Singing to Tell the Tale
I had the opportunity to interview a group of singer-songwriters who fearlessly shared their own distressing personal experiences with music producers as they were working on their music in the early stages of their careers.
Kyla Carter is a young Broadway singer, actress, and model who started her career in the industry at the tender age of 5. When asked about what inspired her to be a songwriter, she expressed, “[m]y whole career I have been acting out other people’s creative ideas. Although I love that, I find making my own music fulfilling because I am sharing my own message and creativity with the world and not someone else’s.” However, breaking into the music industry was a huge hurdle she had to figure out. While the songwriting was the easy part, getting exposure for her work was challenging as she didn’t have “the guidance or mentorship on how to go about getting your music out to the world in an honest and affordable way. The information out there is daunting and conflicting, especially for someone like me who is so young and new to this industry. It is easy to get discouraged and just give up.”
When she finally had the chance to work with a producer, she felt offended when the producer wanted to rewrite her entire song without her consent. “The key to choosing a producer is finding someone early on that understands your music style, your vision and listens to your ideas. They must also be willing to collaborate with you, offering their own ideas and style to enhance your music and take it to the next level.”
I think if you wanted to change the power dynamics in the music industry, you’d have to look at restructuring the business model
John Shoemaker accidentally found his passion and talent for songwriting when listening to a friend’s instrumental music. “I began hearing melodies and lyrical ideas began coming to me. I wrote my ideas down, made a recording, sent it back to him, he actually liked the song to my surprise, and that was the beginning of my songwriting journey.”
When asked about the power dynamics of the industry, he voiced out that, “[c]onnections are essential, but how do you make them? There isn’t really a formula, so I think you have to feel your way through. The industry seems a bit harsh. I think if you wanted to change the power dynamics in the music industry, you’d have to look at restructuring the business model to make it more based on a worker cooperative so that it is less top heavy, more artist controlled, and less greedy.”
In terms of finding the right producer to work with, he said, “[i]t’s important to find someone who is committed to helping me bring out my vision, while at the same time helping me to figure that out. They need to really appreciate my songwriting style and truly like my work. There needs to be some similar sensibilities. Maybe the most important thing is that they understand you as the artist who gets to make the final decisions.”
There are far too many sharks in the water, telling you they can give you a ride
Elyse Miller is a natural-born singer who has developed a profound love for music at a young age because of her father’s influence as a lead singer of a rock band. “He likes to tell the story of putting headphones on me as soon as we got home from the hospital after I was born. My dad playing songs he wrote just amazed me, and I wished I could do that. As a singer, I wanted to create my own material that would be just right for my voice. And I have always loved language and words.”
When asked about the culture of the industry, she articulated, “[t]here are far too many sharks in the water, telling you they can give you a ride, offering you something tantalizing, trying to make you believe they have the power…there’s a lot of empty words and inquiries that will waste your time and take your money without delivering value. So learning how to see through phony offers is key. That comes from experience, but also your own research and planning ahead. Get paid up front, have written contracts, and don’t let people walk on you.”
She also brought to our attention the concerning issue regarding the lack of women who are working on the technical side of the industry. “It was considered unusual to have a female ‘sound guy.’ I loved that job, and it helped me so much as a performer to have that technical experience and be able to communicate better with whoever is behind the board when I’m on stage. I would encourage women in the industry to learn about sound engineering, recording, and gear. Knowledge is power!”
The Disruptors Reinventing the Music Industry
ItyDity is a music production company that revolutionized the way aspiring singer-songwriters record and produce their music. They take pride in transforming the traditional norms, interactions, and workflows commonly used in the recording industry by creating a platform that uniquely focuses and shifts the power to artists. By doing so, it ensures a safe space for artists to holistically grow, innovate, elevate their vision, have creative control, and be able to produce quality music that is exceptionally original and allows their personality to shine through.
The company’s CEO, Emily Satterlee, is also a musician who experienced a brutal and traumatic encounter with a music producer who made romantic and sexual advances towards her while they were working on her music. “When I ultimately rejected him, he started making gratuitous demands for the music, like that he gets 50% songwriting credit for the songs I had written in their entirety. When I asked to negotiate a different deal, he sent lawyers after me, threatening to sue me as well as stalking me at shows to make sure I wasn’t selling any CDs.”
Her driving force behind starting the company was simply providing artists a platform to find the right producers who will help them create their music while being supported and protected in the process. “The music industry really isn’t set up to support songwriters anymore. At one time in the past, you could rely on record labels to help develop you, guide you, and even pair you with a producer who would be great for your particular style and help elevate your sound. But that doesn’t happen anymore. Now it’s a do-it-all-yourself world and songwriters are forced to navigate this all by themselves. Often these songwriters are too young and new to the industry to discern which producer is the right fit, to make sure the songs are meeting pro standards, and to make sure they have contracts in place to protect themselves. You also have all of these collaborations taking place in intimate settings behind closed doors making it the perfect environment for bad practices and inappropriate, sometimes dangerous, behavior.”
ItyDity provides an effective model that oversees the entire collaboration and creation process, holds producers to certain standards, organizes the legalities on behalf of the artists, gives songwriters the power to learn more about their producer before they close a deal, and above all, offers career development and mentorship as they navigate the complex world of professional music production.
Her driving force behind starting the company was simply providing artists a platform to find the right producers who will help them create their music
Satterlee proudly shared that “100% of songwriters have been able to find a producer they love and get their song produced exactly the way they heard it in their head. This is a big deal, because we’ve done a number of Facebook polls, in which 80% of songwriters say they’ve been unhappy with results in the past, when working with producers [not on] ItyDity. That means only 20% of songwriters are happy with the results when working with producers on their own, but on ItyDity, so far 100% of songwriters are happy. That’s a big difference.”
The songwriters who successfully found their footing with ItyDity have mutually conveyed their satisfaction and appreciation to the company for giving them the creative control, avenue, and voice to express themselves, empowering them with the knowledge and tools to learn how to collaborate with the right producer that would fit their personality and style, exposing their music to a wide array of international producers, being transparent with the terms, conditions, and costs, and guiding them every step of the way from putting words on paper to accomplishing a radio-ready and top-notch song.
19th century poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once said, “[m]usic is the universal language of mankind.” No matter where you come from or what culture, identity, social status, and beliefs you have, music has the power to connect, heal, and transform our society. The spectrum of genres, the richness of the lyrics, the sensation packed into each beat and rhythm, the meticulous process of organizing the elements, and the emotions that shine through an artist’s voice altogether contribute to the unstoppable force and bliss that music can bring into our lives.
If music is the cure, then we must protect the people who are creating it at all costs. As an artist, you must never settle for less and let anyone take advantage of you nor your valuable talent. We must collectively be more proactive in changing the culture of the entertainment and music industry by holding abusive people accountable for their unjust and inappropriate behavior. There is no place for greed and inequality in an industry that strives to spread positivity, kindness, and overall make the world a better place for the generations to come.
