Tunedly is an innovative marketplace that connects songwriters and other music creators with world-class session musicians for professional music production, and music publishing services. Started by musicians, the idea for a live collaboration music production and publishing platform came out of the need to provide better opportunities for songwriters interested in succeeding at music, but either lack the means to make it happen, or are not able to connect with the right talent and resources.
In this interview spotlight, I chat with Chris Erhardt about the inspiration behind the Tunedly platform, how musicians are chosen and much more.
Full Q&A along with links and a video below.
It’s only natural a platform like Tunedly comes along considering the vast changes in the music industry due to technology. What inspired concept for this platform?
In 2014, I was working as a songwriter and music producer. At the time, I didn’t live anywhere near a music industry hub and I had difficulties finding talented session musicians in my area. I started connecting with session singers and players online.
Mylene, the co-founder of Tunedly was managing some touring artists at the time. She introduced me to some of them since they were looking for extra work during their off times. Since all collaborations happened online, we started developing processes to make working more efficiently online and the foundation of Tunedly was built.
What motivated you to jump head first into this project? What keeps you going?
To make a long story short, we tried to solve a problem for me and realized, we’re actually solving a problem for thousands of aspiring songwriters. Once the initial platform was built and I had a team of a hand full of session singers and musicians, other songwriters I knew started asking me how I make my demos. When I told them about my setup, they asked me to help them create demos and that’s when I thought, wow, this can really help developing songwriters all across the world. At that point, I jumped in head first. What keeps me going, that’s easy: I believe the way the music industry is setup for songwriters, or musicians in general, is messed up. What makes me get up is knowing that with Tunedly, we make the music industry more accessible to songwriters who would normally stand no chance.
For the average, independent, DIY songwriter who is reading this…how can Tunedly help them?
There are a few ways Tunedly can help independent, DIY songwriters. First of all, a membership gives songwriters access to free demo recordings. Most songwriters spend thousands of dollars on throwaway demos because they notice the songs aren’t commercially appealing enough. With Tunedly, you can demo your songs free of charge, so you can evaluate their potential and then professionally record only those with potential. Then, obviously the main benefit of being a Tunedly member, getting access to the same session musicians who work on Grammy and Emmy winning productions. That’s priceless. Many of the session musicians can’t be hired anywhere else on the web – you’d have to actually fly into Nashville or Los Angeles to work with them. Lastly, we do our utmost best to help songwriters with the right songs to place their music with artists, in film or TV shows. We just recently hired Jayne, who has been working in a Director position at Warner Music for the past 19 years. She is now handling our A&R and Licensing department. Those are the main and obvious benefits of being a Tunedly member.
How you do select the session musicians who are involved with the platform? Are they hand-picked? Do they apply? What minimum qualifications do you look for when adding musicians/producers to the platform?
All session musicians on the platform are hand picked and vetted. We find them through different channels. Obviously, warm introductions are always valuable and many of our session musicians have been introduced to us by session musicians we already work with. However, we do have an application process where session musicians can submit their application online. It’s hard to say what the minimum requirements are. The session musicians we end up adding to our roster simply must be outstanding at their chosen instrument. Although, many of our musicians have major label credits, a number of session musicians don’t and we still accepted them simply because they showed drive, exceptional skills, outstanding personality and it just seemed like a good fit. I’m sure that those among our roster who don’t yet have any major credits, will at some point in their career.
Name one or two of the most difficult challenges you’ve faced launching and growing this platform?
Our main challenge is finding truly dedicated, hard working songwriters. Don’t get me wrong, a lot of aspiring songwriters out there claim to be all of the above, but at the first sign of adversity, they fold. Many songwriters simply have wrong expectations, thinking they will become an overnight success. I always tell people, the latest overnight success only took ten years in the making.
What was the last song you listened to?
A song called “Happy Everyday” by one of our songwriters. I went through some of the projects currently in the works on the platform prior to this interview to keep up to date about new projects and their progress. If this doesn’t qualify for your question since it’s still a work in progress, the last song I listened to on Apple Music was “High Hopes” by Panic! At The Disco.
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
My clear winner: MP3s. Nothing beats the convenience. I travel a lot and I’m glad I don’t have to carry some bulky CD player with me like in the early 2000s to take a quick listen to someone’s demo.
How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
Here, I’d have to say Apple Music. I’m an Apple person through and through so that also was an easy decision.
What is the main thing you want songwriters and other creatives to know about your platform?
As with everything in life and career, it’s what you make out of. We built the platform, we give you the tools, but at the end of the day, it comes down to you how successful you will be as a songwriter. At the end of the day, it comes down to you how you handle rejections and how you dust yourself off and keep going. You know how they say, there are no shortcuts in the music industry. This is true, not only for the music industry but for any industry. We are not telling you that Tunedly is a shortcut for songwriters. We’re a tool that makes the music industry more accessible to a larger number of songwriters, but you still have to work as hard as anyone if you actually want to make it professionally. I know a lot of people, platforms and companies in the music industry promise you fame and fortune. Good for them, it’s their sales pitch I guess. I prefer us to be upfront and only work with those who are realistic and know how much work is behind becoming a professional songwriter.
Anything else you’d like to add before we sign off?
Thank you for this interview Joshua. It was a pleasure! Best of luck going forward with Middle Tennessee Music, or your re-brand to Indie Music Discovery. And thanks to everyone reading. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to drop me a message at Tunedly.
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