A Message From the President

Once again, the Board of Directors of the L.A.S.C. is working hard to create opportunities for member songwriters to get their material to publishers. I suggest that you, as a member of the Co-op, not take this opportunity lightly. If you were to travel to Nashville and attempt to see even ten publishers, you would spend much more than the $40 the seminar costs, plus it would take you more than two days to get into their offices.

I also recommend that you read the accompanying articles about the contest, seminar and showcase carefully. Deadlines and instructions are noted and will be enforced. Each year, we hear from some writer or writers that they "didn't know" about the dates or the rules or some other fact that had been printed the Letter. While we listen carefully to complaints and try to rectify the problems, most of the time we have to tell the writer that had he/she read and followed the rules, there wouldn't have been a problem.

The officers and members of the Board are dedicated to promoting music in the Louisville area, regardless of the style of music. We try very hard to overlook our personal prejudices and tastes when assessing songs. A properly prepared demo with lyric sheet goes a long way toward making sure that we can accurately assess your material.

You will notice that this year we are not going to be doing any recording. This is because such projects are expensive, time-consuming and extremely stressful for those involved in managing the process.

Therefore, we recommend that you submit the very best, cleanest demo of your songs that you can for the contest, as that will be the only copy that the judges will listen to. This does not mean that you should spend a lot of money on an over-produced demo. Rather, you should have a demo with the vocals up front, the instruments in tune and in time and no extraneous noises in the background.

Make certain to cue the tape up to the song and put the title of the song on the side with the music. Be sure that the tape and lyric sheet has your name and address clearly written on them.

You might also note that members of the co-op have two opportunities to present their material to publishers: once at the showcase and again at the critique sessions. If you are not now a member of the co-op, perhaps you should consider joining.

Good luck to all of you. May the best hit song win.