Hire A Consultant

Countdown Entertainment is a music management firm that represents artists, bands, songwriters, music producers, composers and DJs/remixers on a commission/percentage basis. One of Countdown Entertainment's industry distinctions is that we also broker intellectual properties, including major music publishing catalogs and masters and we also secure distribution for films. You can read more about Countdown Entertainment here. Hire A Consultant, a division of Countdown Entertainment, provides fee-based services to artists without a track record in the industry. These services include providing you with: industry-specific leads and opportunities from key decision-makers worldwide to help you secure a deal with your music from record and publishing companies, TV and film supervisors, and international licensing; industry resources such as radio, press, DJs and record pools; and on-going advice and professional input based on our 30+ years in the music industry. You can read more about Hire a Consultant here.

The Trial Period is a fee-based service offered through Hire a Consultant, a division of Countdown Entertainment. This is how we initially work with new artists, bands, producers, record companies and others. The process helps us to decide if it makes sense to actually enter into a bonafide Management Agreement, Consultant Contract, Music Publishing Agreement or any other percentage-based or commission situation. It gives us a chance to experience how you work on an everyday basis, including your professionalism, dedication, integrity, responsibility to your commitments and your ability to communicate with us and others. In addition to receiving leads for specific opportunities for your music, you also receive the benefit of our experience, expertise and advice.

Yes! If you are offered a reasonable deal during your time as a Hire a Consultant, Trial Period client, then at your option, we can discuss working for you through Countdown Entertainment and within a percentage-based agreement. This “percentage agreement” can be a Management Agreement, a Publishing Agreement or a Consultant Agreement. We’d actually prefer to work with you on a percentage basis because that’s where the real money is for both you and for us. But this only makes sense once your music is proven to be a viable “earner” in today’s marketplace.

We have different fees for different services. Fees and services are based on your talent level, goals and specific needs. Click here to see examples of our fee structure.

No. The services we provide in our Trial Period are very time consuming and your monthly fee barely covers our team's time and the expenses associated with your account. The Trial Period was never established as a profit-making enterprise. It was created to help us identify talented, committed artists, bands, producers and the like and to give them the opportunity to have their material heard by key decision-makers to and secure deals prior to entering in an official management agreement or percentage agreement. Why? Because if you're material is prompting deals, then there's a lot to manage. The Trial Period is a cost-effective way for you to test the market worldwide, and for us to see if your music can actually secure deals. Make no mistake about it. It's much more profitable for us to take a 10% commission on the major label deal (which can start at $250,000), than the several thousand dollars (if that) you might pay us over the months you are involved in this Trial Period (especially when we receive nothing from any deals as you keep 100%). But we aren't investors. The Trial Period gives you the opportunity to develop a market for your music and take full control of your career while having the full benefit of our expertise and services.

Absolutely not. You keep 100% of any deal you secure during the Trial Period.

Yes. Our arrangement is completely non-exclusive. We have Mangers and other Artist representatives come to us for our help with their Artists as well. So you are free to work with other professionals at the same you are working with us.

We suggest a commitment of between 2 months to 4 months (preferable 4 mths), as the beginning process takes time in reviewing/evaluating all your business, your music catalogue and your vital presentation to the industry. You want to give yourself a fair chance to find out where your music stands in the worldwide market place. During this time, we also help you refine your presentation to accurately reflect your music and who you are, since this also plays a big part in your success during our time together. Many of our clients, however, find our services so advantageous to their careers that they stay with us for much longer periods of time. The Trial Period can extend until you receive a “reasonable deal” from our efforts, at which point you have the option to enter into a percentage based relationship with Countdown Entertainment. You also have the option to stop our services at any time after your agreed upon initial consecutive monthly terms by providing us with a 30-day advance notice.

Yes

We actually do prefer to work on a percentage basis, since that type of situation is much more profitable for all concerned. But we don't subsidize artists. Before we enter into a percentage agreement with any artists, we first have to ensure that your music has an earnings history. Our services are designed to help you develop this all-important track record of securing deals that are profitable. In this way, we are involved in the lost art of "artist development," - an area that record companies abandoned long ago-since our work with you includes advising you in many areas of your career.

Just because we think you have talent and a very good shot at being successful, "believing in you" doesn't guarantee success. Ask any record company executive. Every A&R guy or gal believes in the acts he or she signs to their label, yet only 1 out of 10 of those groups that inks a deal will ever have a song released by that record company. We've known management firms, which have spent $50,000 on a video because they believed in their artist, yet the artist went nowhere. How about all the record companies that spend millions on their artists and nothing ever happened for these artists? Sad but true. Today, artists have to be responsible for their own success.

Ideally, we'd like to work with artists within a percentage- based agreement since this is where we'll ultimately make the most money. That is our incentive to help you succeed during the trial period, then it makes sense for us to enter a percentage agreement. This initial time together allows us to evaluate your character, work ethic and how well received your music is in the commercial marketplace. And it is this process that helps us to determine how viable it is to enter into a management agreement with you at a later date.

A. We cannot guarantee you any deal, and neither can anyone else. Our guarantee is this: Your music will absolutely be heard by key decision-makers from around the world. If they like what they hear, and determine that your music is exactly right for their current need, you will receive an offer. You always have the right to accept or decline any offer, of course. And remember, Hire a Consultant takes no commissions or percentages on any deal contracted during the Trial Period.

No. Even though there is a fee for our Hire a Consultant services, we only represent very talented artists. We cannot afford to jeopardize our longstanding industry reputation.

