The goal of Luke Hits is to give little-known unsigned artists (yes, the dude who records killer songs on his home computer in middle-of-nowhere Kansas) with sweet hit songs a chance to get heard. That simple.
To act as a tiny light in Hollywood's often brutal its-who-you-know darkness. To crack open Hollywood's immovable slammed-shut-door just a sliver. A sliver barely big enough for you to slip your CD through. One where my unbiased ear determines what gets through. One where raw talent reigns.
How? My approach is much like that of Aware (click to visit their site and support them by buying a CD) a wonderful company based in Chicago. Namely, seek out obscure yet wildly talented artists. In their case it was the bands as a whole; they found acts like Matchbox 20, Vertical Horizon, Train, and John Mayer before anyone had heard of them. In my case it is a single song itself that is important. Memorable. Powerful. Emotional. Heartfelt. And yes, that means listening to a truckload of demos. Thousands to be exact.
I also place emphasis on the artists' rights. They keep 100% of their own songwriting and publishing, and enter into a completely non-binding as well as non-exclusive agreement with Luke Hits. Exclusive agreements make me shudder. Furthermore, I pay my apartment rent (get paid) ONLY if and when I place an artists' song in a Film, TV show, or Commercial. That seemed most fair to me.
More notably, I do not charge a penny for bands to submit music to me. Why? Because it levels the playing field. Especially for the waiting-tables-just-to-get-by bands that cannot afford $10 per song-submission upfront or hundreds of dollars annually. Why else? This approach forces me to keep cranking out 90-hour-sleepless-workweeks to get results for bands. Otherwise it would be all too tempting to sit back, relax, and watch upfront submission cash from artists fill my mailbox. Some organizations which have thousands of 'quote' members gross millions of dollars annually in upfront fees from artists, most of which goes to one dude, that Company's founder. No kidding, do the math. Astounding. It actually saddens me.
Please, if you garner one gem of wisdom from my entire site, it is pleeeeeease do not pay anyone in the music biz money upfront. CDBaby is the only exception to that rule, and thier $35 setup charge is worth its weight in gold, since they too deliver results for artists. I totally dig their vibe.
I also realize the importance of guidance, and am therefore assembling an advisory board of smarter-than-me folks, mostly industry veterans, to provide me with priceless advice and help steer the path of Luke Hits. And to help keep me grounded.
Also, I just want to thank the folks (USA Today, TV Guide, Washington Post, BBC News, etc) who have been kind enough to help me spread the word to tiny artists around the globe.
The end result? A pool of insanely yummy, marketable songs—delivered in compilations—that will rawk Hollywood.
Yours,
-Luke
(aka Willy Wonka)
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