The following is a sample songwriting partnership agreement that you might want to use when you are co-writing. Do you need an agreement? It really is up to you, however some may feel more comfortable knowing that there is something in writing just in case your co-written song makes some money. Here it is:
This agreement dated this ______ day of ___________, 20__ , Made between
____________________________________________________ (hereinafter called “the second party” )
in respect of the musical composition known as :
_____________________________________________________ (hereinafter referred to as “the Said Work”)
WHEREAS IT IS HEREBY AGREED as follows:
1. The parties to this Agreement shall own the Said Work jointly.
2 All monies, receipts, benefits, benefits in kind or other remuneration, whether of money’s worth or otherwise received in respect of the said work shall be divided between the Parties in the following proportions:
50% (fifty percent) to the First Party, and 50% (fifty percent) to the Second Party.
3. The Parties to this Agreement may jointly make any alteration to the Said Work, or allow others to do so, but any such amendment, alteration, or otherwise shall not affect the contents of clause 2 herein.
4. The parties to this Agreement may jointly or separately promote the said work, or allow others to do so, but neither party may commit the other party to any expense, loss of earnings from the Said Work without the consent of the other party, save that no reasonable request for consent shall be withheld.
5. The period for which this Agreement shall remain in force is 5 years, or is mutually cancelled by the consent of both Parties in writing, or this Agreement is superseded by a Publishing, Recording or other Contract with a Third Party.
6. At the end of the five-year period, either party shall be entitled to demand the return of their component part in the Said Work, by notice in writing, posted in an pre-paid envelope and sent by registered post within a period of thirty clear days immediately following the fifth anniversary of the date of this Agreement.
7. Any further changes to this Agreement shall only be validated by written agreement signed by both Parties and duly witnessed and dated in a like manner to below.
In witness to this said Agreement: –
Signed (by the First Party)_________________________________
Witnessed this day by (signed)_____________________________
For the umpteenth time this week, I received a “hello” from a
songwriter on a popular music-sharing website I have a page on. It’s
nice that people say hello, but I know what they’re really saying.
Usually it is a disguised request for a critique. “Come and listen
to my songs” or “I sure would like to know what you think of my
music” is what they really mean. Sometimes they come right out and
ask; well, at least that’s honest!
Part of being a songwriter is connecting to others and getting
feedback, as well as getting advice on what to do with your songs.
But you are already somewhat self-involved simply by BEING a
songwriter (I mean, who else do you write about except yourself or
someone you’re infatuated with?? 🙂 ) so there comes a time
when you have to not only step away from yourself, but do a little
bit to help others along their path. So consider the following
etiquette:
1. Don’t Be A Spammer – when you sign up to a place like
Soundclick or MySpace, don’t spam everyone else on those websites
with a “listen to my new song!!” message. Seriously, doesn’t
it suck to get spam like that from others? And when you do, do you
go off and listen to their songs immediately and with wild
enthusiasm? Okay, maybe some of you diehards do 🙂 . But
think about how YOU would feel if someone made you feel obligated to
listen to their music all the time. You’d probably feel like they
were pretty full of themselves! Isn’t it nicer to discover other
people’s music on your own?
2. Don’t Be Offended – if somebody doesn’t like your song, get
over it! This is a big world and it’s utterly impossible to please
all of the people all of the time. Do you like every song you hear?
Of course not. Which leads me to my next thought…
3. Take a Step Away – when you are too close to your songs, you
can’t possibly be objective enough to fix what ails them, let alone
listen with any objectivity to feedback you receive about them. If
you find it difficult to remove yourself, then don’t make every
song you write all about you! Mix it up a bit, make some of it
fictitious. I’ve given this advice before in other articles, but
it can’t be said often enough…it’s only about you when you’re
in the bedroom by yourself writing it, once you take it out the door,
it’s about everybody else. Think about that.
4. Take The Time To Listen To Your Peers – join songwriting
circles, open mic nights, anything that exposes you to other
songwriters. You’ll learn a lot from them, including what NOT to
do. Listen to their songs and give them feedback. This also goes for
online songwriting websites where you can post your songs to be
critiqued. If you post a song, then critique two others. Make it a
habit. And of course, critiquing is a great way to learn, so what can
you lose?
5. Be Polite – the songwriters who get the most exposure, the most
connections and establish strong relationships with people in the
business are those who know how to be nice. Sounds simple, doesn’t
it? Be polite and thank anyone who gives you advice, directions,
suggestions. They’ll remember that.
I used to critique songs years ago. It took a lot of time and
sometimes it was the last thing I wanted to do at the end of a long
day, but if somebody asked, I critiqued. I finally stopped one day
when I got a nasty response to one of my critiques. Imagine that…I
took the time to give a detailed response to somebody’s song and
they blasted me for it!
That’s a self-centred songwriter. Don’t be like him!
