This site is a blog for musicians and music industry people. It is a free educational resource and it is also the way I advertise my music consulting services. I am an entertainment professional with deep roots in the music industry. Throughout my music career I have been a major label A&R representative, a music supervisor, an artist manager, a reality show producer, a bass player and the head of a digital record label.
Rebecca Rienks is the music supervisor at E! Entertainment. A lifelong music fan, Rebecca interned at a variety of companies and venues while she was attending Thornton School of Music at USC, including Interscope Records, Capitol Records and The Roxy. After graduation, she got a position as the assistant to the president of the music department at Lionsgate Films, where she worked on many film and television projects, such as the Leonard Cohen documentary I’m Your Man, Crash, The Devil’s Rejects and the first Saw film. She then helped launch an independent boutique music supervision firm called Creative Control, where she was the senior creative director for five and a half years. She has been at E! since 2011.
I talked to Rebecca about her responsibilities and experiences as a music supervisor at a major cable network and how artists can prepare their music to pitch to film and television. She also shared some critical advice for musicians that want to get their music heard by the gatekeepers at film studios and television networks.
Thanks so much for taking some time to chat, Rebecca. How did you get started in the music business?
RR:
I graduated from the Thornton School of Music at USC. I was in the music business program there for about two and a half years as a transfer student. During my time there, I took a lot of different jobs and internships so I would have a lot of great experience and be in a good position getting out of school. I interned at places like Interscope and Capitol in the A&R department. I also worked in the club office and in ticketing at The Roxy.
Then, when I graduated, one of my professors hooked me up with the executive at Lionsgate Films. I interviewed to be the assistant to the president of the music department there and got the job. I was there for about two and a half years, and I worked on a lot of great projects, like the Leonard Cohen documentary I’m Your Man, Crash and the accompanying Oscar® campaign. I also worked on Rob Zombie’s The Devil’s Rejects, the first Saw movie, a bunch of indie films and a lot of television shows. It was a time when that studio was much smaller. It is still independent these days, but it was at a different level during that time. There were only three people in the entire music department running everything.
That was a great job to have as a launching pad out of school. But it wasn’t as if I had aimed to go into film music. This was around 2004, and music supervision wasn’t the kind of thing that everybody talks about like they do now. It was essentially just a job that, when I got out of school, I took to really well. I had a really great rapport with the head of the department. When he finally decided he wanted to leave and move onto other things after having been at Trimark, Artisan and Lionsgate for over a decade, I ended up leaving and going with him. We launched a company together called Creative Control.
We continued to work together under the independent supervision banner of Creative Control for the better part of five or so years. Only in the last year have I moved over to doing more TV.I am now the music executive/music supervisor for E! Entertainment. I oversee music concerns for the entire channel. The way we divvy things up on the cable end of the spectrum is that each person oversees basically an entire channel. So, I oversee all music concerns for E!, including promos for E! itself and the Style Network. I also handle music publishing concerns for several of our cable channels. And I oversee our work with Ryan Seacrest Productions and the team that does all our red carpet events for the Oscars, Emmys, BAFTAs, Grammys and everything else.
And does that also involve talent wrangling?
RR:
Yes and no. Essentially, we liaise with the live events team and the talent department to coordinate all the music you hear on our red carpet specials, including live music and any interstitial music that needs to be licensed or scored. It’s music supervision, but there is a talent aspect if we need to coordinate with an artist to do something live on the red carpet. It’s essentially a 360-degree job of music concerns as it relates to the E! channel.
You mentioned you work with two different types of music. Could you estimate which percentage flowing through your hands is music that is specifically written for something on the network, and which percentage is licensed?
RR:
It really just depends on the program and the timeline. I come out of the sensibility of, “If we have this very specific need we have to fulfill, why not hire someone to create an asset for us that we can A&R from the ground up, so we get exactly what we want?” Otherwise, we have to search high and low for something that is possibly putting a square peg in a round hole. So, again, it really just depends.
