Ep. 47: Meet the MyScore Team! (JW Pepper Week, Day One)

All right.

Hi, everyone.

Hey.

So, this is a bit of a special episode.

I am actually sitting in the JW Pepper Conference Room in Pennsylvania, the John Philip Sousa Memorial Conference Room.

And we are here with the MyScore staff.

So, we’ve got Isaac Brooks, who you have met before.

This is your third time on the show, I believe.

Hopefully, not the last.

Hopefully, not the last.

And then, why don’t you introduce our other two guests?

Yes.

So, we have Liam Thomas and Kyra McEntee.

And they are two new additions to our MyScore staff.

And they are awesome.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Yeah.

So, we just thought it would be fun for listeners to get to know the people that are responding to emails and handling updates and customer service and all that stuff for MyScore users, you know, when they input things on the site.

Like, these are the people that handle it on the back end.

Right.

So, let’s start with you, Kyra.

Why don’t you just give us quickly your background and what you do for MyScore and, you know, where you came from and…

Where I came from.

All of that.

Wow.

Well, I’ll start with what I do for MyScore.

I came on as a digital media associate, which means I kind of dabble in media and marketing.

But mostly what I do is I get the daily uploads.

That’s what I call it, the daily upload.

I get all of the MyScore uploads that we receive every day and make sure that they make it on the website.

How many do you get every day?

Sorry to interrupt you.

It really depends on the day, because like if it’s on the weekend, there’s not a lot of uploads on like Sundays, because people know it’s not going to be on the website until Monday.

But I think we’re averaging at about like 40 to 60 products a day.

Or if it’s a holiday weekend, we’ll get over 100.

Oh yeah, I had like 107 in just one day, the other day.

The serial composers hit us.

Some people like to up for the line once.

Why were you looking at me when you said that?

But yeah, I’m the first line of defense for that.

I make sure everything makes it on there, all the assets, all of the sheet music.

And then I’m also the editor for anything MyScore.

Basically, if you need to replace your PDF, I got you.

New MP3.

Yeah, that’s basically what I do here.

I also do some stuff for media.

I help with the catalog and stuff.

And what’s your primary instrument?

My primary instrument?

My primary instrument is my voice, actually.

I did play the clarinet growing up, but I definitely use my voice a lot more often.

And how did you decide voice was the thing that you wanted to do and not clarinet or some other instrument or sports ball?

Well, I’m really bad at sports.

I’m not good at it.

I tried every sport growing up and I never got into it.

And I liked the clarinet, but again, I wasn’t the best at it.

It was more of just like a hobby, but I’ve always loved singing no matter what.

Like I’ve always been in it 100 percent.

I thought I was going to be on Broadway at one point.

You know how it is.

You still might be.

Maybe.

But yeah, I just I’ve always enjoyed singing more.

I think it’s especially with the classical singing.

It’s a challenge and I like a challenge.

So that’s great.

What about you, Liam?

Uh, so for the MyScore team, I guess, I mean, I really have just kind of scratched the surface a little bit.

I’m, you know, answering some support things and stuff like that.

But I guess primarily I was brought on to be someone of a composer consultant, I think, in the way that I’m going to help make sure that scores that are being uploaded and the music that’s being presented is going to be, you know, the best quality it can be in terms of like just providing support, I guess, for composers.

And how long have you been working for MyScore?

Three days.

This is my third day.

This is breaking news, people.

I got the scoop.

No one else knows about this.

I’m the one that found you at MyScore.

So yeah, I’m still getting acclimated and everything, but I’m already starting to feel like it’s a pretty good fit.

I can answer questions and I have a background in composition, I guess, that’s going to transition a little bit more into my background.

I studied composition all through college and grad school that I just recently finished.

I finished both degrees, bachelors and masters at Westchester University, studying composition.

So all the score prep, making the score look good, making sure you have a decent quality of recording to at least preview what you can do as a composer.

It’s all part of the process, and I think that’s going to segway me into nicely being able to provide support, I suppose.

Did you say what your instrument was, or was I not paying attention?

No, my primary instrument is guitar.

I’m a guitar player, and then I dabble with the keyboard as well.

Mostly MIDI keyboard nowadays, I guess.

Don’t we all?

Yeah.

Yeah.

So yeah, mostly I’ve dabbled in both areas of composition, writing for the screen and for sitting down and writing for ensembles that need sheet music.

That’s where my path has taken me.

That’s great.

So based on Kyra, we’ll throw this one to you.

Based on all of the uploads and the edits and everything that you have been getting, do you have any advice for composers listening to this that are submitting music to MyScore?

Any things that would make your life better?

Any things that would make their music better if they would just fix it now?

Oh, man.

And keep in mind, we only have ten minutes.

No, I’m just kidding.

I mean, there’s a lot of things.

I think the biggest thing I would say is just take your time.

I know you get excited when you’re on there and you want to, like, you just want to get your first piece out there, but a lot of times you’ll, like, miss steps, and a lot of times I’ll have to delete it and, like, we’ll have to start from square one.

So, I think taking your time is something that would make my life a little easier, I guess.

In the actual upload process or in the writing the piece?

In the upload process.

Because they usually have, like, a fully flushed out piece.

It’s just like sometimes, like, a lot of times I’ll get just a score and no instrument parts to go with it.

And the instrument parts are kind of essential because no one’s really going to just buy a score.

That they’re going to want the instrument parts to go along with it.

So things like that.

Make sure you have a fully, a full package to sell.

Really check on that paper sizing.

Yeah.

There’s just like a lot of common mistakes.

And I get it because it’s like common sense for us, but it’s not common sense for them.

Well, and that’s exactly why I’m asking because it’s such an unusual, I mean, it’s not something you do day to day.

Like, I’m going to go publish a piece of music.

I mean, one of the biggest things is someone will put like the double size for something because obviously when you have like a big score, it’s not 9 by 12 all stapled together.

It’s 12 by 18 folded in half.

So they put the 12 by 18 instead of putting 9 by 12 because technically the page size is only 9 by 12.

We understand that we need to use 12 by 18 paper, but yeah, that’s something that would save me a lot.

Did that happen today?

Yeah, it happens every day.

It happens.

Oh, and anything landscape has to be coil bound.

That’s a very important, anything landscape or anything bigger than…

I don’t think I knew that.

Yeah, anything landscape has to be coil bound and anything 8.5 by 14 or bigger.

So anything that exceeds like 9 by 12 also has to be coil bound.

So that would actually help a lot, because I have to go in and put all of the coil bound for everyone.

There you go.

So those are a couple of things I think would be good to know.

I’ll keep that in mind.

All right.

So obviously, Liam, you’ve only been working here two days, three days, but you’ve worked with composers before, you have a background as a composer.

Any thoughts as you jump into it for composers that are kind of on the fence about this whole thing, whether or not it’s even worth it to self-publish?

Well, for that matter, yeah, I think it absolutely is worth it.

It’s a minimal cost to be able to get your music out there.

Someone like who hasn’t had a huge jump in a career in terms of writing music just because I’m pretty much fresh into the field, having an opportunity like that to put your music somewhere and have the, like, even if it’s not going to sell all that much, it may, it’s good to know that there’s a location that you can have a place where someone can say, hey, this actually looks like a good piece of music that I can use when you buy it, and then you’re going to get a good product.

Or even for yourself, you can purchase your own product and have a nice copy of it on the, so self-publishing, I think, is a big part of the future.

I mean, you know, that’s something that I always was told and learned in school, was like, you know, self-publishing is absolutely the way to get started, so it’s a good place to start.

And then in terms of like tips, I guess, already even though I’ve only been here not very long, I’ve noticed that like a lot of the stuff to see, you know, when people are saying, hey, how can I get my music on there?

One of the first things that I’ve been doing is like checking out their website or a link that they send me.

So like having a place where it’s easy to see what your music is and what your status is as a composer and how your music can fit into the catalog, I think is a good place to start to make it easily accessible.

Just like how it will be easily accessible when it’s on MyScore, your website could maybe make us on the team looking at your music, have an easier way to find it.

That’s great.

I have some musical get to know you questions for the two of you.

Oh, boy.

All right.

So, we’ll start with a softball.

Kyra, what is your favorite performance you’ve ever been a part of?

Gosh.

Okay.

I was in marching band in high school.

In my junior year, we did this show called Amun Ra, and it was all like Egyptian themed, and it was just like written really well.

That’s cool.

And for me, I think a recent one, because I play in kind of like a hard rock metal group at the moment, where I’m trying to use my composition skills as well to make lots of different things happen.

We were able to open up for a pretty big touring band, I think, in Reading.

That was a great experience.

Cool.

I want to answer that.

Yes.

So, I play the cello, and a lot of my stuff is classical like Vivaldi, Telemann, and all the stuff that everyone knows.

But, I was in a Foo Fighters cover band called White Limo.

Yes.

And we would perform at like Pumpkin Palooza down at the World Cafe Live.

And everyone flips out when they see the giant violin come on stage.

Of course, they’ve had a few extra adult beverages, but it made it fun.

All right.

We’ll start with you Liam on this one.

If you had a theme song, who would record and or compose it?

So, you can choose your artist or your writer, whatever is going to be the best fit for your personality.

Oh gosh.

I’m a really big, lately a huge influence on me and especially like for what I wrote for like my thesis and everything.

Bon Iver is a huge influence of mine.

Folk artist, I think that’s a pretty good all around.

You know, guitars and vocals and all that good stuff, I think it represents me.

Andrew Lloyd Webber, because I needed to be dramatic and a little weird.

There you go.

What about you, Isaac?

Telemann.

Telemann.

Going old school.

I like it.

Favorite key signature, Isaac?

A minor.

A minor.

G major.

I’ll go with C major.

There you go.

That’s the best one.

Nothing wrong with that.

No flats, please.

No flats.

String instruments.

All right.

Give our listeners some homework.

What is a band or a composer or an album that you feel like needs to be appreciated more and they should go listen to right now?

I’m going to stick on the Bon Iver train.

Four Emma, Forever Ago.

Really good just vocal writing and everything is great.

I think you need to go listen to a guy named Joe Jackson.

He’s also on MyScore, but emerging composer out of UT, Texas and Austin, Texas.

Great commissions, great music.

Could be the next Shawn Williams.

Hey.

Wow.

That’s awesome.

I’m going to go with Billie Eilish’s new album.

It’s really experimental and satisfying to listen to.

Really cool, really different than what she’s been doing.

So I’m really enjoying that lately.

Awesome.

Well, to wrap things up, Isaac, do you want to give just a little bit of an update on where things are at with MyScore and the MyScore Team and what to look for in the next couple of months?

There’s a lot of exciting things happening with MyScore.

Obviously, the growth of our team is one indication of that, but coming soon towards the end of the summer, we’ll have a new user experience for MyScore, new profiles, improved upload process, sales reports are going to look really slick.

A lot of really cool stuff that we’ve been able to implement after over a decade of working with composers and finding out what their needs are, and really getting out there and understanding what kind of music people want to sell.

So we’re really excited about that, and of course we’re going to be doing a lot to promote MyScore and make sure the music is getting to the right place.

So be on the lookout for that.

Awesome.

Any parting words of wisdom from either of you?

Anything you want to say to the MyScore user base?

If you’re doing music, don’t stop.

Don’t, don’t, I often get in a rut because I like feel hopeless, but like you just got to keep going because we’re an underappreciated industry.

So we need to, we need to keep going for the sake of the kids, all the kids in the band programs and the choir programs.

That’s what we’re doing it for.

Yeah, I’ll piggyback off that.

I mean, just keep going as a composer.

It’s going to ebb and flow.

It’s going to, there’s going to be ups and downs.

Just keep putting yourself out there.

I think MyScore would be a great place to start, especially for me too, as like speaking from experience, I’m excited to get my music in a place that can be accessed and published.

So I’m excited.

And don’t stop listening to the Selling Sheet Music podcast.

There you go.

Well, thanks to all of you.

And I’m sure we’ll be hearing more from you and from MyScore in the future.

Thanks, Garrett.

Thank you.