Austound Music

Full Bio

In 1913, Luigi Russolo wrote "The Art of Noises" in a letter to fellow Futurist Franesco Balilla Pratella. In this manifesto he stated the opinion that people's hearing has become accustomed to the fast paced life and noises of the urban industry. Thus, Russolo believed that music must incorporate these aspects in order to continue to hold the public's interest.

Now, about one-hundred years later, music must transform again to suit the impossible-to-define lives of today. In which case, music must be created with an open mind and no restrictions in possibilities. We work exclusively with producers who have worked on gold and platinum music. Our work has been recognized by the New York Post, GQ, Airship, Crunk Atlanta, Transworld, and other mainstream print-media.

Austound Music (BMI). With networking through Universal Music Group and Sony Music, there is a coalition of signed producers who deliver all forms of music to the industry. Branching from the city of Austin, but with an international backing from major companies like the biggest record labels, we were operating as professionals before we even decided to adopt an official company structure. Every person that we have involved in providing musical talent has made a living through the services that Austound Music is providing. We know what's hot, we know what will move, and our opinion has been proven from our résumé and ability to maintain personal relationships in the industry for over 20 years. We and are trusted as a filter to deliver what is best fitting for our clients. With a history in the music business since the 1980s, we have already proven that we understand our clients needs, and we base our network on the foundation of our personal relationships. First, we find the needles in the haystacks, and then we present our findings to those who have learned by our results and résumé that they can trust us. We have birthed careers for our artists and unabridged gratification from our clients.

We have access to all kinds of mainstream outlets. MTV and VH1 are where it starts, as generic music placements. However, we pride ourselves in pushing the envelope further with epic musical scores. Some of these are provided to ESPN, FOX SPORTS (including the NBA and NFL). The list goes on with our outlets in network television and advertising. From there we get into video games. EA Games, Blizzard Entertainment, and many others in the gaming industry, hold offices right here in Austin, Texas. Our music has also been featured in mainstream skate videos by the biggest companies. We also decided to ranch out from song placements and embark on a venture of placing hit songs and beats to major record labels like Universal, Atlantic, and Sony. We also work with producer Joe Smooth (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Smooth) on electro/hip-hop/pop as producers and songwriters for major artists.This work is Top 40 level pop, which has resulted in gold and platinum records for our executives. While we generally focus on singles that we consider poppy, one of our most prestigious projects is a response to King Crimson recently hitting Number 6 on the BBC album charts. We gathered the best studio musicians in our repertoire, including producer and drummer Pat Mastellotto (of King Crimson, Mr. Mister, Prince etc. etc.) on drums, and well-established French musician Sylvain Moraillon. We recently reached Number 1 on various digital charts for the song. Our producer Greg Tanoose worked with them to write and produce the songs that will be delivered through Universal France for mainstream radio play, throughout Europe and Canada. We currently provide beats directly to both Universal and Sony hip-hop and R&B artists and subsidiary label owners. We are successfully bridging the gap between being a basic publishing company to a fully functioning record label by placing music beyond the television set and into the world of top-level productions and ideas, which are handed to these contacts personally by our team. The success of our productions, including things beyond music like film, has garnered the attention of national media like the New York Post, Just Circuit, Transworld magazine, GQ, Thrasher, and others. This was fueled by buzz relating to the caliber artists we pitch music to. This has successfully left our mark as a versatile production company in all areas of music publishing, promotion, production, and prestige. We also have outside contacts both nationally and internationally that assist us in circulating music worldwide. This includes movies in both the U.S. and the rest of the world. And finally, we deal in the international distribution of established artists or labels using a contract that accesses the distribution networks of Universal Music Group, Atlantic Records, and Sony Music.

All submissions we select must maintain a professional standard, with the artists having prestigious music and willing to be a part of a team that has a very strong work ethic.

Any of the producers mentioned can be googled to easily find information like wikipedia. We work behind the scenes and out of the public eye, but we should have some decent information on our specific producers on Wikipedia or songwriting credits out there.