There are instances where it makes sense for us to license whatever the hot pop track is now, or music from some kind of heat-seeking band that deserves coverage on a network like ours that is obviously focused on pop culture. Then there are times we need something to fit the sound and the style and the vibe, but we can’t afford Nicki Minaj or Katy Perry. So, we get somebody to come in and create what we need.
I’d actually say it’s pretty much 50/50, because I do also help people find and secure composers for our shows, for theme song opportunities and promo music we need created. But obviously as a pop culture channel, we do a lot of licensing of pop music and Billboard-friendly music.
I want to talk to you about licensing, because that’s obviously an incredibly important topic among aspiring musicians. But first, I’m assuming you work repeatedly with a lot of the same firms – those composition houses, etc. that create music for you regularly.
RR:
I wouldn’t say we go back to any one well in particular. Personally, I don’t often engage composition houses to do that sort of thing, because they are just entities with staff composers that turn stuff out all the time. While there is obviously a place for that, and I would never say I don’t use that kind of material or wouldn’t work with entities of that nature, I just prefer to work on an “artist” level. My background involved being in the music school and knowing a lot of people who were composers, musicians and in bands. So, I prefer to turn to the people that I know are accomplished musicians in a band, composers I went to school with that were in the composition department, or some great DJ I know that can do electronic music but is a DJ in Las Vegas. I prefer to turn to people on a personal level, rather than turn to companies that do this type of music as their specialty. And that’s a personal choice.
That’s great to know. Most of my experience with music supervisors is with the advertising side. I know those guys go back to music houses quite often.
RR:
Yes. I would imagine that’s a majority of those kinds of companies’ business.
Yes. Overwhelmingly so. And that music is also overwhelmingly instrumental.
Let’s talk about the best way of getting your attention. I always tell people that it’s a very difficult thing for an artist with one, two, three or even ten albums to call up a music supervisor. My joke is always, “Hang on. I have to put you on hold, because I have Sony on the other line, and they have all of Western music.”
You’ve come up in the music business and have been at this for a while. If the roles were reversed, and you were a musician or a composer, how would you get through to people like you?
RR:
Like you said, it’s very tough. And it’s even more difficult when you’re an indie and are selling yourself. That’s why I personally think to gain traction, the best thing to do is to use an established pitch house to work your material. Because, those are the companies and people that are going to have an ongoing rapport with people like me, who will be looking for a great aggregator source that can funnel things, because I can depend on their sound and quality level. There are a bunch of pitch houses I turn to on a regular basis that represent indie labels, one-off individual artists. They all have their own process for how they vet and take on new clients.
That in and of itself is hard enough, because obviously companies like that have a huge roster of things they’re working. And there’s a lot to dig through with companies like Bank Robber, Terrorbird, Zync – I could go on and on.
Would you deem the ones you just named reputable?
RR:
Yes. For sure. It’s hard enough to gain the ear of someone in my shoes even going through those kinds of channels. But it’s much harder as an indie artist repping yourself and trying to make inroads. Because even if somebody like me has the best of intentions of seeking out and working with indie artists and keeping that door open, I’m still just constantly being inundated with material. And even with the best of intentions, I could never chip away at it all.
I was an A&R guy. You often feel like you’re sitting behind a desk where dreams go to die. That’s why I am no longer in A&R, because I couldn’t stand that my job was to destroy people’s dreams.
RR:
And I know how that feels. That’s what I always try not to do. I’m very much a music fan. I come out of the indie world and grew up with friends in bands. I know how hard it is to tread that path. I have the best of intentions. Unfortunately, you can only “Paula Abdul” things so much. I try to be encouraging and present a positive picture for indie artists, while still giving them the honest nuts and bolts. But at the end of the day it’s a hard road.
It’s very important that artists put things into perspective. And you want to be cordial and nice as a gatekeeper. But sometimes that can make people think they have an “in” with you. So, you want to be nice, but you can’t be too nice. It’s a strange thing, and it’s a hard thing to communicate that to people who are asking, “Well, isn’t your job to be nice?”
RR:
And as an artist, you’re one out of hundreds. Even if I have the best of intentions to listen, it’s physically impossible to listen to everything. I try and be encouraging with a huge, huge, huge dose of realism.
