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Welcome, Artists and Companies, to Tandem's Website
Tandem exhibiting at the Midem international music conference.
Mr. Graham Way, President, pictured here with an industry colleague.


INFORMATION FOR COMPANIES SEEKING MUSIC

Tandem offers distributors, licensees, record companies, specialty marketing companies, volume retailers, mail-order operations and digital licensees throughout the world many fine music albums and individual music tracks, as well as special concept DVD product. Browse complete albums and DVDs using the scroll bar to the left; access our extensive list of individual music tracks by clicking here or by clicking on the "Music Track Library" button on our home page.

Labels represented include Anu, Apela Group, Artisan Records, Highland Records, Indian Sounds, Knockgrafton Productions, Laughing Fox Music, Maria Manna Music, Mayker Records, Melodeon, Midsummer Recordings, Mythic Salmon, PacificLine Music, Rainforest Records, Rising Phoenix, Sound Advice, Trocom Music, Twelve Tone Fantasy, MTI, World Wide Success Records. Our current roster of music includes World, Native, Pop/Rock, Latin, Bossa Nova, Chill, New Age/Contemporary Instrumental, light Classical, Celtic, Nature Sounds With Music, Instrumental Covers of Popular Hits, Christmas, Christian, Judaic, Children's, Novelty recordings and Poetry With Music. We also represent outstanding live performance artists and songwriters.

Our music is available for AFM soundtrack and synchronization/transcription use as well as for special projects, compilations, ring tones, in-store digital kiosks, internet pay-per-download sales and digital music subscription services, etc. Complete albums are available for licensing or, if preferred, in many cases as finished product for export to your country. Please contact us for more information.

TO BEGIN BROWSING OUR ALBUM SELECTION choose from any of the categories of music listed in the scroll bar to the left. You will then be offered an opportunity to download a segment of music from whatever albums interest you in that category. To assist in keeping track of the recordings that you decide are of interest, the "note pad" (ignore consumer prices quoted) can be used to accompany you on your journey through our site.
 

INFORMATION FOR COMPANIES SEEKING HELP

AFFORDABLE CONSULTING FOR YOUR COMPANY OPERATION OR BUSINESS IDEA

a) Writing Services

Write it Right! Copywriting/Text Editing/Proofreading for Websites, Company Literature, Product Materials, Contracts and other Important Documents: Is your website or literature truly effective in representing your company and product/service clearly, accurately, and professionally? Most websites and promotional materials are ineffectually written, leading to lost business opportunity. We pick up where the graphic and Web designers leave off, properly crafting the written content of your presentation with style, syntax and substance. Get your message across concisely and powerfully!

* Product Literature and Manuals
* Content for Media Publication
* Copywriting for your Website and Promotional Materials
* Slogans and Taglines
* Newsletters
* Contracts and Other Documents

Technical Writing For The Music Industry: Take advantage of our extensive experience in the music business and our English language expertise to write or re-work your important presentations and documents.

Special Service for Foreign Companies: Are you based in a non-English speaking country and attempting to reach an English-speaking market with your website or other printed materials? If so, can you be sure you are presenting your company and products/services in the best way possible to this market? Poor English and confusing wordage reflects poorly on your company and can lead to misunderstanding on the part of potential business associates and customers, reducing sales opportunities and profitability. Our English writing service will check for and correct the poor translations, inappropriate style, misspellings, bad grammar and improper punctuation that are hurting your company's image and sales potential. It costs very little, but this small investment to revise and refine your presentation will bring big returns.

b) Advice & Analysis

Do you want to grow your company or are you considering a new venture? We specialize in research, guidance and solutions in the following key areas:

* Product or Service Concept Evaluation
* Marketing Plans (Market Analysis and Strategies)
* Supplier Sourcing and Negotiating
* Contracts
* Effective Promotion (your Image, your Website, the Internet, Trade Shows, Advertising etc.)
* Importing and Exporting
* Business Plans

Think you can't afford this service? You're in for a great surprise. Contact us now to get started.
 

