The Racer Resource Reference

This is a list of resources of possible interest to other labels or artists. We have no affiliation with any of these folks unless it's specifically noted below. Any errors are Racer's sole responsibility, and we apologize in advance for any incorrect or outdated information.

Please help us make this complete enough and current enough to be useful. If you have changes or additions, please send us mail at references@racerrecords.com. Be sure to let us know where to reach you, so we can confirm the information.

You may also want to check out Suppliers and Services - A Knowledge Pool.

Performing Rights Organizations

These are the major US organizations who collect performance royalties from radio stations and pay it to publishing companies:

ASCAP Although all of my artists are affiliated with either ASCAP or BMI, I have no affiliation with these folks.
Contact them at:

ASCAP
1 Lincoln Plaza
New York, NY 10023
(212) 621-6000

or

7920 Sunset Blvd., Suite 300
Los Angeles, CA 90046
(213) 883-1000
BMI Although all of my artists are affiliated with either ASCAP or BMI, I have no affiliation with these folks.
Contact them at:

BMI
320 W 57th St
New York, NY 10019
(212) 586-2000

or

8730 Sunset Blvd., 3rd Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90069
(213) 659-6947
SESAC I have no affiliation with these folks.
Contact them at:

SESAC, Inc.
421 W 54th St
New York, NY 10019
(212) 586-3450

Conferences/Showcases

These are events that give you an opportunity to meet other people in the industry and to play in front of gobs of industry hot shots. If you want to showcase, you typically have to pay an application fee and be accepted, and then you have to actually get the hot shots to come to your show. Still, most people consider them to be huge amounts of fun, and at least a few bands saw their careers really take off after a showcase.

CMJ Music Marathon This New York showcase is sponsored by CMJ, the College Music Journal - the bible of college radio airplay.
Racer subscribes to CMJ, but otherwise we have no affiliation with these folks.

Contact them at:

CMJ
(516) 466-6000
Philadelphia Music Conference This is, I believe, the third biggest conference in the country these days. I went to the PMC in November of 1996 and had a great time. It was well worth my time and money. They had me on a panel of indie labels, and I enjoyed getting to share some of my experience with other folks who were thinking of starting labels. I got a ton of demos and spent an hour or two listening to demos in the PMC's evaluation room.
You can find the PMC online at:

www.gopmc.com
South by Southwest (SXSW) This is a well-known and well-attended annual showcase in Texas. According to their literature:
The South by Southwest Music and Media conference brings together music business leaders, journalists in panel discussions, workshops and intensive sessions to discuss a variety of topics in music industry and media fields. Our goal is that shared perspectives and experiences will encourage growth in the careers of all Media Conference events.

Racer has no affiliation with these folks.

Contact them at:

(512) 467-7979

or send e-mail to Erin at 72662.2465@compuserve.com

Lawyers for the Arts

These organizations provide (relatively) low-cost legal information to artists of all types, including musicians, writers, and graphic artists. They often sponsor workshops on protecting your work and understanding copyright law, and typically have law libraries available to members or open to the public.

I don't know that the various Lawyers for the Arts organizations in different cities are related, but I have always assumed that they were. This is only a partial listing; check the phone book in your area to see if there's a chapter near you.

Racer has no formal affiliation with these folks; however, I have been a member of the San Francisco chapter and used their law library and referral services.

Contact them at:

Chicago Lawyers for the Creative Arts
213 W Institute Pl, Suite 411
Chicago, IL 60610
(312) 944-2787

California Lawyers for the Arts
1529 11th St., Suite 200
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 395-8893

California Lawyers for the Arts
Fort Mason Center, Suilding C, Room 255
San Francisco, CA 94123
(415) 775-7200

(Strange ... I can't find a listing for New York ...)

Creative Musicians Coalition

According to their literature, the CMC is:

... an organization that helps you sell your original music and get new radio airplay; deeply and passionately cares for you and is devoted to your success; and operates with honesty and integrity in mind at all times.

CMC is a global, artist-guided collaboration devoted to the success of the independent musician. It is CMC's mission to encourage and nurture the dream, not through fate but through hard work and perseverance.

Racer has no affiliation with these folks. However, we have talked to them quite a lot over on CompuServe, and they seem really nice and helpful. I've considered joining a number of times, and have just never quite gotten around to it.

Contact them at:

Creative Musicians Coalition
1024 W. Willcox Ave.
Peoria, IL 61604
(309) 685-4843

or send e-mail to 71333.3702@compuserve.com

Doing Music and Nothing Else (seminar)

This is the music business seminar I attended a couple of years ago which motivated me to start my own label. Instructor Peter C. Knickles really knows the business (or at least he seems knowledgeable to me (grin)), and the seminar does two things: it gives you a lot of useful information about how things typically work in the industry and how to get where you want to be; and it encourages you to plan, plan, plan. I think goal-setting is one of the most important factors in achieving any dream, and I think Peter's emphasis on it is well-placed.

Aside from attending the seminar once, I have no affiliation with these folks.

Contact them at:

Music Business Seminars
Long Sands Rd
Center Ossipee, NH 03814

or call 1-800-448-3621 for a free issue of their Basements to Backstage newsletter. The next series of seminars won't be happening until 1996 (their 10th anniversary tour!), but the course is also available on 12 audio cassettes with a workbook. Enjoy!

UPC and the Uniform Code Council

You'll probably want to be able to use a UPC on your releases. In my experience, retailers really like to have UPCs on the CDs they buy. UPCs are also essential in getting your sales tracked by SoundScan. You can reach the Uniform Code Council at:

Uniform Code Council
8163 Old Yankee Road, Suite J
Dayton, OH 45458
513-435-3870

At the time I signed up, it cost about $300 to join. Once you've done that, you have a unique company code, and you can merrily apply UPCs to your CDs and cassettes.

Racer is looking into starting a subsidiary company that might, among other things, give you access to UPCs without having to sign up yourself. If you'd like more info, please email me at racer@racerrecords.com.

This page was last updated on March 3, 2004 by Kristi Wachter.