Submission Guidelines:
Special song needs right now are female up-tempo country and Disney pop
We only sign great songs, so only invest in sending your best
Send a CD of no more than 5 songs with lyric sheets
100% of publishing must be available
Professional full-band demo only
Send SASE if you want your material returned
Include all your contact information
Send to:
Screaming Tomato Music
1517 Everhart Drive NW
Cleveland TN 37311
Important Submission Tips
We welcome unsolicited submissions, and we listen to every CD submission that we receive. It may not always be that way, but right now it is. So if you send your music to us, it's going to be heard by a publisher. However, getting heard and getting a contract offer are two different things. We offer contracts on around 1.5 percent of the songs we hear, so it's obvious that we're only interested in great songs for our catalog. Here are some ways you can increase your chances when sending songs to us, or any publisher.
Song Quality. Our songs are like our children. We love them no matter what. And, we sometimes can't see that they're not as perfect as we think they are. Don't submit your song until you get some objective feedback on it. There are hundreds of quality people out there who offer affordable evaluations.
Ask yourself the following questions about your song:
1. How long is it? Anything over 3:30 is getting lengthy.
2. Who's going to sing it? Songwriting is great therapy. However, there's a difference between writing for yourself and creating something that is marketable. All genres are different, but a radio friendly artist won't normally sing a song that puts himself or herself in an unfavorable light.
3. How fast does your song get to the chorus? Generally, you've got about 30 seconds to get through the intro, the first verse and get to the chorus.
4. Does the chorus stand out? Make sure your chorus is unique from the verses and memorable. It's also a nice rule of thumb never to start the chorus on the same chord as the verse starts on. Also, rarely use progressive choruses.
5. How long are intros, outros, turnarounds and breaks? The intro and turnarounds shouldn't be longer than 4 bars. In a demo, instrumental breaks aren't necessary. If you include a break, guess what...Keep it short!
6. Is the structure simple? Like it or not, we're all creatures of habit. We like our music to fit the mold that we've been forming since we were kids. Simply, a song has a better chance of getting signed if it follows a common song structure.
7. Do the lyrics sound like something you would say? Write your songs conversationally. Don't use awkward inverted lines just to make them rhyme at the end. If you don't like the sound of your spoken lyrics, then setting them to music isn't going to make them any better.
Demo Quality. A good, professional demo will double the chances that your song gets cut, guaranteed. Conversely, a poor demo will doom even the best tune. You don't have to spend a couple thousand dollars on a studio to get a good demo. Look around to find the studio that fits your budget and your needs. Call us and we can lead you in the right direction. Software programs can make good work tapes, but they rarely suffice for demoing purposes.