It truly is the “best of times” for independent musicians right now. I’m reminded of this fact each week as new opportunities for licensing Debbie and Friends’ songs unfold.
This week, “Three Pigs and a Wolf,” the same animated music video I blogged about being licensed for use on the show “24,” has just been licensed by a Canadian textbook publisher. The video will appear in a Teacher’s Guide/DVD product for second grade reading programs and distributed throughout Canada.
Just like the “24” opportunity, this came about as a result of a strong web-based presence for the music and the use of online communication tools.
The textbook publisher found my animated music video on a parent-vetted video aggregator site called Totlol. The Totlol video description includes links to my Debbie and Friends Web site. The Web site contains a “contact Debbie” email link. The publisher emailed me their permission request and proposed budget, and in less than a day we had a signed license agreement and video files FTP’d to the publisher.
Personally, I couldn’t be happier to have my music used for educational purposes. Story Songs, such as “Three Pigs and a Wolf,” are intended to be a fun reinforcement of a love of reading for kids. This licensing opportunity will further that mission while providing a new income stream for the catalog.
What an exciting time to be in the music business, indeed!
That is fantastic.
I’ve found that opportunities often present themselves from places you least expect. But *only* if you are out there promoting your music wherever possible.
My kids show has just been booked for 10 performances at a major South African festival, and we will receive a lot of publicity as part of the booking. This is all due to me giving a CD to a local DJ two years ago. He joined my Facebook group at the time and has obviously been aware of my movements ever since.
Out of the blue I received a call inviting me to participate.
What a good feeling
Thanks for this post. I really admire the passion and the dedication you have for both music and education. Those Story Songs that you mentioned can really be a good reinforcement of a love of reading for kids. Truly, this licensing opportunity will take that mission to a higher level. Keep on sharing those reliable and useful music teaching resources. Cheers!
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