I know…who cares what my favourite all time songs are? Well, to
tell you the truth, I saw somebody else do a similar list so I
decided why not me? The interesting thing about going through my
lists and lists of songs was in realizing how each one represented a
different time in my life, but they also reflect how my tastes
changed. As a songwriter, you realize the value of writing something
that will stick with your listeners, and I decided to evaluate each
one for that special something that made me shiver.
1. The first in my list had to be the very first song I fell in love
with, “Dizzy” by Tommy Roe. Go ahead, laugh :-). Dizzy became a
huge hit for Tommy in 1969, so that means I was 12 years old when I
first heard it. It so happened that I picked up a guitar for the
first time at the same age, and I was exposed to this new and crazy
thing called radio around about then too! You can listen to the song
first, if you like, and then I’ll tell you what that special
something was in this song for me:
The chorus modulating in the second line was the little musical bit
that was, at that time, magic to my ears. And the idea of being dizzy
with infatuation was also pretty appealing. What can I say? I was 12.
2. The next song is probably on a lot of songwriter’s lists simply
because it was written by songwriting guru Jimmy Webb. Glen Campbell
had a hit with “Witchita Lineman” in 1968, but I’m pretty sure
I didn’t hear it until later than that. Other artists have also
covered this song, including one of my favourites, James Taylor. When
I saw JT live here in Victoria a couple of years back, I nearly fell
off my chair when he performed this song! Here is Glen Campbell’s
version:
There are a gazillion things I love about this song. The Glen
Campbell version was pretty 60’s-sounding with its string section
prominently coming in at the beginning and throughout the recording.
And of course, there was Glen’s little guitar riff at the
beginning, and his solo half way through mirroring the melody is just
magic. His voice was beautiful and plaintive, perfect for the subject
of this song. An interesting thing about this song is that it has no
chorus, but a repeated phrase or refrain “and the Witchita Lineman
is still on the line.” The chord changes are gorgeous and
unpredictable, especially in the 3rd line of the verses when, having
come from a Gm7 in the previous, it changes to Dm7, Am7 and then
comes back to a G major. That’s the part that gives me shivers.
Listening again to James Taylor’s version gives it a whole new
feel. It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of James, and his voice,
again, is just perfect for this song.
And speaking of James…
3. I have to add a James Taylor song, and there are so many obvious
ones, so rather than being predictable I’m going to introduce you
to a song from his 1997 album called “Hourglass“. James’
brother Alex died in 1993 and this song is really about him. I read
an interview with James about this song, and he said that he decided
to change the character to a female “Alice” and give his personal
connection to it a little distance. Here is “Enough To Be On Your
Way“:
Here’s the first verse:
The sun shines on this funeral
The same as on a birth
The way it shines on everything
That happens here on earth
It rolls across the western sky
And back into the sea
And spends the day’s last rays
Upon this fucked up family
So long old gal
The 2nd to last line made me laugh out loud when I first heard it.
Don’t we all have f***ed up families? The song itself is a kind of
sentimental send off to a real character by the name of Alice.
The last time I saw Alice
She was leaving Santa Fe
With a bunch of round-eyed Buddhists
In a killer Chevrolet
Said they turned her out of Texas
Yeah she burned `em down back home
Now she`s wild with expectation
On the edge of the unknown
Nobody can write like James Taylor, and this whole song gave me
shivers, but the chorus does it especially:
Oh it`s enough to be on your way
It`s enough just to cover ground
It`s enough to be moving on
Home, build it behind your eyes
Carry it in your heart
Safe among your own
The kicker is the phrase “so long old gal” . I want this song
played at MY funeral!
4. Another band that I was turned on to in the 70’s was Steely Dan.
I played in a cover band then that had a brass section and we were
always looking for songs with brass parts, so the first Steely Dan
song I learned was “Pretzel Logic“. A few years later, Steely Dan
had a big hit with “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” and that’s
what started my love affair with their music.
My all time favourite Steely Dan song is Deacon Blues. All of their
songs all have a sophisticated jazz style of music married with
irreverent lyrics, but the lyrics in Deacon Blues somehow seem more
personal. Maybe I’m wrong…who knows what Donald Fagen was
thinking when he wrote it…I’m sure I don’t! For me personally,
this is a perfect example of how I stamped my own meaning on a song
lyric. Somewhere between the music and lyrics, I found something of
myself, even though I know it has nothing at all to do with me. And
that is the “shiver” quality that I get from Deacon Blues:
I can throw a CD (or iPod) full of Steely Dan songs in the car and
drive for hours.
5. I have to include a Joni Mitchell song and again, there are so
many to choose from. “Court and Spark” was the first album of
Joni’s that I purchased and I loved every track on it. And what I
ended up picking here was a song of hers that was released
commercially, “Help Me“. Joni was one of those rare writers who
could put poetry to music and make it work wonderfully. There’s a
simplicity to these lyrics, however:
Help me
I think I’m falling
In love again
When I get that crazy feeling
I know I’m in trouble again
I’m in trouble
‘Cause you’re a rambler and a gambler
And a sweet talking ladies man
And you love your lovin’
But not like you love your freedom
Of course, Joni’s guitar playing was something else again. Being a
guitar player myself, I was fascinated to learn that she hated the
“F” chord (I always tell my students that “F” has its name
for a reason!), and that’s one reason why she started using open
tunings. Opening tunings are more common now, but she made an art of
them and at one point she had 50+ different tunings.
