Billboard Magazine

EMI Group as a strategy associate in corporate strate- Cathy gy and business development, Pincus-a former punk Heller's rocker who's a member of Judge, which is headlining first synch appeared in the hardcore-themed Black N' Blue Bowl May 18-19 ABC's "Body at Webster Hall in New York-noticed that EMI's pub- of Proof." lishing firm was shifting its investments away from songwriter deals and channeling them into buying catalog and radio hits. Simultaneously, he saw hundreds of millions of dollars from private equity and hedge funds coming into seven or eight indie publishing companies. "But the irony of that was that almost none of the funds went into signing songwriters; it all went into investing in existing assets," he recalls. "So when I was trying to figure out what my next job was going to be, I saw how many writers were available. I decided to go in the opposite direction, signing people who would then make songs. "We started with rock bands who were selling a lot of albums, like Chiodos and Rhett Miller. The lat- ter signing helped us attract the serious songwriters. Signing Andrew McMahon brought us into a world where major -label artists would then sign with us, while Q: Tip is a really respected rapper and a great producer who brought us into the world where hip - hop songwriters now consider us," Pincus says. "You Writing Your Own Check will see us working with classic songwriters in the near future." v./Titer Cathy Heller Twice the In return for helping establish the firm, SONGS' re- sponsibility includes career -building. Consequently, U.S. household median income last year through her SONGS runs songwriter forums, where writers work talent and persistence. Here's how she did it together and comment on each other's work, and the firm is also on the prowl for key songwriter hookups, which is how "Good Time" came about. "The compa- By Phil Gallo ny put together two songwriters, Brian Lee and Matt Thiessen, who previously didn't know each other, and they wrote the song," Pincus says. "One of them had In the year prior to the April 3o release of her debut full-length album, Cathy Heller took home a relationship with Owl City, who decided to do the more than $ioo,000 from synch licenses of her songs. The rest of her ledger sheet was al- song, which had a spot for a girl singer, and we-along most all goose eggs-little income from download sales, no gigs or sessions-and almost with Republic Records-got Carly Rae Jepsen to sing. equally blank were the costs of doing business. Heller self -publishes her music; works without That's what we do. We are good at understanding a manager, agent or publicist; and pays her producer by giving him a share of her publishing. what people might want." By her count, 28 of her songs were used in films, TV shows and commercials in 2012, the biggest That type of approach allows SONGS to punch way payday coming in an ad for Hasbro's "Words With Friends" board game. The spot used "We're above its weight class, Pincus says. While the SONGS Good Together," which has since been placed four more times elsewhere. While that placement catalog may not contain hundreds of thousands of started with a mid -five -figure payment, other songs have been licensed for as little as $1,500. tunes, Pincus says the firm has the same amount of "It's a long -haul vision," says Heller, 33, an ASCAP writer who owns her masters and usually active songs as a publisher with 15 times the num- insists that any use be nonexclusive. "The big picture is about making music and not about pay- ber of songs. "We are the guys breaking writers right ing the rent." now," he says. "Our goal is to build the leading front- Heller, due to give birth to her second child in July, moved to Los Angeles from Florida nine line independent publisher in the world." For the first years ago to pursue a music career. She went the conventional route, attracting interest from ma- time since Billboard began compiling the rankings for jor labels and publishers, and went deep in discussions about writing music for a "Fraggle Rock" the top too songs, SONGS has broken into the rank- movie. As Heller was doing this, she observed the career Ingrid Michaelson was carving, ut, li- ings (see story, page 24).O censing songs and remaining independent. "Keeping your integrity, making a good living and not worrying about being somethin tha others want you to be-that became my model," says Heller, who got her first taste of a synch license payoff in 2007. "I'm an idealist." Beginning in 2011 after she launched Cathy Heller Music, she created a working syste herself. First, she forced herself to write, sometimes working with another writer, and rec song per week with producer Bill Lefler (Michaelson, Cary Brothers, Patrick Stump). track of TV shows that used music similar to hers and began cold -calling music supe the offer of music and/or performances in their offices. In 2011 and early 2012, she did 26 show- OF CATHY HELLER'S cases in supervisors' offices. The first payoff came in late 2011 when Frankie Pine paid $8,000 for SONGS WERE USED Heller's "Count on Me" to be used in ABC's "Body of Proof." IN FILM, TV SHOWS "Cathy's music has a hopeful sense about it," Pine says. "As an audience member you want to AND COMMERCIALS root for the characters you have been following and her music helps you do that." IN 2012. A key for her music, Heller says, is melodic accessibility, conversationality and sincerity in the lyrics and remaining subtle and broad. "Bill helps me find a way to make things sound homemade and yet commercial," she says. Heller has recorded more than 85 songs-io this year since the completion of the album Break- ing Free-and now spends three hours a day, four days a week pitching to about 65 music supervisors. Her success has been widespread: No supervisor has used more than two of her songs in a Matt Pincus' project. "Gotta Make a Change," which appears on the album, is being used in a Special K ad and SONGS Music will also be in an upcoming episode of ABC's "How to Live With Your Parents (For the Rest of Publishing Your Life)." also focuses "When I started, I didn't think about whether I needed a publisher or a publicist or someone to on building songwriters' do this work," she says. "If a person is genuine and talented and loves what they do and is persis- careers. tent, that's the mixture for success for anybody." 0 MAY 25, 2013I WWW.BILLBOARD.BIZ 0.

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