TAXI’s services are much more limited in scope than ours, TAXI is a good company, for some artists who do not have a manager, agent or attorney representing them, reside outside of the major music centers, such as New York, Miami, Atlanta, Nashville or Los Angeles, and just want a little bit of help. Here are the facts:

• TAXI does not represent you. We do, because isn’t that what you need at this point in your career? And our Trial Period representation contract is always non-exclusive, which allows you to work with other professionals and build your team.
• TAXI’s services are limited to the USA, which is only 30% of the world market. Our services include international opportunities. We’ve got the global music scene covered 100%.
• TAXI only recently expanded its services to include U.S. TV/Film soundtrack placement opportunities. We’ve always done that and more. Our ‘international’ services also include opportunities from ad agencies and the gaming industry as well as those from the TV and Film worlds.
• Our services include international licensing situations. TAXI’s don’t.
• TAXI never gives you the direct contact information of the industry professionals reviewing your material. We do. With us, you’re always building your rolodex of contacts, contacts you can reapproach at any point down the line.
• As a Hire a Consultant client you also have a variety of valuable industry resources at your fingertips, including radio stations, music journalists, record pools and distribution companies interested in Indie artists.
• We present you with many more opportunities to advance your career. That’s what our clients, who have also purchased TAXI’s services, have told us.
• Need specific career advice? Have a music-related question? Looking for the right producer or the best recording studio? Got a problem with a bandmate? Want to update your group’s image or refine your press materials? We give you one-on-one personalized attention. TAXI doesn’t.
• Like TAXI, there are other companies offering similar services, but none of them do what we do for you to the extent that we do it. Plain and simple.

First of all, you always keep 100% of any monies you receive from a deal while you’re a Hire a Consultant client. We take NO commission. Secondly, if the deal offer is for at least $10,000, then you have the option to discuss entering into a percentage based agreement with Countdown Entertainment from that point forward. Sometimes clients who secure deals through our services decide that it’s more cost-efficient to continue to pay our monthly retainer fee instead of entering into a commission agreement with us, and that’s fine too.

Wrong! You aren’t paying for contact information that everyone has access to. On a weekly basis we provide you with a list of opportunities for your music from key decision-makers who are actually looking for your type of music. Chances are you don’t have these people in “your” rolodex, and if you could find their name and number in an industry directory, you wouldn’t know what they are looking for at this exact moment, or even if you did, these high level contacts probably wouldn’t listen to what you send them since they would deem it “unsolicited.” Though us, however, these people have been identified as having a current and specific need for your type of music and will absolutely listen to what you send them.

Yes. In fact, they have requested it. This is the key to what we do: We only provide you with music leads from those in the industry who have actually asked for your specific type of material. And, it’s because of their requests that we know your music will get listened to. If they like it, they’ll offer you a deal.

Each and every lead we provide to you comes from an industry professional or company seeking your style of music or song topic for a particular project or immediate need. In some cases, we may provide you with a special code that identifies your mp3 or package as “solicited material.” This is why we can guarantee that your music will be listened by key decision-makers around the world.

Some of the contacts we know very well and have an established relationship with and there are contacts we’ll give you that we don’t know since it’s impossible to know every single company or person in the industry around the globe. All of the leads we provide, however, have been identified by our company as having a current and particular music need. This ensures that your music will be listened to by key decision-makers around the world. This we guarantee.

We provide the best opportunities for you that we find from around the world. Keep in mind that we regularly speak to CEOs and presidents of major entertainment corporations (as we sell Major music publishing catalogues and Masters or major platinum artist), and because of this we are privy to opportunities you will not find in any Tip Sheet available to you. We also subscribe to international Tip Sheets, some of which are only available to professional companies like ours.

It’s impossible to pinpoint the exact number of leads you will receive in any given week or month. Remember that the leads you do receive from us are from industry professionals actually looking for your specific type of music so obviously this varies. The number of leads you’ll get also depends on your style of music and what kind of opportunities you are most interested in knowing about. Generally speaking, the opportunities we present to you come from record companies looking for artists or bands, music publishers looking for Artists or songs for their artists to “cover,” TV/film music supervisors looking for songs for an upcoming project and distributors looking for product to include in their inventory, among others. We’ll also provide you with press contacts looking for material to review, radio stations interested in considering indie music, records pools wanting product to supply to their club DJs and various other types of contacts that will help get your music out there and give you visibility. So expect to receive a good number of leads from us on a regular basis. You will notice that some days you’ll receive more leads than on others. Simply put, that’s because of the varied flow of opportunities we’ve identified specifically for you.

Rarely. It might happen that a client may receive the same lead twice, but it is the exception, not the rule. All leads are checked and double-checked prior to sending them to you, but sometimes a duplicate lead with pop up. This may happen if the lead comes through one our U.S. sources initially and then is provided by one our international sources. It may also happen if a contact hasn’t found what they are looking for, or if the lead is revised in some manner, they will ask again. We recommend that you always keep track of the leads we provide and keep them in a special folder on your computer. This way, you can always cross check them and track what you sent, to who you sent it, and when it was sent. You should always keep all of the contacts we give you since they are yours to use now and in the future. In this way, you have the added benefit of building your contact lists.

Actually, that’s a two-part question. You can hear back within a few days to a few weeks, or it could take more than a month. One of clients received an offer 12 days after submitting music, for others it’s taken 3 weeks to several weeks or even a few months. One client received a record deal several months after her term had ended. One thing is for sure: If someone likes what they hear (“likes” being the operative word), he or she won’t keep it a secret. These industry professionals are very busy and are not looking to waste their time. They have a need for the material they’ve requested, and many have hard deadlines. They’ll be evaluating the material they receive to find something that’s exactly right for their specific project. If they like what you’ve sent, they’ll get back to you. Otherwise, don’t expect a response.

Yes, we work with all genres of music and their subsets including east coast, west coast and southern crunch. So naturally we’re in touch with the underground Hip Hop, Rap and Urban label—and the majors too.