And people are going to continue to try. And they should. So, what do you look for in regards to the presentation? Are there “do”s and “don’t”s when it comes to the make-up of the solicitation email, the packaging, etc.?
RR:
The biggest turnoff is somebody who doesn’t have their own business and affairs in order. If you can’t be learned about the fundamentals of how to license your material to a supervisor, there are plenty of people who will not give you the time of day. It is not my job to teach you how to handle the business of your art. So, if I get something from somebody and talk to them, then realize they don’t understand anything about the concept of the ownership issues surrounding what they created – their own music publishing, whether or not they have co-writers, whether or not they’ve figured out their splits, all those nuts and bolts – unless I feel that I’ve found lightning in a bottle with an artist, I’m not compelled to go through the process of shepherding someone through the film and TV world. At the end of the day, everybody needs to be educated about how to manage their own art, even if they’re not trying to make inroads in the film and TV world. You need to understand the basics of how to exploit your music for your own betterment.
If you want to talk about specifics of presentation, so many of them are logical to me. Think about if you were on the flip side of the equation and were the person that was being inundated with music. The sheer volume of music that is coming into you via email with digital links and downloads, etc. – “Download this. Stream this. Click on this blog.” – is astounding. If you were in that boat, what would be the things that would make it difficult or undesirable for you to check something out? I’ve realized more and more that people don’t necessarily think about it that way.
If I’m going to get things digitally, I prefer the music to be sent to me via streaming links with the option to download. If I do find something interesting and go the extra mile to download it, I end up looking later in my downloads folder and have 300 things in zip files I haven’t even unzipped yet that I’m, in theory going to go through. Even with the best intentions, it’s a lot to chip away at. But if someone sends me a streaming link, I’m more inclined to click through, listen to it really fast, then maybe download one-off songs or a folder here and there that I think meets my needs. I’d rather not have to download a bunch of stuff that I think might not be right for me.
When somebody comes to you – and this could be even a Terrorbird or a Bank Robber – does having a reference to other stuff you’ve placed help? It would demonstrate that people have done their homework. But is it helpful when someone says, “I see that you used this in such and such a way, and that made me think you would be the person to talk to”? Does it help if they acknowledge they know the type of material you place?
RR:
Yeah. It obviously shows someone has done their due diligence to understand what is, in theory, right for me and the channel. E! has a very specific sound and style. And we’re actually in a period where we’re trying to expand that and open it up to a wider spectrum of sound than the spectrum we’re known for. But really, we have a very ingrained sense of what our channel is and what it’s about. So, when I encounter people that send me something that’s wildly off base from the kind of programming we do and the kind of audience we have, for better or worse, it reflects on how well they really know what I’m doing. If you haven’t done your homework to sell yourself, why would I go the extra mile to wade through the 10 tracks you sent me to find one potential track that might be right?
So, to answer your question, yes, letting me know you understand the type of material I place definitely shows you’ve gone the extra mile. We all work on lots of different things, of course. But sending something that is wildly off target and saying, “This would be perfect for you” is the fast road to “file 13” – the waste basket. Because, you clearly are spamming people.
Do you have any parting words of advice for artists?
RR:
If you’re an indie artist looking to approach film and television, I would say, first and foremost, know your business. Be educated. That’s helpful to me and to you. No one is going to look out for you more than you. So, before you even bother to try to engage with anybody on a business level, you should know your own business.
In terms of generalities of presentation, etc., we get such a cross section of material sent to us. You could dig around anywhere and find a ton of tips and tricks. And the thing that drives one person crazy could be someone else’s preferred method of reaching out. Everybody has their own little nuances of how they like to be pitched to, for lack of a better term.
That being said, there are some basic things to think about. Track listings are important. Make sure that if you’re sending someone a CD, the track titles are there. Meta data is hugely important. If I load your CD and the tracks come up as tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and there’s no artist information or contact information or album title, it’s going to have to be the next best thing for me to bother to input meta data into iTunes so I can save it. If I pop something in the CD player and it comes up with no meta data these days, I usually just toss it. And it’s an oversight that somebody is not doing their general homework.
