Because we live in the Nashville area, we run into a lot of musical artists. In a city nicknamed “Music City U.S.A.” there is music everywhere - and it’s all not country music, either. People with musical interests from across the spectrum of musical genres come to Nashville hoping to be heard and hoping to “make it big.” I won’t drop any names, but I’ve taught the children of well-known musical artists and the children of prominent television personalities simply because I teach in an excellent school system in the Nashville area which is overflowing with people from the music industry. When my school featured a “songwriters’ night” as a fundraiser a few years ago, the level of talent and fame was amazing. I sat there listening with my jaw on the floor at the wonder of hearing such wonderful music up close and in person.
Once, when I taught second grade, we were studying careers, and we invited parents to come in and talk about their careers. One child’s father was a songwriter and he signed up to come in. At the time I didn’t keep up with what songs were popular or which parents wrote which songs. So I had no idea what he had written. So he came in with his guitar in hand and talked to the children about writing songs. Then he got out the guitar and said he was going to sing a song he had written that was getting some airplay. The song was “If I could change the world” (recorded by Eric Clapton). I was in shock and wished I’d taped the session. It was incredible. Later that year, I watched that father accept a Grammy on TV for his part in writing that song.
All that to say - the song industry is a difficult one to break into. The successful artists are in the minority. For every successful artist, there are a dozen who are struggling to find an avenue for their music - struggling for someone to listen to them and give them a chance. At church, at the mall, at school, in the markets you meet independent artists and independent bands who are looking for someone to listen to their music and help them be heard by more people.
Unsigned.com is an online entertainment media company that is looking for unsigned artists. They describe themselves as “music junkies from around the world,” and they listen for new and exciting sounds by both single artists and bands. They’re looking for those artists that have potential to become something big. Their goal is to provide new revenue and a distribution model for your music - to enable you to be heard globally on the internet.
The unsigned.com website has a huge variety of artists features - everything from gospel, fun, ambient, progressive, Christian, death metal, punk and grunge to club, house and black metal music. And there’s gothic, hip-hop, country….. the list is very long! They have bios of the artists, along with samples of their music. I had a great time clicking around the site and reading about different artists and listening to some new music.
