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INNOVA RECORDINGS SPRING NATIONAL CALL
Innova Recordings serves artists in the entire creative process of making recordings. Wherever artists may be in that process, this program provides them with support and guidance. We require no application fee nor, if selected, an administrative fee for projects to be produced by innova.
We seek to foster an artist-centric cooperative model where both label and artist work closely to achieve the artist’s goals. We seek to support artists in their creative process as well as promoting their project. We facilitate a support network of selected artists to provide guidance and feedback to each other throughout the process. We are a collective of open-minded listeners who welcome all kinds of musical expression.
We are grateful for our partnership with the Elizabeth and Michel Sorel Charitable Organization, whose mission is to expand opportunities and stretch the boundaries for women. Their generous funding will help us lift up artists who have been historically marginalized in the recording industry.
For those who have not yet completed the recording project, a small grant from the Elizabeth and Michel Sorel Charitable Organization is available to work with a recording engineer or space owned/led by someone from an underrepresented gender*.
In addition to the support from ACF’s annual fund, innova Recordings receives endowed support from The McKnight Foundation.
For more information about ACF’s equity commitment, please read ACF’s Statement of Commitment to Equity
WHAT WE OFFER AT NO COST TO THE ARTIST
the following services are provided free to label artists
100% SALES AND RIGHTS STAY WITH YOU. ALWAYS.
You own what you make. You keep 100% of the sales profits.
DISTRIBUTION TO DIGITAL SERVICE PROVIDERS
Your music worldwide, on all streaming services and available for download. Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon, Youtube, etc. via Naxos Distribution
SOCIAL MEDIA PROMOTION
We’ll work with you to get the word out about your project on our social media as well as guide you in promoting yourself on social media and beyond.
LICENSING
In addition to you keeping the rights and income, we’ll help negotiate licensing opportunities when they come through our door to put your music in Film, TV, and Commercials. Artists receive an upfront equitable cut of the licensing fee and keep the intellectual property going forward.
ARTIST COHORT
We facilitate conversations between our selected artists to form a supportive community to guide each other through the process.
NATIONAL NETWORK OF SERVICES AVAILABLE
We can connect you with the following available services at a reduced cost as part of our national network of connections and resources:
RECORDING STUDIO TIME
Connect you with recording studios to offer recording space and expertise.
POST PRODUCTION
We can assist you in finding engineers who can provide mixing and mastering assistance.
PR AND MARKETING
Engage PR professionals who can provide long-term traditional marketing campaigns
DESIGNERS
Everything from cover art design to multimedia content. Through our network we can connect you with designers to supply complimentary art to your project.
PHYSICAL MANUFACTURING AND DISTRIBUTION
We offer assistance in getting CDs and Vinyl manufactured at discounted rates and distributed to physical retail
ELIGIBILITY
American Composers Forum encourages applicants of all racial and gender identities to apply. We will be holding space for women artists to be funded through the Sorel Organization. We invite artists from a full range of musical approaches and are committed to supporting a diverse pool of artists creating music today. For more information about ACF’s equity commitment, please read ACF’s Statement of Commitment to Equity.
This opportunity is for U.S.-based artists, including composers, creators, and performers (as individuals or groups).
HOW TO APPLY
Whether you have a fully finished album or even demo tracks [APPLY HERE] and tell us about your music. The application portal will be open March 15 and will close on April 28, 2023 at midnight.
We welcome applicants to discuss their projects and seek guidance on the application process or their projects in general. In addition, an information session about the application process will be held on April 5th at 3pm CT. You can register for the information session on zoom here. Closed captioning is available. A recording of the information session will be posted online for those not able to attend.
PANEL OF CURATORS
KENNEDY TAYLOR DIXON
Described as a “vibrant musical voice,” Kennedy Taylor Dixon is a violist, composer, and scholar currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Music Composition at Princeton University. Her work has been heard at multiple national conferences and international festivals, including New Music on the Point, Bang on a Can, Electronic Music Midwest, and International Alliance for Women in Music.
KEN UENO
Ken Ueno is a composer, vocalist, and sound artist. His works develop the interstice between these three output modes. He creates unique spaces for audiences and ensembles to inhabit with the added focus of himself as a vocalist utilizing bespoke techniques (often with a megaphone). Ueno is currently a Professor in Music at UC Berkeley.
LAURA STEENBERGE
Laura Steenberge is a composer, performer and researcher at the crossroads of music, language, movement and mythology. As a solo performer-composer she develops pieces with with viola da gamba, voice, found objects, contrabass and keyboard instruments. When composing for others, much of the work is context-specific and developed collaboratively with ensembles and individuals including Rage Thormbones, Carolyn Chen, Heather Lockie, Argenta Walther, Carole Kim, Ursula Brookbank, KCM Walker, Carmina Escobar, Marco Fusi, Radical 2, Deso Duo, Tim Feeney, Tiffany Ng, Julia Holter, Catherine Lamb and Rebecca Lane. From 2017-2018 she presented The Imaginary Music Radio Hour on NTS.com, and since 2019 has been transcribing and recording 11th century Aquitanian Chant as part of the EnChanted Images project at Stanford University directed by medieval art historian Bissera Pentcheva. Recordings of compositions can be found on Harmonica Fables (Nueni Recs) and The Four Winds (Quince Contemporary Vocal Ensemble, New Focus Recordings), and she has appeared as a performer on recent releases by Ghost Ensemble (Mountain Air), Tashi Wada (Nue) and Sarah Davachi (Pale Bloom). Her writings can be found in MusicTexte, Lateral Edition, The Experimental Music Yearbook, and Aural Architecture in Byzantium (Ashgate, 2018). She has taught about experimental sound practices and medieval chant at the California Institute of the Arts and Stanford University and currently resides in Asheville, NC.
JULIAN OTIS
Julian Terrell Otis is a creative vocalist/improviser, curator, and composer from Chicago, IL. He has been a featured vocalist on works by George E. Lewis, Nicole Mitchell, and Angel Bat Dawid. His interests have led him to championing the vocal works of composers like Julius Eastman and Ben Patterson. He is currently working on his Creative Capital project Resolved: Critiquing Contemporary Music Through Improvised Performance. You can check out his work on Bandcamp!
SOREL CHARITABLE ORGANIZATION
The Elizabeth & Michel Sorel Charitable Organization Inc. is a 501©(3) private foundation, established in 1996 by pianist Claudette Sorel and named for her parents. The mission of The Sorel Organization (www.SorelMusic.org) is to expand opportunities and stretch the boundaries for women musicians in the fields of conducting, composition, film scoring, performance, arts leadership, education, and scholarship.
