Creator Spotlight with Jazz Rock Musician Jasmine Sandler
This week, we would like you to meet lyricist and vocalist Jasmine Sandler.
What was the inspiration behind becoming a creator? What do you enjoy most about the creative process?
As a lyricist, vocalist and frontwoman for my band Silent Fury, I am 100% inspired to utilize music to make bold and important statements that drive social and economic change. Some songs are my opinions on current issues in our world and some are meant to make people feel good in times of uncertainty. To me, making music is freedom and through my music I want to give the listener freedom from whatever binds them. I truly enjoy the lyrical writing, using different vocal techniques, composing and building the sound.
Can you take us through your creative process? How long does it take? Does everything you produce make money?
Sometimes I start writing just with lyrics. I have a background as a published poet and author so the words come naturally for me. Then I lay down a melody and work with my band to create the music. From there we work on it together but I find that I am very involved in making recommendations and have the final say on where we accent certain instruments, the tempo and related changes, verse and chorus counts, intros and outros as well as the genre / genres we are looking to achieve with each song. Sometimes I just get with my band in a rehearsal room and ask them to give me a certain bass or guitar line and we jam and I create the song and lyrics right there. Then we’re off on a 4-6 week process. You can see my music on my Youtube channel where I share my works both from solo artist work under my solo artist name JazzRock as well as my band Silent Fury.
My songs that have been professionally produced are making small streams of money from distribution and one from inclusion in an online arcade video game I was able to secure. I am working very hard right now at finding TV, Film and Gaming sync opportunities for my music. My band and I have a new song, “Violence Against Violence: Repercussions of the George Floyd Incident,” which was released in September and is being positioned on radio for thematic use. Further, we are in production right now of a five song, which I will use to pitch music supervisors. Local shows haven’t really made money but my band has done them to help local charity causes and show our music.
In that I manage my own artist career and am the band manager, I am an ongoing student of how to make money from music! What I know is that opportunities to get my music into film, TV, video games is the fastest route to money. Touring festivals and building national tours and merchandise follow. Those take considerable work of which I have been doing to build my audience and the audience of my band but it takes time and money.
What do you think is the biggest misconception about your line of work?
That making music means you will never have money. That it is too competitive. So is every field. That doesn’t stop winners from succeeding. One way or the other I will succeed in my music. Period.
When did you first become aware of copyright, and why?
In my day work, I am a Digital Marketing consultant, trainer and keynote speaker. I have also written several books on the subject. These fields led me to know about copyright primarily for my content and books. I also have consulted for other artists in marketing their works. I know how important the copyright process is in any field. With my music, especially in that I am writing and co-writing music and positioning it for new film projects, I want to ensure that I maintain ownership of my works and utilize that ownership for the highest return yield in any negotiations for placement.
What do you do when you encounter someone stealing something you’ve invested your intellect, time and money into?
In my work as a Digital Marketing trainer, I have had other trainers utilize my content and I reached out to them directly to stop the use. I mark everything I create that is copyrighted with the date of the effective copyright.
What is the best piece of advice that you would give other creators in your field about copyright and how to protect themselves?
Since I do consulting for other creators (artists, authors, bands, etc.) in the area of Personal Branding online, I tell them and would tell other creators to look at anything they create and produce as a professional product that requires protection in that it holds value. I encourage creators to identify themselves as entrepreneurs. In fact, in my online course on Personal Branding and Social Media, I built an entire section for creators that includes some coverage on this topic.
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