INFORMATION FOR ARTISTS AND INDEPENDENT LABELS

Tandem provides international record management services for select independent recording artists and labels, getting their albums and music tracks placed with "brick and mortar" (i.e., non-digital) distributors and licensees in foreign territories as well as with digital licensees, such as major and specialty online pay-for-download/digital music subscription sites. We attend international industry conferences/trade shows such as Popkomm in Berlin, Germany, and MIDEM in Cannes, France.

Our company also serves as a consultant to artists/independent labels needing advice or guidance, as an artist management company, and as a publishing representative. Please note that we are not a booking agent or tour management company.

Please see below for more detailed information on our activities and for our submissions guidelines and policies.

Activities

Digital Placement of Albums and Song Tracks: We represent all styles of music to companies that offer music in digital configurations such as major and boutique commercial pay-per-download/music subscription online sites, companies providing digital kiosks to stores from which consumers can download songs into their mp3 player or burn songs onto a disc, ringtone/ringsong providers, companies supplying background music to businesses via digital devices, etc.

International Record/Song Track Representation: Tandem Music Group acts as a record management company for independent artists and labels who wish to see their recordings and song tracks placed throughout the world with distributors, record companies and firms that license music for special market niches. Note: this placement service with non-digital companies is limited to certain music genres (see "submission guidelines" section below).

We undertake the roles of contacting potential licensees and distributors, negotiating contracts and taking care of all the paperwork, invoicing, shipping abroad, handling money transactions, monitoring royalty statements/payments and so on. This allows the labels and artists to carry on with the important creative work of producing and performing.

For any album that we accept we require an exclusive agreement for a minimum period of time to represent it worldwide, except for the home country of the artist/label (unless the artist/label wishes us to handle that territory) and any other countries where the artist/label album is already placed). We will need to receive a demo or hear an mp3 version in order to assess your music's suitability for our company's catalogue before further discussing any details or a potential arrangement we might enter into with you (see our submissions guidelines below).

Artist Management:This is a relatively new area of activity for our company. We are entering this field because of an evident lack of appropriate personal management options for artists in our region. The act must meet certain criteria (see our guidelines below before contacting us).

Please note that Tandem is not a booking agent, tour management company, PR company or publicist firm.

Publishing Representation: Despite the amount of mediocrity on the airwaves, record labels and established recording artists are still hungry for good song material. This service is for talented songwriters who want to see their material used by other artists and do not have an avenue to these artists or their labels.

Consultations: We provide general and case-specific advice, guidance, industry insights/information and support to artists, songwriters and independent record labels/companies for various purposes and in various circumstances, such as those involving contract concerns/negotiations, project planning/budgeting, financing, industry analysis, market evaluation, song material evaluation, domestic and foreign marketing/promotion, an artist's potential, talent development options and important career or business decisions.

Critiques: We provide critiques of artists' recorded music to help them get a reality check on their talent level, their song material or the potential for their CD. For details refer to our Current Submissions Guidelines section.

Current Submission Guidelines

Submissions that we will and will not accept:

For those seeking international representation (record management) of their recorded material to "brick and mortar" (i.e., physical product) distributors and record companies, we ARE accepting submissions in all music styles EXCEPT the following:  Rap, Hip-Hop, Metal, Dance, House, Acid, Reggae, Techno/Electronic, serious Classical or Americana Folk.

For those seeking digital placement we are accepting submissions in ALL genres of music.

For those seeking artist management, we ARE NOT accepting submissions unless you reside in Western Canada, or the northwestern region of Washington state. We will not consider "hobby" bands or acts that are not able or prepared to tour. We will only consider acts who demonstrate that they are prepared to make a personal and financial commitment to their career.

For those seeking publishing representation, we ARE accepting submissions from songwriters in the following music styes: Pop, Country, commercial Rock, Folk-rock and other material with commercial radio potential. In this respect, please note the following: limit the number of songs in your submission to no more than twelve and submit what you consider to be your best material that has the most commercial potential. Having said that, we are especially interested in commercially viable material that is not so mundane as to be indistinguishable from songs already released in the market. In this respect, one of the elements we look for is that special lyric or melodic "hook" that will grab the listener and make the song stand out amongst everything else on the radio. When selecting material to send, keep in mind that publishers often look for material that other more established artists and their record labels might be interested in recording. Sometimes even a "quirky" song that goes against the grain, so to speak, of current formulas will click with an artist or label.

For those seeking a consultation or a critique of a specific recording, please refer to the relevant policy information below.

How It Works:

We listen to every recording submitted to us, whether it be a complete album or a demo. Note that we give second priority to listening to sound files from the Web, and in many cases we do not take the time to search sites to download material for review. Thus, it is advised that either a CD or emailed sound files be forwarded for our consideration. If emailing sound files, limit your submission to no more than three songs (maximum 12 mb per email).

DEMO SUBMISSION POLICY:  please submit any CD and/or video demos to the address on our Contact page (note: if sending material from outside Canada please do not send by any ground or air courier--please forward only by surface mail or airmail and put the words "sample of merchandise--no commercial value" on any customs declaration, noting a total value of NO MORE than US$12.00). Be sure to include with your submission your reason(s) for submitting your material (i.e., looking for publishing, record management, career advice etc.) and be sure to include your email address to guarantee a response. After we have received your submission we will reply by e-mail with a simple confirmation that we have listened to your demo and whether we are interested in representing you or your music. Please note that submitted material will be discarded if we do not receive a response within 60 days of our e-mail and demos are not returned under any circumstance. If we indicate to you that your and/or your music are not suitable for our company to represent, you might consider obtaining a critique or perhaps a more in-depth personal consultation.

GENERAL CONSULTATIONS & CRITIQUES

Critiques: We provide artists/songwriters a constructive, meaningful written critique (telephone option also available) of their recording, including suggestions for improvement, covering the following subject areas: quality and appropriateness of vocals (if any), quality and appropriateness of instrumentation and arrangements, the song material, the production quality, the graphics (if any), and how well the project does or does not serve its intended purpose. IMPORTANT: a recording created for one purpose may not serve you well for other purposes. For example, a demo recording created to get gigs locally may not serve well for radio play purposes, or a self-produced recording that may sell well at live performances may not gain much interest from record companies. Therefore it is necessary when submitting a demo for a critique that you inform us as to the original intended purpose(s) for which the demo was made (i.e., to get publishing representation and/or to get gigs and/or to get interest from a record company and/or to sell at gigs and/or to get radio play and/or to get interest from domestic or foreign distributors) and the budget spent on the project. A fee of US$100.00 (Cdn$100.00 for artists residing in Canada) is applicable. Note that payment is required before any critique can be provided.

Consultations: A per-hour fee (excluding long-distance telephone or fax charges) of US$75.00 (Cdn$75.00 for artists residing in Canada) is applicable. If we need to review any material (sound recordings, song material, bio, video etc.) in order to more thoroughly prepare for a consultation session, there is an initial one-time fee of $100.00 on top of any hourly session charge. In such case we will provide you a list of the appropriate items to supply us for this purpose based on what you have available. Such consultation can be in the form of written or verbal communication, in person or by phone, or a combination of both. You set the limit as to whatever amount that you are able to spend in your circumstance for the assistance that you require and we will assess beforehand whether the amount is sufficient, excessive, or unrealistically low. We will do our best to tailor our work to stay under or within your budget and no additional fees will be charged without your prior approval.

PAYMENT POLICY (where applicable): There is no charge for submitting materials for our consideration or making initial contact with us. However, if a music critiqe or our consulting service is desired we require all payments to be made in advance for any such service provided. Residents of Canada may pay by bank draft, Visa, Canadian postal money order or Canadian dollar personal or business cheque, but in the case of personal or business cheques there will be a delay of two weeks to allow for bank cheque clearance processing before we are able to proceed with providing our service. For any US resident paying in US funds, payment by bank draft, international postal money order or Visa is recommended, otherwise there will be a one-month delay to allow for the processing of any personal or business check. Any payment from outside North America must be in the form of an international bank draft or by Visa.
 

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