Tate isn't a label, per se. They are more a middle-man than anything else. Another red flag IMO.

Good luck

unsolicited demos are thrown away unopened. too many copyright laws to risk with them. never submit an unsolicited demo. you can contact AR reps and ask them to hear your stuff, but your best bet is open mic nights at popular bars. AR reps travel the country checking those places out. But also constantly surf myspace music and others.

But TAXI is your # 1 best bet.

yeah, my first instinct is to be skeptical. I talked on the phone with one of their music acquisition people, and they seemed very interested in me and my music.

You are supposed to follow up with them like a week after you submit something, but I didn't bother. So six weeks after I submitted my song and all that jazz... they called me to follow up. I don't know how often that happens, probably a lot, but I talked to the guy there for an hour on the phone about what I'm up to and all that and it came to the time to ask, "So what now?" They are sending me contractual manuscript I guess you'd call it... so I'm looking into it further. Any opportunity to play music for a living has to be weighed and measured out in full. I'm not gonna dive in head first without doing my homework, but I'm also not going to just leave this in the dust because a few people had a bad experience. I'm trying to be smart... that's why I'm here. I really don't think they are a scam, but yes...$1950 is a lot of money to me... I need to feel this out further.
keep the comments coming.
thanks!

as long as they are offering you a contract that doesn't require you to pay anything or put up any collateral against sales is a good contract. The label should be paying ALL expenses for you, which they later take off the top of your sales, but you should not have any out of pocket expense or responsibility. its their gamble, not yours. see a lawyer with the contract if you are skepticle, but you did everything right for your submission, if they were expecting it, then you could be on the right track.