If you’re going to submit a CD without artwork – which is fine, because there are demos and things of that nature – still include a paper track listing on the CD case. A lot of people write their information on the CD itself, which is fine. But maybe I want to make note of a track and I can’t, because the track titles are on the CD that is in the player.
And by the sound of it, all these things happen quite frequently.
RR:
Yes. They’re rules of thumb for a reason.
There really are a ton of tips and tricks. Another one: If you’re going to email someone a cold email, don’t send MP3s. All you’re doing is clogging my inbox. If I don’t know you and have never made contact with you before, I may or may not even open a file that you send me, because you are a complete stranger, and you may be spamming me with a virus.
If you’re going to email someone cold and suggest someone listen to your material, don’t send five-albums worth. Send your three or four top songs and let someone get acquainted with the kinds of songs you have, then reach out to you to get your last five albums. Don’t inundate somebody right off the bat if you’re trying to make an initial impression.
There are a thousand ways to go about this process. And like I said, everyone has their own way of doing things and filtering through material. It’s really interesting to see how unprofessionally some people present themselves. And I know they obviously don’t mean to do that. But you only get one opportunity to make a first impression. And when you’re competing with a bunch of other first impressions, it’s very easy for the person you’re contacting to just move on.
To learn more about Rebecca Rienks and the work she does, visit her professional website or follow her on Twitter.
(And the Other Top 4 Reasons Your Email Isn’t Being Returned)
I am a big believer in doing as much legwork on your own as you possibly can before reaching out to music industry executives. That being said- there comes a time in every artist’s career where they are going to have to approach someone in the industry to get to that proverbial next level. Let me assure you that there is a right way of doing this … and several wrong ways of doing this. Sadly, many artists repeatedly write emails that go right into the trash because of very basic mistakes that can be easily avoided.
Obviously the first and most basic rule of the approach is “Don’t approach someone with a cold email if you can avoid it;” knowing someone who knows the person you are trying to get in touch with can help a great deal. However, I realize that going in with a strong referral isn’t always an option. Consider the top 5 suggestions below when you’re putting together your next cold email.
1) Form Letters
Sure, you may be able to get your message out to hundreds or even thousands of people. But if people feel like you are sending them a form letter (don’t confuse this with a newsletter – that’s a whole other blog post) about a specific need or a desired business relationship, then it’s over. No one likes to feel like they are just a name on a list. And speaking of names on a list, sending an email to yourself and cc-ing rather than bcc-ing everyone won’t win you any favors from people who hold positions where both bot-generated and musician-generated spam mail comes with the territory.
It is perfectly acceptable to cut and paste part of a letter to a certain type of executive, but at least take the time to customize the first few sentences and address them by name. Also, let the person you are contacting know specifically why you are contacting them. What makes you think you are a good fit for what they do and why? Let’s just say you are looking to approach a blogger. Saying something like, “I just read your story on this other artist and I really like the way it was written. I thought that since you liked what they do you might appreciate my new single…” is much more likely to get a response than a press release about your new product addressed to no one in particular.
2) Poor Presentation
This is so common it boggles the mind. I often get emails from people in which their names are not obvious from the email address and not included in the “from” field by their email program. On top of that, they don’t bother to introduce themselves or put any kind of signature indicating who they are or where they are from. From my vantage point, I am getting a message from SlappyMcJellyPants@Yahoo.com. The rest of the email had better be stellar (or at least very funny) for me to consider responding.
*As a side note, I’m damn easy to get a hold of. I am in the business of selling music marketing services so it is part of my job to be as reachable as possible. That said, it isn’t hard to tell from presentation who is taking their career and image seriously and who is not. If there are people out there who are having trouble getting a hold of me, then they can forget about people who are really difficult to contact cold like A&R people, Music Supervisors and music journalists. *
Another huge issue in presentation is spelling and grammar. Look, I’m no grammar Nazi and I would be completely lost without spell check, but reaching out to a stranger for help and then sending them what looks more like a text to your girlfriend is probably not a great idea. This all might sound silly, but I have found a huge correlation between the way people present themselves on email and how together their career is, and I respond to emails in order of the likelihood that I am dealing with someone who is serious (and willing to work!)