LINKS: As we make major website changes to prepare for our audio software launches, our main website will be down for the next week. In the meantime you can visit www.facebook.com/austoundmusic or one of our sister sites like the soul-based www.KDMTrax.com (Music distribution for over 25 record labels, we are a partner in this Chicago-based distribution company for what is mostly Soul/R&B/House)

One of our favorite and funnest jobs we do is for XGames in Austin and major skateboarding videos; music for skateboarding videos wanted! http://skateboarding.transworld.net/photos/tws-c-u-t-presented-etnies-austin-wrap/

BMI Info: AUSTOUND MUSIC CAE/IPI #: 750947127

Interview with Greg Tanoose of Austound Music
1. Your name & position - a little bit about your experience, who you’ve worked with etc.
First, thanks for hearing what I have to say and giving me a chance to brag a bit. How far back do you want me to go? I'm not sure if I have enough time. I'm Greg, but my friends call me 7@/\/00$3. I am the executive producer put in charge of our hip-hop and electro ventures. My first industry work was with King Crimson drummer/producer Pat Mastelotto. He discovered me in Austin and has been there to give me guidance ever since. It is because of him that Austound Music started on day one with a bar set really high. I have the opportunity to work with some prestigious artists on this team, and the most important thing in my life is always the current projects we are working on.

I've worked with everything from network TV to delivering Top 40 music to the biggest labels, and even being dubbed the executive producer and was put in charge of recording and producing many great artists. I do this as many hours as I can fit in a day without sleeping. I wont keep going down the list of everything we work on, but I do business with platinum and gold awarded producers to place music. It is a constant challenge, but there is something about constantly staying busy with art and entertainment that is satisfying to my personal growth. Artistic integrity is one of the most important things to me. After spending years to make this industry a legitimate career, I am very empathetic and effective when I give a musician or songwriter my time.

2. What attributes about a song/band catches your ear upon a first listen? (what are your hot buttons)
Anything. A hit is a hit and we always explain to our new artists that we consider genre insignificant (shh don't tell our competitors). I always say if a song is well-written enough, it can be played in any genre and still be a hit. We look for video-game "hits" (for EA Games or Blizzard), or a hit for an intense sports scene on TV. Most of all, we enjoy looking for artists that just "write hits". That natural talent that can't be taught, we have a keen sense of finding it. We've even helped some great natural talents that may not be familiar with certain industry standards. I recently got a microphone for a singer because she couldn't record and had a great voice. We find that when enough hard-work is put into something, it pays off. Of course, we do expect actual recordings to have the basic principles that it takes to get the song into the right hands. If I'm showing Atlantic records a song, even a "demo" should be good enough quality to meet the high-standards that are set. As for as sonics in mixing, we look for details like snare "snaps" and good bass "booms", and if you want it on TV you need mixes that are ready to be played on the radio tomorrow. If the song is hot, that's the first step. Then you've wound up with 100 fantastic songs that you've put on hold because they're all good. So we group them sonically and pick the final cuts from there. Unfortunately we can't sign everyone. We literally have to find needles in the haystack....well not "literally" but figuratively. Some songs are run by multiple producers on our team for final approval.

3. What can a submitter expect to be a next step if you “select” their submission?
That would depend on what opportunity they've submitted for. First, I would like to let those submitting know that we do take the time to professionally listen to every Music Xray demo we receive. To the artists we do select (for bigger things like Top 40 music) I would say to anyone "this is a family. we are supporting you with the assumption that you are willing to face the challenges that may come" but we will never know how dedicated they are until it's time to do something last-minute like recording new vocal tracks in order to present the song to an interested label before they lose interest. We do what we can to make it happen and help, we really do enjoy working one-on-one together. We have opportunities that may need immediate studio work, while others may require a full remix. We input whatever we possibly can, but the willingness to help if necessary is important in knowing who understands what it takes. I've had deadlines that required me and some producers to stay up all night in order to prepare video clips that will be sent out the next day. Thanks to having freelance producers-on-demand, we now can do that. Is the selected artist willing to do that? We spend a lot of time developing relationships with both artists and the business end. Lots of one-on-one business, artist development, possibly some production if the song needs it, then we begin the venture of moving the song. We are some-kind of publishing company bred with a record label. And of course, all our music must meet the prestige of the guys up the ladder who give us the financial means, because they trust us enough to let us do what we do.

4. What do you like about Music Xray that compels you to have an account?
If people understood the amount of demos we get in ALL our business communication outlets, they would realize why something like Music Xray is essential to help us stay organized. It breaks down submissions to very specific folders and allows us to give artists who don't have management a chance to have us hear their stuff. We do not accept demos outside without professional management. We have found some great talent that has grown beyond the one selected opportunity into ongoing artistic collaboration.

-Greg Tanoose
Executive Producer of Hip-Hop/Electro/Urban
Austound Music