Often times as creative individuals we move from project to project never really getting the full potential out of a piece of work. This is especially true with musicians. Jumping from project to project, group to group, even genre to genre. Now all of this is ok and often times necessary to keep you moving successfully through the industry's terrain. However, I'm guessing that there is hidden gold that each and everyone of you have from one of those past projects that may of never made it to your album or didn't quite fit your genre or personal band aesthetic.

These are the songs that you, your label, or producers deemed not good enough or not marketable. So then how are you to cash in on these records if they have been deemed not good enough? My friends, publishing is the answer. Many television shows, movies, video games, etc. are looking for independent records just like yours everyday. With tight budgets and little focus actually being on the music itself, even tracks recorded well on 8 tracks have made there way to the screen. Not only will you increase your revenue, you'll also increase your exposure, as well as added some series bench marks to put on your resume.

So if you've got some old tracks laying around or even some newer ones that you are actively pushing you may want to go the publishing route. There are many groups and organizations that you can join for songwriters that will keep you in the loop of what's being looked for. There is also another less work intensive way of going about finding leads which is a company called Taxi (www.taxi.com). They have thousands of leads given from top companies, producers, labels, publishers, etc. each year for just about any genre you can think of. They are all former A&R people and offer feedback for your submissions to help you along as a songwriter and/or composer. It's $250-300/year to join and I believe $5 per submission to avoid people submitting for every lead. Plus you'll get to attend their annual Road Rally and come face to face with industry executives and top songwriters to get their expertise.

Publishing may be your ticket into the big leagues just as the many others in the past that have entered through this means. Give it a try, that is unless the idea of extra money for little work sounds bad to you.

Until next time, get out there and manifest your career success!