“Help Me” was a perfect falling in love song for me…I
understood every second of it:
Again, I think I was most attracted to her chord progressions. “Help
Me” modulates from one key to another effortlessly and naturally
and just kind of floats musically. Once I figure out what tuning she
used, I’ll tell you what the keys are :-).
6. “Hello Goodbye” is a Beatles song I’ve always loved. It’s
that one line especially where the bass descends…”hello, hello, I
don’t know why you say goodbye I say hello” and then it repeats.
The lyrics are just a play on opposites but work perfectly with the
idea of a difficult or troubled relationship. “You say yes, I say
no, you say why and I say I don’t know”. Perfect.
I can’t imagine that any band or musician will ever be as big or as
influential as the Beatles, not because there aren’t any other
great bands, but because of the timing. The Beatles simply hit the
right note at the right time and it’s not possible to do that in
the same way again. For those of you who don’t know this song (I
can’t imagine you don’t!), here is “Hello, Goodbye”:
7. A songwriter I very much respect is Mary Chapin Carpenter. At a
music conference years ago, I heard John Braheny use Mary’s song
“This Shirt” as an exemplary example of object songwriting and I
couldn’t agree more. However, one of my all time favourite MCC
songs is called “Come On, Come On“. If you’ve never heard it,
here is a live performance of it:
I truly can’t decide if it’s Mary Chapin Carpenter’s delivery
that packs the real punch or the song itself.
Some people remember the first time
Some can’t forget the last
Some just select what they want to from the past
It’s a song that you danced to in high school
It’s a moon you tried to bring down
On a four-in-the-morning drive through the streets of town
Mary came out with this gem smack in the middle of my songwriting
frenzy in the 90’s. I couldn’t aspire to anyone more intelligent
and insightful. The whole song was moving for me, but so was the idea
that somebody could come up with a song so beautiful. I wish I wrote
that! She has also collaborated with the next songwriter I’ve got
on my list.
8. I discovered Shawn Colvin in the 1990’s after a friend of mine
suggested that, vocally, I sounded a lot like Shawn. So I bought her
CD “Fat City” out of curiosity and ended up falling in love with
her music. Again, her guitar playing and performance was a big sell
for me since that’s what I was out there doing a lot of at the
time. In 1998 she had a breakthrough hit with “Sunny Came Home“.
I love the acoustic guitar and mandolin in this song…in fact,the
whole production is fabulous:
The chord progressions are just wonderful in “Sunny”, the bass
line on the guitar keeps changing, first down and up and then down
again in the verses. Shawn and a few other songwriters started this
very percussive way of strumming that I tried to emulate a few times
in subsequent songwriting. The melody in the chorus of Sunny Came
Home is beautiful and stands out…Shawn has a fabulous voice, much
more versatile and controlled than mine ever could be. She has
written some great songs on her own, and has also collaborated a lot
in her songwriting career, which I’m sure has stretched her beyond
her own songwriting boundaries, and which is something I never did
enough of.
9. Even though the 70’s were sometimes written off because of
disco, I liked a lot of the songs that came out during that time. I
was not a KC and the Sunshine Band fan, and there was plenty of music
that I thought was fluff, but I did enjoy quite a bit of it,
including the next song by the Commodores called “Brick House“.
Why, I like it so much that my daughter has it as the ringtone on her
cell when I call her :-). What is it about this song?
It’s just sexy. And funky. The odd thing about “Brick House” is
that the verses have only one chord. Everything is about the lyrics
and the funk, no fancy chord progressions involved. In fact, even the
chorus is limited in terms of chords. But it doesn’t get boring,
does it? So what does that teach you?
10. Okay, my last choice is a reflection of the love and respect I
have found for jazz, especially earlier jazz. I didn’t appreciate
it at all until I was an adult, but I can’t for the life of me tell
you why. I’m thinking that Woody Allen‘s movies are probably what
brought me to jazz. He used to have jazz or dixie music in a lot of
his movies. It’s not that I didn’t hear it or know of it before
then, it’s just that I was too caught up in acoustic and
singer/songwriter and old pop music to hear anything else. I am
amazed that my 22-year-old daughter has already developed a taste for
it.
When I listen to Louis Armstrong singing “A Kiss To Build A Dream
On“, it just makes me swoon. It’s romantic, it’s happy, it’s
simple and it’s not simple at all. I picked this song as a kind of
representative of what I have learned to appreciate in my middle-aged
years.
There is SO MUCH music out there and I know I’m missing about 99%
of it these days. I plan to make a concerted effort to LISTEN MORE
and hopefully find some gems out there that I never would have heard
otherwise.
I’m also realizing that 10 songs is only the tip of the iceberg.
Stay tuned for the next 10 :-). You can purchase some of the albums
here:
