by Steve Schramm | Mar 31, 2023 | Songwriting
I grew up during what many would consider one of the “heydays” of Southern Gospel music. Quartet music was quite popular still, but newer sounds like Jeff and Sheri Easter were coming on the scene at the same time.
The Cathedrals were growing older and phasing out, meanwhile Ernie Haase’s Signature Sound was rising the ranks, having created a name and brand of his own.
One hallmark of this era was the opportunity to hear a little different take on a song by different artists.
For example, although Ernie was known for his performance of “Oh, What a Savior!” with the Cathedrals, it was not at all strange for his group to perform their version.
In fact, it was a hit!
Some of the most popular songs today—regardless of the genre—became popular because of how many artists recorded them, not in spite of that.
And yet, in today’s music scene, an altogether different sentiment seems to have arisen.
Sitting in a panel discussion with label heads, songwriters, and publishers, we heard “from the horse’s mouth” that artists don’t see it this way anymore.
Once a song has been commercially released and radio singled by an artist, it is considered “damaged goods” and not worthy of releasing at all—even on a record.
This mindset has far-reaching negative consequences. It treats the song as though as it is “one time use,” despite the fact that—in reality—songs live on in hearts and minds for decades.
Sometimes, forever!
Here are a couple problems with thinking of commercially released songs as damaged goods, and a strong opportunity if we’ll change our thinking.
“Churning and Burning” Reduces the Quality of the Music
Music business.
Two words that I never really thought of as working in harmony, but also never thought of as explicitly contradictory.
I don’t think I ever saw the music industry through rose-colored glasses.
But, may I be honest?
I didn’t personally realize how broken it was until after we started BuyDemoTracks.com.
Now—don’t mistake me for hopeless.
Actually, quite the opposite. We found problems—but fixable problems. We’re as optimistic as ever that the music industry has a bright future.
But we also know it will take some work to get there.
Here’s a good start: Let’s focus on raising the quality of the music itself.
One of the things we discovered is that songs are being “churned and burned” like some sort of factory.
Why?
Because companies need to make money. Nothing wrong with that. However, it often leads to creating music that is redundant and lacks creativity because “it’s what the people want to hear.”
Sure, there’s both an art and a science to creating great music that resonates with your target audience.
But creating music for the sake of tickling ears instead of changing hearts is a losing game. Such is the fruit of a “churn and burn” mindset.
Songs don’t get better by creating music people allegedly want to hear and then moving on to the next one as quickly as possible.
Songs get better by hearing them performed creatively and often.
One of my favorite songs is Dive by Steven Curtis Chapman. When Steven and Ricky Skaggs did a mashup on it, I was not in any way offended to hear that application of a classic Contemporary Christian song.
You kidding?! I was like a kid in a candy store! I get to hear one of my favorite CCM songs performed by one of my favorite Bluegrass artists? Too cool!
This will become a thing of the past unless we change our tune.
Songs are not Being Given the Opportunity to Live a Long, Fruitful Life
Andrew Fletcher said, “Let me make the songs of a nation, and I care not who makes its laws.”
Songs are transformational. And when we treat them as anything less, they fire back with the vengeance of obscurity.
At BuyDemoTracks.com, we’re just silly enough to believe that a song is something special (more on that specifically in a bit).
Songs deserve to live a long life, not whither away and die in last place on a top 20 countdown or—worse—in virtual obscurity as the 6th song on an album nobody is listening to.
But is this wishful thinking? Have the people spoken, and this is just how it is?
I don’t think so. Now, that’s certainly the case with some things. For example, people just don’t listen to CDs anymore. They shuffle their music on Spotify, Amazon Music, and Apple Music.
They want to discover new stuff. Occasionally they’ll fall in love with an artist and listen to song #6 on the new album, but that is—admittedly—quite rare.
However, let’s zoom out and look at the wider commercial music industry. Mashups and new recordings are quite common.
When I think of Stevie Wonder’s classic, Higher Ground, I sometimes forget it was his song and hear The Red Hot Chili Peppers in my mind.
That song was revitalized for an entirely new generation. And this same mindset used to be the normal thinking in Southern Gospel and Bluegrass, the primary audiences we serve.
Let’s make the song great again.
Let’s not treat each song as a potential lure to make a few bucks with a radio stint, and instead, write, perform, record, and rerecord with the intent of making the song live long and prosper.??
Let’s stop sacrificing great on the altar of more.
The Opportunity Switch: Treat a Song as Sacred, and it Will be a Lifelong Asset
That’s the funny thing about the music business.
For all of the people involved, all the marketing that goes into pushing new artists, all of the talent discovery and management, at the end of the day—it all comes back to the song.
No song, no music.
Full stop.
I’m afraid the industry has turned its back on the music. For one thing, it’s disrespecting the song itself by trying to squeeze every penny possible out of it and paying everyone off of that line item.
Artists are mad because Spotify doesn’t pay like CDs did. That’s the reality, and despite the legislation that has been put in place (and that which is still being fought for), I don’t see that equation changing in a meaningful enough way to make a difference.
The economics just aren’t there.
What that means is that, in the music industry, new revenue streams are needed. The good news? They’re available.
You just have to know where to find them. (We’ll save that for another blog.)
So… who, then, should be paid for the song?
Our opinion—the people who wrote it!
This allows two incredible things to happen:
- It gives songwriters the hope of a way to recoup their investment of time and money spent creating the song.
- And it gives artists the opportunity to maximize the brand of the song for the longterm.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers did pretty well off of Higher Ground—but so did Stevie Wonder.
In the long term, when you treat the song as something sacred, it pays off—for everyone!
If we start creating music that matters again and treat it with the care and respect it deserves, it will faithfully reward our efforts for the long term.
A song is not “damaged goods” because it’s already been released.
It’s simply doing its job building equity, until the next artist comes along blessed with the interpretive creativity to steward its message in the public eye.
by Jim Grubbs | Feb 28, 2023 | Songwriting
Greetings, fellow songwriters!
February was a short – but full – month, and as a result February’s post will be shorter than usual.
That said, I wanted to address a question that frequently arises: “Just how fancy does my song demo need to be?” I’ve learned that the answer is slightly more complex than I once believed.
So, how fancy does my song demo need to be?
I personally LOVE to hear my song demos done by a full band. It really thrills me to listen to them for the first time at a quality level equal to anything played on the radio.
I always think, “Man, that sounds like something (Artist X) would release! I can’t wait to pitch it to them!” When I pitch them, artists are very complimentary of them.
Then, I was privileged to witness Mark “Brink” Brinkman pitch a song demo to a publisher during a break at IBMA a few years ago. “Brink” pulled out his old guitar, walked up to the publisher, and said, “I’ve got a song to run by you if you have a minute?” and he just played and sang it.
It was masterfully simple – no polish – just clearly communicating a great song and an excellent example of demo music. I don’t recall if “Brink” got a cut from that song or not, but it impressed me how he just put It out there – just him and his guitar.
“Brink” is a fantastic songwriter and a consummate professional who knows his target audience and is certainly well-known in return. As I learned, that publisher prefers to hear stripped-down demos, especially from established songwriters.
It seems there are indeed some who prefer to hear new songs and demo music from the perspective of a blank canvas, open for their own interpretation. This topic came up in my recent interview with Stephen Mougin, where I learned that Stephen accepts full-band demos but sometimes remakes them with only his guitar before presenting them to his Dark Shadow artists.
Customize your song demo for your target market
In Stephen’s words, “If the demo is TOO complete, what can the artist do except simply learn to play the song exactly as the demo? Are you going to pay Sam Bush to learn somebody else’s mandolin break? Or get Sam’s original contribution?”
Face it – we’re not ALL household names in the world of songwriting, nor do we all own successful record labels.
For the rest of us, we need all the help we can get! That means we may benefit from more comprehensive demo music that grabs artists’ attention. For those artists who prefer the stripped version, I still need help; I don’t have the singing voice to communicate my songs effectively without the benefit of a professional demo.
Folks like me are tasked with developing close relations with our target artists, so we know how THEY like to hear song demos. We then have to ensure we supply demo music that matches those preferences.
Fortunately, the solutions offered at BDT can be customized to match my target audience. I can specify a full demo as well as a guitar/vocal stem on my order.
If I’m uploading to the song library, all versions of the song demo will be available for artists looking for material – I don’t even have to do the legwork to find out the individual preferences of every potential target artist!
I send them the link to my songs in the library and let the artists choose the version of the demo they want to consider. It simplifies the process and even gets my songs considered by artists I haven’t gotten to know yet.
Here are several tips to follow when preparing your song demo:
To recap, the answer to “How fancy does my demo need to be?” depends upon the following:
- Know (really know) your target audience for demos and supply them with demo music in a format that matches their preferences.
- Do you honestly have the technical skill (vocals, instrumentals, and recording setup) to make your own stripped-down song demo? If there’s any doubt, entrust the demo music to the professionals at BDT. As a single BDT project, request a full demo AND a guitar/vocal stem. Pitch them according to your target’s preferences.
- If you don’t have a personal relationship with target artists, direct them to the Song Library in BDT by supplying a link. Let them select the format for your song demo that they prefer. Additionally, they can access charts and other details they need to enable them to give your song demo a fair consideration – or even a “test drive”!
If you don’t know where to begin, check out the services offered at Buy Demo Tracks. We can help start your song demo and put you on the right track.
Until next time, keep writing!
Jim Grubbs
by Jim Grubbs | Feb 7, 2023 | Songwriting
In last month’s blog we explored some ways to overcome songwriter’s block, and I mentioned that co-writing songs is one of the most important suggestions I’ve received – so important, in fact, that I promised to devote my post this month to the topic of co-writing.
Let’s look at a few of the pros and cons of co-writing songs. I think you’ll see why many of the best writers in the business still choose to collaborate.
The pros and cons of collaborating with songs
Pros of co-writing:
1. Co-writing brings skills to bear that you may not possess.
If you’re one of those folks who have it all – great stories to tell, flowing lyrics, and captivating melodies – this won’t be a compelling argument for you; there are better reasons for you to co-write a song.
However, if you’re like me (and the other 98% of songwriters) you probably struggle with one or more of these elements. Stories and lyrics come easily for me, but I have to really work to write melodies that grab the listener. I’ve been blessed to co-write songs with some fantastically creative people to whom melodies/chord progressions seem to occur naturally.
Likewise, some of them have told me that our co-written lyrics are a far better way of telling the story than they envisioned alone. The important thing here is that everyone involved gets an opportunity to grow while turning out great songs that tell important stories. Seek writing collaborators who are stronger than you in some sense of the word.
2. Co-writing forces you to organize your thoughts.
As mentioned in my December blog, the “storyboard” must flow logically even for fictional or expressive songs.
When two or more songwriters approach a project, it’s even more important to have a clear and consistent understanding of the flow of the story and what message/emotion the song is intended to convey. Work this out before you begin to produce lyrics, unless you’re going for a “stream of consciousness” song (and if you are, co-writing makes less sense).
3. Co-writing presents you with “What if…” opportunities.
Have you ever watched a movie and thought to yourself, “That would’ve been better if only the plot had taken THIS direction.” The same happens when you co-write songs, except that YOU are writing the plot and can consider those twists and turns that create great songs with a more universal “hook”.
Having a partner to ask those questions (and to answer yours) makes for a better end product – but it does require objectivity and flexibility on the part of the song’s collaborators. Some stories that I thought I had all figured out evolved into better (more universally relatable) songs when they shifted slightly from their original plot with the inclusion of my writing partner’s perspective.
4. Co-writing is generally faster.
This sounds counterintuitive, but I have found it to be true! When you set a writing appointment with someone you respect, you don’t want to waste their time. The result is sharper focus on the task at hand with less multi-tasking and clearer direction – to use a navigational term, higher “velocity made good” (speed in the desired direction).
With a little advanced preparation like agreeing on the song idea and/or the story and any lines or hooks already developed, collaborators can count on a productive songwriting session.
5. Co-writing results in additional avenues for pitching the song.
Network beyond your own personal sphere of contacts. Does your song collaborator work with artists directly to whom you may be unknown? Perhaps you have your own set of artists who welcome your pitches. Work together to cast a wide net.
6. Co-writing leads to rich personal relationships.
We write because we feel something deeply. When we share this experience with a kindred spirit, the bonding that occurs is highly rewarding. It is not a stretch to say that I’ve grown to love the people with whom I’ve worked over the years; every time I hear one of our songs I’m taken back to the session(s) in which it was created, and I relive the joy we shared as our “baby” came to life. As they say, joys shared are doubled; burdens shared are halved.
Cons of co-writing
1. You get earlier criticism of your work.
This can be discouraging for some, but if you approach it with maturity, it can be a blessing in disguise. When I worked in the automotive electronics industry, we learned an important lesson when testing our designs: “FAIL EARLY.”
