How do you start out to become a songwriter?

Question:I write a lot and I love music, never thought about putting the two together till recently. What are the things I need to know about? Like copyright, getting it sung by artists, and whatever...is there like a website where I can learn all these things?

Thanks..

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I write a lot and I love music, never thought about putting the two together till recently. What are the things I need to know about? Like copyright, getting it sung by artists, and whatever...is there like a website where I can learn all these things?

Thanks..

OK, you're getting way ahead of yourself. Sounds like you're nowhere near the point of worrying about copyrights and getting songs sung by artists. Forget about that for now.

The very first thing you need to do is to actually WRITE a whole bunch of songs. You should expect that the first several dozen songs you write will probably be amateurish crap that no one except for your immediate family and close friends will actually want to listen to more than once. Its called "paying your dues". This is true for just about every beginning songwriter. Nobody is born knowing how to write songs, anymore than you're born knowing how to play a musical instrument. Basically, writing songs good enough to copyright, publish, and get an artist to record is a skill and a craft that requires a lot of practice and effort. It takes time and a lot of experience to learn how to put words and music together in a way that is catchy, memorable, and worth listening to again and again, and that doesn't sound *exactly* like a hundred other songs that are already out there.

You say that you "write a lot" but you don't say what you write -- prose? Poetry? And you say you "love music" but you don't say what instrument you play. If you don't play an instrument -- guitar or piano -- with some degree of proficiency, and if you don't know anything about music theory -- how music is constructed, why it works the way it does -- you might come up with some decent lyrics but the likelihood is that you will most likely have trouble setting your words to music. You either need to learn to play an instrument or find a collaborator who can set your lyrics to music for you.

Sorry to be so harsh but you need to understand that its not as easy as it seems. Like people who buy a guitar thinking that they'll learn to play it and join their friends' rock band in a month -- if you actually care about being good at it, even making a living at it, it will take a lot longer than you think to get that good -- years, most likely.

I'm a songwriter, getting things together now to get my demo done out here in Atlanta...I've been very fortunate to meet some people these past 5 years..I suggest you go to Barnes and Nobles and get:

Inside the Music Industry by Michael Fink

Successful Lyric Writing by Sheila Davis

The Business of Songwriting by Jason Blume

These books will give you an inside look the business of the industry itself and how it works, how to write a song, and the business of songwriting... But don't just make your music, network network network.

Good luck!

Basically you gotta put a song together and make a demo of it, these days they expect a good demo, which you can do with two fingers and a Yamaha $135 keyboard.

You also have to include a lyric sheet.

You can put as many songs that fit onto a CD together and do and unpublished copyright on them for $40 and list all the separate titles as well as giving it a main title like YOUR NAME SONGS VOL 1

Most publishers will review songs. Best to send them individual songs on a CD. You pick the best, most popular sounding one and try it out.

Include and SASE so they can send it back to you.

Some won't accept and will return immediately, but most publishers will generally listen and pass it around to producers and artists who are out song shopping.

If someone is interested they offer you a deal.

You have to understand deals the bad deals until you get some clout

You hve to part with all publishing (2nd pie, there are two pies songwriter and publisher) and in some cases you have to divide up your pie with people who may not even do anything on the song just to get it done.

See the artist may have clout, the producer may have clout so you have to give each of them 1/3 your pie and may even have to take bottom credit and neither of them do squat new. In other words it's all your work but you only get 1/3 of 2 pies.

This is called paying dues or life in the big city.

Sometimes they'll meld your song with other peoples songs to make a whole.

In a case like this there can be 5 songwriters on the final cut, each getting a negociated or equal share.

It's great when they only use one of your lines and nothing else, but when you did 70% of the work and someone else does a line here and another does a line there and you split your pie 5 ways equally, again that's dues paying.

Eventually if you get clout you get to keep a pie and a half.

You might even get to make a record as a singer songwriter.

That's where you cash in on your back dues and get the artists and producers who stole from you to lobby to label to let you do a record.

As for copyrights do understand you have to employer your own lawyer and sue. That's a $5,000 minimum investment.

It is a good idea to do an unpublished compliation copyright for $40 or $50.

You put 20 or 30 songs on one CD and file form PA.

In any even make sure you post your copyright on all recordings and lyric sheets.

Copyright Your Name Year

If you sell one song you have to decide to go ASCAP or BMI.

ASCAP requires you to file separately as a publisher (for that pie), BMI doesn't (You can claim both pies without formally establishing a company).

ASCAP pays more for a single logged airing, but BMI logs more but pays less. BMI pays more for TV airings.

Both pay the same for foreign.

ASCAP is songwriter owned, BMI is media conglomerant owned.

ASCAP chares dues, BMI is a one time publishing company fee.

ASCAP has an open bar meeting in NYC and LA once a year. BMI don't.