Be Careful Out There

I was recently contacted by a songwriter who had himself contacted an online Nashville-based company after he saw an ad for them on a music website.  When I checked it out, I saw that this company’s website was pretty straight-forward:  “We find songs for…” and then it proceeded to list a whole bunch of big name country artists.  So they were either a song publisher or song plugging company.  Below the long list of artists, there were three buttons.  The first button was supposed to be a FAQ, but the questions represented weren’t anything like “who we are and what we do”.  No, instead they included questions like “Do my words need to be perfect when I send them to you?” ,  “How long should my song be?” and “Do I need to copyright my songs before I send them to you?”.  All of their answers to these questions raised red flags for me.

The first question was “Do my words need to be perfect when I send them to you?”…any legitimate song publisher or songplugger WANTS A “PERFECT” SONG to pitch.  They don’t want to listen through a bunch of mediocre songs…which is why it is so hard to get that publishing deal in the first place.  Most song publishers listen to about the first :10 or :15 seconds of a song before they decide to turn it off or not.  But what did this company’s website say?  “No.  All songs start with a good idea and that’s all we need.”  Right away, this should tell you that they are taking anything that gets sent their way.  Why?  I’ll get to that in a minute.

Second question:  “How long should my song be?”  Now, that’s a rather odd question to put in a FAQ, but nevertheless, they have an answer for that one too!  Their answer is:  “A commercial song…usually has about 24 lines, but may vary.”  This reminds me of an old scam artist/self-proclaimed “hit” writer that I came across a number of years ago on the web.  He actually had it calculated down to the number of syllables in a line!  If you have this many syllables, your song could be a hit!  But all you have to do is check out a bunch of hit songs from anywhere, anytime, to see that numbers of lines and syllables is NOT the most important aspect of being a “hit”, nor is a certain number of them a prerequisite.  Another red flag.

Third question:  “Do I need to copyright my songs before I send them to you?”  Their answer?  No.  That was the biggest red flag for me.  Now, practically speaking, a lot of pro writers do not copyright their songs until they get picked up by an artist.  But they know who they’re dealing with, and they already have a name for themselves.  They are not you, the first time songwriter trying to get your songs to a publisher.  Technically, a copyright ‘exists’ when you finish writing a song.  You always put the copyright symbol on anything you send out.  And if you are really hot on that song, you register a legal copyright first before sending it anywhere.  No question.

Okay, let’s get back to that Nashville company website.  Remember I told you that I’d explain why they would take anything that is sent to them?  Well, this will tell you. The next button says “Read what songwriters are saying about [us].”  I read all of the quotes and every one of them was about the recording of the songwriter’s song.  For example:   “Thank you for making a great recording of my song. You are special people who make a difference.”  None of the quotes had anything to do with getting a song placed, pitching it to artists or getting on the radio, or anything else.  All they want is for you to pay them money to record your song.

When the songwriter who contacted me sent me a copy of the contract, my suspicions were confirmed.  This was all about paying money to get a song recorded.  And not only that, but you get a bonus of $30,000 when you get a number 1 hit!  Wow, so now, let me see…somehow getting a recording of your song done by them, which you pay them for, could be a number 1 hit??  How might that happen?   That’s the other ‘service’ they provide…they’ll send your song to a bunch of radio stations on a compilation CD!  That’s how it will become a hit.  It’s just that you have to pay for being on the compilation CD too.  Oh well, chump change compared to that $30,000 you’re going to make, right?  They’re going to send it out to hundreds of radio stations!  But here’s the twist:  most radio stations pay absolutely no attention to these compilation CDs.  The only CDs they will listen to come from legitimate and big name record labels.  I know…I worked at a radio station.  The CD your song is on gets filed under “G” for garbage.

The ‘contract’ that was sent to this songwriter was, in fact, a glorified invoice.  Please pay us $500+ dollars.  Oh, and your song could be a hit.

Don’t feel stupid if this has happened to you or if it does in the future.  It has happened to many, many songwriters over the years.  Heck, I still get an annual post card from a “big time” producer, gushing about my song (and he always gets the title wrong) and how he can make it a big hit for me down in Nashville.  I’ve received a post card every year for about ten years, and that’s not exaggerating.   I probably sent the song out there to a few places years ago and that’s how he got my address.  I laugh, but then I wonder how many others he does this to every year, and how many of them fall for it just because they really believe in their songs and want it to be true.

These guys are nothing but scam artists pulling at your heartstrings.

If you have any questions about any publishers or song pluggers, send them to me.  I am not a lawyer so if you get a big, long contract with a bunch of legalize in it, I won’t be able to decipher it much more than you will.  However, if it’s anything like the contract this songwriter sent me to look at, I can tell you right away if it’s a scam or not!

In the meantime, be careful out there.

IJ

PS…I occasionally receive emails from so-called song pluggers or people who want to collaborate and who claim they have written hits for certain artists, etc.   I usually research them first to see if they are legitimate by simply searching for their names in the ASCAP and BMI databases (or check with the PRO from whatever country they reside in).  If I can’t find their names registered anywhere, I’ll simply reply to their email and ask them what name they register their songs under.  If they are legitimate, they’ll tell you, if they don’t answer back, you’ve learned that either they are scammers or that they are not willing to share their info, which makes them highly suspicious.  As I always say, arm yourself with knowledge! ~ IJ

Sample Songwriting Partnership Agreement

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

(1)__________________________________________________

Whose usual residential address is

____________________________________________________
(hereinafter called “the first party”) and,

(2)__________________________________________________

Whose usual residential address is

____________________________________________________
(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)_____________________________

Name and address of Witness:

______________________________________________________

Signed (by the Second Party) _____________________________

Witnessed this day by (signed) ____________________________

Name and address of Witness:

______________________________________________________

You might want to copy and paste the above agreement, print out two copies and remember to have everyone sign each!

IJ

Songwriters – Are You Too Self-Centred?

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!

IJ