An early test failure of our product armed us with feedback we could incorporate into our design with minimal impact on our deadline, tooling production schedule (tooling changes during design, not fabrication), and test facility schedule.
By contrast, when a failure occurred near the end of the testing cycle, we’d be 3+ months into fabricating tools already – some of which would have to be scrapped and redesigned as the product was corrected. Although songwriters rarely have “deadlines” there is still a big advantage if any weakness in the song is detected and reworked earlier – before it’s “finished”.
There’s less to rework, and even a change in the storyboard itself results in less wasted effort.
2. Your original idea will probably get altered.
When you work with other songwriters, strong opinions may change the trajectory of the song. Sometimes you’ll need to stand firm – just be sure this is properly motivated.
If you’re co-writing a story song about a historical figure and accuracy is important in honoring that figure, that’s reason enough to stick with the original storyboard. Just make sure you aren’t resisting out of ego.
If there is “wiggle room” do your best to compromise; give and take in fair proportions, or you’ll gain the reputation of being too difficult for many collaborators. After all, you collaborated by choice! Why would you ignore the input of the very person with whom you chose to write?
3. You must share any proceeds with your co-writer.
This is a good time to mention an unwritten rule of collaborating: divide the credit for the results equally among all collaborators.
Sure, maybe you wrote 80% of the song – but would there even BE a song without that other 20%? And maybe on the next project, the roles will be reversed. It’s just a recipe for strained relationships to handle this any other way.
I’ve heard of folks who wanted to count the words in the final song and to allocate the credits (and royalties) based on that. I’m not standing in line to co-write with them!
Set the ground rules right up front – once you’ve decided to collaborate you’ve made the decision that all contributors in the co-writing effort are credited equally. Trust me, you won’t miss their share. If the song is highly successful, you’ll all do well!
Co-writing is a fun and rewarding experience
The benefits of co-writing songs far outweigh the downside.
What’s more, collaboration has never been easier than today. There are great tools available to enable writers to work face-to-face, in real time, from all corners of the globe. You may have already established contact with other writers through song circles and workshops (Louisa Branscomb and Donna Ulisse lead wonderful workshops from time to time, to name a few).
If you don’t know where to begin, check out the services offered at buydemotracks.com; these provide great opportunities to co-write songs with other subscribers. You can even co-write with a specific artist in their preferred style and almost certainly get that project cut by that artist! This is just one of the many advantages made available to subscribers.
Keep writing!
Jim
by Jim Grubbs | Dec 30, 2022 | Songwriting
Songwriting can seem like an exercise in two extremes. Sometimes the words flow so smoothly you can hardly write them down fast enough – almost as if you’re just transcribing for someone else.
And then there is most of the time…
We’ve all been there: Some subject has captured your fancy and you set out to write a song about it, and maybe you’ve gotten a line or two into it and suddenly – nothing. You know what you want to say but you just can’t put it into interesting words that work together. As a result, the story flounders and eventually dies out.
Don’t give up! Some of the best songwriters in history have shared this experience, and we’re fortunate to have a few of their tips to break through the linguistic logjam. Here are some of my favorites:
- Schedule your songwriting first thing in the morning. Rise early and skip your usual morning dose of radio/television; instead, let YOUR fledgling song be the first music to hit your mind that day. It’s well documented that Beethoven wrote immediately upon rising each morning. Perhaps more relatable are modern hitmakers like Rick Lang and Mark “Brink” Brinkman (Brink’s motto is “Drinking coffee and making things up!”). Once I made this change I saw immediate progress, even on song ideas I had wrestled for years. You may not be a morning person, but if you’re stuck you should give this a try anyway. It works!
- Visualize your song as a movie. No matter what story you’re trying to tell, you can (and should) outline it as if each verse is a scene in a play or movie. There’s a logical chain of events in movies (well, the good ones anyway!) that keeps us engaged while the plot unfolds. If you’re stuck, revisit the storyboard and see if it flows logically. If the story doesn’t flow, there’s no hope of getting the lyrics to flow; you may be unsure of what needs to be said next. Each scene (verse) should move the plot along at a pace that enables the complete story to be communicated in about 3 minutes! Often when I’m stuck it’s because I have included too much “character development” in the first couple of verses and haven’t really taken steps to advance the plot. Think of a trout stream: when the current is moving, it’s easy to see the lines where the trout would lie in wait for food carried by the stream; but when the stream widens into a pool, there’s no discernable flow and consequently nowhere to focus your attention. Such is the flow of your song. Keep it moving!
