Joey Carbone

My pal Joey Carbone was back in Japan for a visit this month. Let me tell you a little about him if you don't know who he is. Joey is originally from New York (like yours truly) and lives in LA. He was the Music Director for the show "Star Search" back in the days. The interesting thing about Joey is that he writes a ton of music for some of the biggest artists in Japan. One of his songs was recently number one on the Japanese version of the billboard charts. He is probably the premier composer for the Japanese music industry. He knows how to write for the Japanese masses but that is not the only key to his success. Some pointers from Joey for those of you who want to become successful composers:

Your demo - No matter how great your songs are, if your demo isn't happening it doesn't mean very much. You see, directors and producers are getting spoiled these days because the quality of demos are getting better and better. Writers are using software like Pro-Tools, Logic, Digital Performer and/or Q-Base to get almost perfect sounding recordings. They don't want to listen to poorly recorded music anymore and many of them don't have the imagination to visualize what a song would sound like recorded in the hands of professional arrangers and recording engineers. They don't want to listen to flat vocal tracks. That's why it is important to digitally fix any pitch problems before you shop your song around. If you are not a singer, see if you can get a qualified vocalist to do the track for you. Make the demo sound like a "real" recording.

Don't give up - Just because your song gets rejected by one director doesn't mean the next one won't bite. According to Joey, you would actually be surprised how often a song gets rejected before turning into a hit. Sometimes it may even get picked up by the same director who rejected it a year before.

Research - Check the charts and see which artists are writing their own music and which ones have songs written for them. It doesn't make much sense to write for someone who doesn't need a song. See who is moving up and who is moving down. Can you figure out who is the next rising star?

Become an expert salesman - Know who represents who. If you don't know anyone in the business, you may have a tough time meeting people. Use an agency that shops music for composers until you get a name for yourself. Joey makes his rounds with a two CD set of around forty songs that he brings around to various contacts. These contacts could be at record labels, agencies that represent artists, publishers or actual artists.

Be persistent - Nobody is going to come to you. Even someone like Joey Carbone who has a number one hit on the charts has to keep making the rounds. He says that you would figure everyone would want one of your tunes once you write a number one but it isn't the case, you have to keep asking.