Recently we started an advertising campaign to introduce our studio to potential clients in Edmonton. The add reads that we write music for aspiring singers/songwriters.

So far as we know, we are one of the few professional studios in Canada to offer a monthly charge for this kind of service. So then. What exactly do we do, and how does it work?

Artists on our "project rate" (300 for a single artist/500 for a band per month) are given a day each to work, for example every Tuesday from 10am-6pm. During that time slot, one of our engineers will work with the artist writing original music based on stuff from our heads, or form the artists heads. The singers will work to develop their own melodies and lyrics. If the artist can play an instrument at a college level, then we encourage them to add their input as well.

If an artist has a particular style they wish to emulate e.g.. Evanescence, Avril, etc., we will write music with that flavour.

We have examples of lots of different genera's and styles. Our engineers are all highly trained individuals who work well with artists whom are just starting out, looking to develop an original sound.

A typical session would go like this.
Artist arrives, we pick up an instrument (guitar, keys etc.) and find an idea to develop.
We track an outline of the song while the artist starts to work a melody and lyrics.
We add real drums, bass and other instruments and a hook for the song.
The artist lays down their idea for a verse and chorus
We go back and revamp the song to fit the ideas and record final takes of the instruments
We track the artists verses and choruses and mix the song for them to practice.

The following week we would either work on a new song (which is usually the case), or rework the song we did previously to make it sound better.
When an artist is ready to put finals on the songs we will do that, and mix for release.

Currently we are only interested in artists who are very serious about a music career. We don't want to work with people who are just trying music out for fun.

We encourage children to come in as well. Most of us have been playing since we were very small and we know the importance of bringing children to music at a young age. As well, developing kids for professional music careers is never a bad thing; we have always had great response from labels and management companies with regard to young artists.

Who owns the music?
The publishing for the songs we write is split 50/50 with the artist developing on a song. So if a song gets published to another artist then everyone makes a ton of cash. We are just starting to explore publishing opportunities for our music, but have been active in pursuing record deals for over a year.