You may wonder how the chorus fits this plan. Think of it as the theme song of the movie (e.g., “Man of Constant Sorrow” in the film O Brother, Where Art Thou?). The chorus is not usually advancing the story quite as actively as the verses. Instead, it communicates the “one takeaway” of the song – and if you’re lucky, it’s the part everyone will be singing for decades to come.
- Hammer out one verse and one chorus – any verse, any chorus. It doesn’t even have to be the FIRST verse and chorus, but at least you have the syllables roughed in so a vocal cadence can begin to emerge. Much of this article deals with writing lyrics, but this is a great tip for writing the melody and chord progression as well. I know it sounds like a boring oversimplification, but I keep a “circle of fifths” wheel handy when writing, and I experiment with all the likely progressions in multiple keys until I can “feel it” – with “it” being the emotional connection to the chorus, which tends to be my melodic starting point. The melody and progression for the first verse are intended to grab the listener, and I tend to labor over these much more as a result. Not so the chorus; it should be easy for fans to sing along.
- Flip the script. You’re off to a good start; you’re up early, have a coherent outline, a first verse and a chorus. You might think the remainder would fall into place, right? Well…not always. Most of us have a growing collection of incomplete songs that we’d love to finish but can’t seem to make the words work for us. One trick is to take an awkward line that contains the message you intend to convey, and simply shuffle the order of the words until you find a combination that feels natural. Here’s an example from my song “Winter’s Coming To My Mountain Home”:
Original line: “Right outside my cabin door the snow will start falling soon.”
Revised line: “Snow will soon be falling just outside my cabin door.”
See how this reordering completely revamps the cadence? The cool thing is that you can also use this technique to change the rhyming words without having to change the information delivered by the line. In my example above, I had failed to find a word rhyming with “soon” that advanced my story; the revision led me to rhymes with “door” and one of those fit perfectly.
- Reconsider your attachment to rhyming. I am a HUGE fan of an effective rhyming scheme; strong rhyming connections can make a good story sound great (i.e., memorable). It took me years to learn that perfect rhymes can sometimes weaken the story. I was guilty of forcing unnecessary ideas into lines for no greater purpose than to preserve my perfect rhyming scheme – sounding too much like Dr. Seuss and not enough like me! Once I began to accept “near-rhymes” and to sometimes abandon my rhyming scheme altogether I began to focus on making the story memorable on its own merit. I will admit that I still work hard to have it all – rhymes included – but I’m finding that my change in priorities results in easier, more natural flow.
- Collaborate! This is such an important topic that I’ll be covering it thoroughly in another article. For now, the main point is to exchange ideas with a fellow writer who thoroughly grasps your storyboard – even if the story changes direction slightly with additional input. You’ll almost always make better progress!
I hope you find these tips helpful in breaking through the obstacles that stall your songwriting. Do you have any other techniques you’d like to share? I’d love to hear them!
by Steve Schramm | Sep 7, 2022 | Songwriting
Every songwriter’s dream is to have their music picked up by an artist who loves the song and feels like their fans would too.
But sometimes, songwriters spend years trying to get their music in front of artists to no avail.
How does this happen? And more importantly, what could be done differently?
I’ve identified three top reasons that you might be having trouble getting your song recorded. In this post, we’ll talk through those reasons and how you can increase your chances of someone picking up a song you wrote.
Reason 1. You’re in a Rush
At BuyDemoTracks.com, we work with plenty of songwriters who have “made it.” It is entirely possible that an artist or performer will pick up one of your songs, even if it hasn’t happened yet.
However, many of our songwriters (even the most prolific ones) have numerous songs that artists haven’t picked up. And, most of them would tell you that getting the first song noticed is the hardest.
When your connections are few, your skills as a songwriter are still developing, and you haven’t got much public exposure, you will need to become a pro at deploying patience toward your writing career.
If you write because you truly love it, this should not be a problem.
Keep writing until something clicks. Keep writing until someone finds your music. Just keep writing.
It could take years for your song to get picked up. Or months. Or, maybe only weeks! If you give up tomorrow, you cannot be certain your “big break” isn’t coming next week.
See what I mean? Don’t quit too soon, and use every new lyric as a learning opportunity.
You’ve gotten a little better each time, and that skill and those long hours are all part of honing your craft.