Lastly on the presentation front: Saying you have talent is meaningless. Executives hear this all day long. The best thing you can do to get someone’s attention is to make a concentrated effort on your pitch prior to crafting any email and running it by friends and peers that can be honest with you. What turns my head is not when people talk about their talent, but when they describe the achievements that they have earned with their talent. Are you drawing well or playing with more established artists? Are you working with anyone who has great credits? Did you win a local contest? Do you have a ton of social media followers and an obvious dialogue with fans online? Do you have a mailing list with a ton of people on it? These are the things that will get people’s attention.
3) Lack of Research
You can much more easily begin a personal relationship with someone when you have specifics about their job function and their professional history. With blogs, Linkedin and any of the other resources available online these days there is no excuse not to have a good understanding of what people have done in the past and on which projects they have worked. Knowing these things can go a long way in adding a personal touch to the email you are sending someone. I am always flattered that people took the time to read about me before reaching out. Admittedly I’m usually annoyed when people don’t bother to read anything and just ask for help without knowing who I am or what I do. And in my case, all that information is provided in a link right next to the contact link. I get intoxicated calls on my Google Voicemail at 3am on a Sunday from people wanting a record deal (from me … even though I don’t run a label) or want me to manage them (I don’t manage artists). My favorite call to date was someone asking for Jay-Z’s phone number (which I still don’t have) and then offering me 50% of the guaranteed collaboration that would result from me giving it to him.
Beyond the research on any one individual though it is important that you also research understand the mindset of a person who is the gatekeeper (Music supervisors, A&R people, Publishers, major journalists etc.) of big opportunities. Firstly, they can’t possibly return all the correspondences or listen to all of the music they get. Secondly – and this is especially true with big organizations – virtually no one executive makes 100% of the decision about a song getting placed in a movie, getting a major write up in a big magazine or getting someone signed to a record label or publisher. Damn near every executive these days has a boss, a client or someone else who guards the purse strings to contend with before pulling the trigger on a decision that could really help your career as an artist. The second part of the job is important to note also, because the easiest part of a gatekeeper’s job is getting in a steady flow of music to pick from. The hardest part of a gatekeeper’s job is keeping a gatekeeper job. It’s easy to think of these people as people who sit around listening to music all day on a pedestal and then giving a Ceasar-esque thumbs up or thumbs down. The politics and juggling involved with keeping everyone happy internally and making sure your external relationships are sound in case you are out of a gig (there is a high turnover rate with creative jobs like this) are almost full-time jobs in and of themselves. Long story short, like these people or hate them, it’s important to know before you approach them that they are often pretty stressed out.
4) Unreasonable Expectations
The next time you go out on a first date… or hell, the next time you encounter someone attractive from a distance, you should briskly walk up to them, say “Hello my name is _____,” and while heading towards them at an uncomfortable pace (preferably without letting them reply to your hello), you should attempt to French kiss them. This is actually best done when starting with your tongue fully extended from a distance of 20 yards or more at a full sprint.
* Editor’s note: Actually, don’t try this. I am not responsible for the whiplash, broken jaw or harassment suits that may follow if you do*
Now you might be thinking, “Wow that was unexpected/inappropriate/ scary…” Yes, indeed. It is. What is my point? Well, my point is that bluntly asking for a huge favor, a contract, a partnership, a record deal or any other lasting business relationship from a stranger in a first email is equally inappropriate (although admittedly it is considerably less creepy). I can’t tell you how many emails I get without any information, background or even someone’s name that say something to the effect of “Help! I am really talented and I need you to manage me.” Not that I manage people, but if I did, would I want to partner with someone who was willing to blindly decide that I was the one to guide their career without having met me or had a phone call? Boundaries, people!
Those are some extreme examples obviously, but the real point is, take your time to get to know someone and what they do. Breaking the ice with an email never instantly leads to a partially executed contract on your doorstep. It’s supposed to lead to building a relationship and getting someone to take you seriously enough to give your material their time and attention.
5) Undefined Goals
Vague emails are really hard to respond to. A very common request I get (and I’m sorry, I know I reference this a great deal) is about “getting to the next level”. Do I understand in a general way what it means? Sure. Do I know specifically what people mean by that and what they need or if I am a good fit for getting these people to said next level? No, I don’t have a clue.
Before asking someone else, make sure that you have clearly defined your goals. Many people respond with knee-jerk responses like, “I want a publishing deal,” or “I need a booking agent.” It’s important to break down these wants into what most people actually mean. What people forget is that for every brilliant partnership, there are plenty of lousy ones. And many of the lousy ones result from people not taking the time to really think through their needs and desires.
When you say, “I need a publishing deal,” do you mean, “I would like…” (‘cause really, people – we need food, water, shelter and good health; lighten up). Don’t you really mean, “I want someone to help me get my music placed in film and TV and arrange collaborations and co-writes with other artists I like and respect”? Maybe it means something else to you. But whatever it means to you, write it out for yourself. Be specific without making a plan that hinges on the participation of a person or a business to which you don’t have access.
Of course, it need not apply to only publishing deals; it can be for whichever goals you have for yourself. One of the most encouraging things you can do in the eyes of a gatekeeper is to demonstrate that with or without their help, you are making progress in getting where you want to go.
I realize I am no longer a gatekeeper but I certainly sat behind a desk where dreams went to die for many years. Still – if you would like to check out a more current A&R person’s vantage point on the approach check out my interview with Jason Jordan VP of A&R at Hollywood Records – here.
No interview today. I apologize, I’m quite behind on interviews but I just wanted to write a bit about a disconnect I have been noticing with many of the musicians I know and have been working with in the last few months. When you cold call someone who is the one of the gatekeepers to a musician’s success – what do you think their desk looks like?
What I’m about to say is pretty blunt and I apologize but let me spell is out for you- No one gives a damn about your band. I know, that’s awful and sure you can point to a bunch of fans but when it comes to people who are gatekeepers to success it is really one of the most true things I have ever typed.
Why is this? Well most gatekeepers (Club owners, booking agents, music managers, A&R executives, music supervisors etc) got into the business because they loved music. They came to be in whatever their position by being an assistant, some by starting some entrepreneurial venture and some by dumb luck. Regardless of how they got there- as soon as they had spent several months or years in that position they began to listen to music in such large quantities that few of them are able to fully process and digest it.
People who filter large amounts of music are often overwhelmed with passionate people who can forget that said gatekeeper is running a business and has to make decisions based on the bottom line more than their love of music. If the musicians they are talking to haven’t demonstrated that they can sell tickets or merchandise or albums – it is very rare that an executive will take a chance on an unknown commodity for love of the music alone.
Be aware of this when cold calling people – don’t take rejection personally. Dig through the people you know who have a relationship with the executive you are looking to contact and get referred. Make sure when you do this that the person referring you has a good relationship though otherwise you may be better off cold calling. People respond to numbers. You don’t want to call someone and try to convince them that your music sounds great – they’ve heard that far too often. A much better tactic is to demonstrate that you have a viable product. Something like – “We bring an average of x people to our shows” or “We sell x amount of tee shirts every night” or “We have gotten our music placed in these shows, films, commercials”. With so much music out there it can really help to give people a tangible measure of your existing success to have them pause long enough to give your music a real in depth listen.
To this end your marketing materials are very important when reaching out to people who can help your career. They should be quick and to the point and highlight your achievements (no matter how humble) so they can get someone to pause long enough to live with your music. I often find that artists tend to seek out lofty industry executives without having spent enough time trying to target and convert everyday people into fans. It has been my experience that to get a gatekeeper to pay attention to a package that comes to them either unsolicited or from a chance meeting the best way is to provide them with proof (read: sales figures and statistics) that your music is viable to people who actually buy music, merch and tickets.
More soon,
Rick
