WHO WE ARE – HILLTOP RECORDS STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

To help acquaint Festival-goers with HillTop Records, we thought we would publish our statement of purpose for those of you who want to learn more about us. HillTop Records is an independent record label incorporated in 1993 in California and dedicated to promoting America’s songwriters. Instead of signing and promoting artists (singers and bands), HillTop contracts songwriters and promotes their songs.

All HillTop contracted songs are arranged and recorded by award-winning musicians who have worked with some of the biggest names in Pop, Country, Rock, R & B, Latin and Gospel music.  This approach gives songwriters from all across America access to some of the professional arrangers and musicians whose talents have helped to create chart-topping recordings for the stars.

HillTop has also joined forces with gifted executive producers, most notably Roy Stuart (b: 1927; d: 2005) and Carole Ita White. Mr. Stuart starred on Broadway in musicals, appeared in night clubs and in motion pictures, filmed over 100 TV commercials and guest appeared on more than 30 TV shows including Bewitched, Golden Girls and General Hospital. Perhaps best known for creating the role of Corporal Boyle on the hit TV show, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., Mr. Stuart also wrote and directed his musical, The Gym, which opened for a brief run in Los Angeles. Roy Stuart executive produced three CD album projects for HillTop: On Broadway in 2002, New York, New York in 2003 and Broadway Melodies in 2004.

Carole Ita White created the role of Big Rosie on the hit TV show Laverne & Shirley. To date, she has appeared in more than two dozen TV shows, and her many motion picture credits include The Fabulous Baker Boys, The Witches of Eastwick and Grand Canyon. She has written for television and produced Books on Tape for Dove Audio. As an executive producer at HillTop, she released two CD album projects, ShowBiz in 2008 and On Stage in 2010. 

Many of HillTop’s music production services are fee-based. Available services include lead sheets, piano arrangements, band arrangements, full scores, recordings and recorded background tracks.

Songs recorded by HillTop and slated for commercial release are packaged, distributed and promoted. CDs, songbooks and single songs are sent to both land-based and Internet stores and radio stations. Press releases go to newspapers and Internet news sites. Sales are realized, and songwriters are paid.  

As the buying trend in America shifts away from brick and mortar stores to online music purchases, HillTop continues to increase its online presence. The company’s official website is designed to promote HillTop songwriters and achieve sales of their songs. Songs under contract are released on CD albums, in songbooks and, in some cases, as single song mp3 files; since 1998, all of these have been made available for sale on HillTop’s website. The website features one or more HillTop songwriters, Featured Songwriter and up to 18 new, recently recorded songs every month.  A weekly blog covering subjects ranging from how to use new media to brief bios of famous songwriters appeared on the website beginning in 2009. Internet Radio was added in 2010. 

 

With the promotion of America’s songwriters as its primary goal, in 2011, HillTop Records launched its First Annual Online Music Festival for Songwriters. The Festival brought in award-winning professionals to judge each of the song categories – Pop, Country, Gospel, Rock and Urban/R&B.

The First Annual HillTop Records Online Music Festival for Songwriters was open to any American songwriter whose earnings from songwriting totaled less than 10% of their annual income.  Both festival-goers and songwriters participated for free, and dozens of songwriters from all across America entered songs. Thousands attended the Festival and clicked to “like” their favorite songs. 

Steve Euto-Mullis took home $1000 and the first Festival Blue Ribbon for his song The Master of the Sky.  His composition also won the Best Country Song prize and was the most “liked” song in July; it won total cash awards of $1500.  Read more about the late, great American songwriter on Steve Euto-Mullis' HillTop Songwriter Page. 

As My New Life Begins by Chris Blackmore earned $500 as the most “liked” song of the Festival in 2011 as voted by festival-goers. It also won the HillTop Award – the one song chosen for recording by HillTop. Chris is an aspiring singer/songwriter from Indiana who released his first CD in January 2012.

Marx Clark’s song, I Give It Back To You, won the 2011 Best Gospel Song Festival prize. All of the Best of Genre songwriters received a Winner’s Certificate and a cash award of $250.

The Best Pop song in the 2011 Festival was Full Moon by Chuong Duong and Hai Pham. Chuong is a musician and poet from Massachusetts.

The winning Festival 2011 song in the Rock category was HillTop Rock by G. Milton Luttrell. Mr. Luttrell picked up the saxophone in the 6^th grade and has been making music ever since.

The 2011 Festival song judged as Best in the Urban/R&B category was Mystical Lady by Perlie Oliver. Perlie loves all styles of music including R&B, Country, Gospel and Jazz. 

Joseph A. Data won a special cash award of $250 for All The King's Horses, which received the most “like” votes in the Festival in June 2011.

The Second Annual HillTop Records Online Music Festival for Songwriters runs from July 2, 2012 through Labor Day, 2012, with even more cash awards than its predecessor. The goal of HillTop Records and its Online Music Festival is to promote America’s songwriters, giving them access to an ever-expanding audience, and to reward some of the best of those songwriters.

HillTop has worked with songwriters from every state in the United States as well as Canada, Australia, Russia, Mexico, Guam and Puerto Rico.