Reason 2. The Song Needs Work
I do not personally believe in the concept of “luck.” What I do believe in, though, is the power of collaboration.
Did you know that there are quite a few songs you would not know today if someone had not come along and provided a little different twist on the music?
If you’re an evangelical Christian, you’ve almost certainly heard the song “Thank You, Lord, for Your Blessings on Me” by The Easter Brothers. This song is regarded as one of the most powerful gospel songs ever written.
And, it also has a catchy tune.
But what you may not know is that the original tune for that song was quite different from what you know today.
When that song was in its infancy, it was put to a bit different tune than the original, which really helped it to catch on like wildfire in the Southern/Bluegrass Gospel genres.
Here’s the lesson: Your song could be a co-writer or a different arrangement away from being the next big hit.
What this means is you need to cultivate a willingness to collaborate.
If you look across the Song Library here on BuyDemoTracks.com, you will find the vast majority of our songs have more than one writer.
Why? Because two heads are better than one!
Sometimes, a skilled writer can even be paired with a less skilled writer and together can make a beautiful song!
Songwriting is not a “go it alone” career or hobby. The more you work with others, the better. And they can help improve your songs.
Another way to see improvement in your songs is by attending songwriting workshops. These take place at various events all over the world.
If you’re interested in attending one, just scroll down and fill out the contact form to request more information.
Reason 3. You Haven’t Promoted the Song Well Enough
You might be the most skilled, patient writer in the world, but if you have not promoted or pitched the song to the right people, there is very little chance your song will gain the traction it needs.
What is involved with promoting the song well?
At a minimum, you need to have had a professional, studio-quality demo recorded and personally pitched the song to potential artists/managers/producers.
Of course, one criticism the music industry often receives is that “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know.”
We realize this is true, and it’s one of the reasons we started BuyDemoTracks.com. Our unique platform allows you to place your music in front of hundreds of artists all at the same time.
And with our advanced filters, your song will show up at just the right time for potential artists.
If an artist comes to our site looking for a “fast bluegrass song about being grateful or thankful,” and you just so happen to have written a song fitting that description, you will show up in that search result!
Consider listing your song with BuyDemoTracks.com to put your best foot forward on promoting your music and getting it in front of the right people.
Conclusion
If you’ve been at this for a while and no one has recorded your song, let me say this: Do not lose hope.
Keep writing. Persevere. Follow the steps above.
The world needs your music. We believe in you! Let us help you take your songwriting career to the next level.
by Steve Schramm | Jul 28, 2022 | Songwriting
While most songwriters would consider their work to be a “labor of love,” those who write for a living (or want to) must deal with a painful reality:
It’s really hard to get someone to record YOUR song.
And as hard as that is, it’s even harder to actually get paid for all of that work.
If you’re reading this, you are likely in that small percentage who is taking this seriously enough to wonder how you could make an actual living from writing.
If that’s you, read on!
How Songwriters Traditionally Get Paid
According to the Nashville Songwriters association, there are three ways to get paid for songs you’ve written:
Mechanical Royalty – A songwriter receives a mechanical royalty from the sale of a song on an album or a legal digital download. This rate is set by a Copyright Royalty Board made up of 3 judges who meet every 5 years to set rates. The original mechanical royalty was established in 1909 and set at 2 cents. Today, the current rate is 9.1 cents (typically split with co-writers and publishers).
Performance Royalty – A songwriter receives a performance royalty when their song is performed on terrestrial broadcast radio, in a live performance venue, or via online streaming services. In the United States, performance royalties are paid out through Performing Rights Organizations (ASCAP, BMI and SESAC) and are governed by consent decrees from WWII requiring the PROs to go to rate court to receive their rates from entities seeking to license the songs they represent.
Synch Fees – A songwriter receives a synch fee when his/her song is licensed for use to synchronize with video (i.e. television, movie, YouTube video). This royalty is freely negotiated in the marketplace and is typically split 50% to the writers and 50% to the artist and record label.
They also state the following: A songwriter may go years without receiving royalties.
This is for many reasons, not the least of which being that it is very difficult to enforce someone sending the appropriate royalties.
It is very important that you work with a reputable publisher, who will do everything possible to make sure all parties are being appropriately paid for their piece of the work.
What This Means For You
As you might have guessed, this has implications for you as a songwriter.
For one, you will need to be prolific. Jimmy Fortune’s hit “Elizabeth” was the first song he ever wrote! Could that happen for you? Absolutely! But it’s probably not a good idea to plan for that.
This means you will need to constantly be writing new songs, having demos made, and pitching them to artists in hopes that one gets picked up.
Secondly, in terms of actually getting paid, it means you will probably need to produce hit songs before you see anything meaningful in terms of royalties. Even hit songwriters have some “misses” in-between that are still great songs! Traditionally, even though the song is great, they will not be paid much for it.
Of course, if a well-known performer makes a big hit with your song, you are likely owed a generous payday from the above-mentioned sources.
However, even that is not a viable long-term strategy. Most popular songs are only popular for a little while.
A song with “evergreen” qualities (think “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey or “Mary, Did You Know?” by Mark Lowry) will obviously pay for many years—maybe even decades—but writing one of those is rare as well.
It’s actually quite strange, if you think about it! The 17th century writer Andrew Fletcher once said, “Let me make the songs of a nation, and I care not who makes its laws.”
It is hard to imagine a person alive more influential than the songwriter, and yet, it is very difficult to get paid or to get noticed.
Is There A Better Way to Get Paid for Songs You Write?
At BuyDemoTracks.com, both our founders and our marketing director are all songwriters! We have spent our lives in this industry and know all too well how influential—and difficult—songwriting can be.
Part of our goal in creating this company was to figure out how songwriters could get paid for the hard work they put in well before their song became a hit.
In fact, we wanted to see if we could help songwriters get paid even if their song didn’t become a hit at all!
Fortunately for songwriters, there’s another big problem in the music industry: It’s very, very difficult for artists to find new music to record.
Why?
Well, for starters, the known good songwriters often have particular artists in mind (usually A-listers), making it extremely tough for B and C-list artists to get access to them.
What’s more, since there are so many songwriters out there, A-list artists are frequently bombarded with folks who’ve written songs with them in mind, to the point of having piles of demo CDs lying around they have never listened to.
(Could you imagine coming home from a weekend of performing and trying to listen to literally hundreds of songs and wading through to find the best ones?)
It’s just not practical.
BuyDemoTracks.com was created to solve both of these problems. We give artists and performers a song library to filter through and find new music based on a variety of factors.
Here’s How We Help Songwriters Get Paid for Their Songs
As I clarified in this post, after writing a song, the next step is to get a demo created. This is so you have a professional presentation when you pitch to artists and managers.
But once you have that demo created, what do you do with it? Of course, you should pitch it to artists! But what about before that?
See, a demo is a professionally recorded piece of music that is made to give artists an idea of what the song could sound like for them.
This means you have, at your disposal, not only a professional demo that could be discovered by A, B, and C-list artists if they knew it was available, but you also have actual music tracks that artists could use in their own recordings or performances!
With our advanced platform, you get paid in two ways:
- When you list your song with us, we disclose publisher information and fulfill mechanical license requests to make sure you have the very best chance of getting paid through traditional routes.
- But we also make your demo tracks available for folks to purchase and download from the website, and give you a 50% royalty every time they are downloaded.
To make this practical, here’s an example:
Let’s say an artist is getting ready to record a new album, and they are using BuyDemoTracks.com to find new music to record.
They come across your song, and love it! But not only do they love the song, they also love the recording of the song, and would like to use the exact tracks that already exist in your custom demo.
In this case, two things will happen.
First, they will request mechanical license information from us, at which time we will promptly point them to your publisher and provide the artists with the info they need to legally use your song.
Then, they will run through a sales process tailored to your song, where they will have the option to purchase just the demo track itself, or they could add on:
- Music charts, if applicable, to give studio musicians and producers what they need to know about the song
- Multi-Track Stems, which allow the track to be customized for recordings or performances
- A Master Lease, which gives them the right to use your track(s) on an actual record (not needed if they are purchasing for performance purposes only)
- Exclusivity Rights, which gives them the option to remove your song from our library for three months so someone else cannot record it
Remember—the track itself plus each of these add-ons is being purchased by the performer, and you are receiving 50% of that purchase amount!
The Possibilities of Getting Paid for Your Songs
I hope you can see, this platform gives you a tremendous amount of possibility and opportunity for your songs to get noticed.
But more than that, it gives you a way to monetize your demos, which has never been possible before.
The more artists and writers use BuyDemoTracks.com, the more possibility there is for your music to get discovered and for you to finally get paid for all the hard work you put into writing music.
