Song Placements illustrates the Hollywood dream come true

Go to SongPlacements.com to start now.

In Hollywood, nothing comes for free.  As Marilyn Monroe remarked, "Hollywood's a place where they'll pay you a thousand dollars for a kiss, and fifty cents for your soul."

While that may be true for some organizations in the film and music industry, catch a whiff of Song Placements for less than a minute, and you'll come to find a rarity of charitableness toward clientele and business smarts for bottom lines coupled into one stellar organization.

Song Placements is a full-service matchmaker, connecting the artist to the music industry.  Serving as the catalyst to help artists looking to grow their musical abilities and potential careers, Song Placements joins together the know-how of the major players in music (agents, filmmakers, managers, radio producers, etc.) with the artistry of the musician to generate content for mass media.  Educational tools also train amateur musicians with everything from how to find an agent to what could attract a record deal.

Subscribers get a multitude of benefits by becoming a Song Placement member.

Located on Los Angeles' infamous Song Placements' office is one part chill groove and two parts creative genius.  Upon entering, one can be greeted by an array of personalities; ranging from cutting-edge web developers to fashionably clad representatives.  Added to the mix - a board room with an entire black board wall positing motivational sayings and smily faces, and even a door labeled "Idea Room."

It was in this highly inspired atmosphere that I met with David Hitt, the one guiding this enterprising ship.  Dave and his partner Inga Gasparyan started Song Placements after Inga, a musician herself, discovered the difficulty of breaking into the music scene.  The couple recognized the plight of struggling artists, and decided to merge her passion for the arts with his business savvy.

And just like that, Song Placements was born.  With no money and very little experience in the music industry, the two struggled at first to simply make ends meet from day to day.  Plugging their funds into their dream, the two were nearly homeless for a few weeks as monies continued to dry up.  And all the while, they fought to provide a business that gave artists the creativity to do what they do best while connecting them with the powers that be to generate record label outcomes. 

Song Placements is not only a great example of how businesses are built, but how they are created by people with great heart but not necessarily the revenue. Now building a name for themselves by actively pursuing their potential clients not only at local music scenes, clientele is also majorly based on referrals.  Fresh talent is also scouted on social networking sits like MySpace.  Unlike most music industry-related companies, Song Placements is not so much worried about the sell-factor of the client but rather the education that said artists need in order to do what they love - make music!  

The young enterprise now offers a blog, a website, and on-going emails to keep the artists up-to-date with the latest happenings of the music world, tools that their artists (ranging from age 14 to 60) can use, and encouragement to keep at it in an often-cynical industry. 

Song Placements has hit the media waves. 

Now what does this have to do with charity as normally discussed in this column? Sure - not your typical nonprofit, 501c3 business. Okay. But could it be that Song Placements is the perfect example of the Hollywood dream in a city gone awry with lost hopes and dreams sitting despairingly on every corner?

This past weekend, yours truly took a trip downtown to feed the homeless.  There, I met a woman named Louise who asked to speak with me for a moment.  She shared her story, plagued with fear and bitterness at those in her past and indeed surrounding her at that very moment.  Her closing pleadings, however, were the utterances that would plague me for days.

"Don't forget what you can do," Louise said.  "Don't forget that you have a voice, and you can use it. Use it for the right reasons."

What causes me to marvel at a corporation like Song Placements is not their flashy logos and pretty employees.  It is neither about who they know nor what they can do for their clientele.  Instead, the real miracle here is that there were two young people who had a passion and a dream to help those longing to enter the music industry, and followed through until they saw their dream a reality.  The finesse and kindness with which they run their business teems with humility that only can be borne from adversity.  The zest that the Song Placements team uses to fight for their artists surges from those who understand what it means to struggle and have come out victoriously.  And the grand exuberance one carries with him or her after having interacted with Song Placement associates? Well, that is just a bonus...

So whether you are a forlorn youth looking for a way to fight for your dream or a monotonous adult looking for a way to spice up your life, it is of this columnist's opinion that you remember Louise's words and look for the right reasons to keep fighting for your dream.  Take a lesson from Song Placements and find a need, then work as hard as you possibly can to fulfill it.  It may seem insignificant, but who knows if, like Dave and Inga, that finding of a need may generate a whole new brand of convention.

As for the future of Song Placements, they are continuing to expand the vision with developing an up-and-coming record label, growing the company's already set-in-place innovations, and looking for ways to give back to other dream-seekers who have fallen down on their luck.

And while the old adage that Hollywood may try to sell a person's soul for fifty cents might have some merit, organizations like Song Placements are proof that the dreams of innovators are very much alive, well, and not merely entering the mold of normal Hollywood behavior.  Instead, they are instructing the industry of how it should be cut.

For more information about how you can get involved with Song Placements, check out www.songplacements.com.