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In my last blog, I told you that I would reveal what was said during the songwriting panel at the ASCAP Writer's Roundtable, which was held on March 6, 2008 at the Robert Woodruff Library Exhibition Hall at Clark Atlanta University. Okay, so here it is:
1. Publishing - much was said about this subject, a subject that is near and dear to the hearts of all songwriters.
- If you can wait, wait. Most of the songwriters suggested that you wait before getting a publishing deal. In particular, wait until you have a single and wait until the publishers are coming to you asking you for a publishing deal. The reason behind this advice was so that you can get a better deal. Having a single will provide you better bargaining power. If you instead only have album sales, you still can get a publishing deal but the publisher will most likely not give you the best publishing deal because you don't have a single. By album sales, I mean you have a song on someone's album and you have sales only because people bought the entire album, but your song wasn't released as a single.
- If you need the money, then do the deal. Depending on how desperate you are in terms of money, you should decide on whether to sign a publishing deal or not. Again, if you can wait, then wait.
- Sign a publishing deal that requires the least amount of published songs. Johnta Austin, one of the panelists, mentioned that publishing 10 songs a year or even 4 songs a year is still a lot of songs. Why? Because most publishing contracts require that you publish a certain number of whole songs. If you collaborate on the song with other writers, then you only get credit for your portion of the song. So if you and a 3 other writers wrote a song, then you'd only get credit for writing 1/4 of a song. You still have 3 3/4 published songs to go. If you use samples of a song, you may also have to share a portion of your song with the original artist and that will again, cut into your credits. I say may because RL indicated that he refused in one instance not to give up part of his publishing to a producer who unilaterally chose to use a sample in his music to which RL wrote the lyrics and melody. Since RL didn't make the decision to use the sample, he refused to allow his portion of the publishing to be diminished because a sample was used. Plus, the publishing contracts require that the songs be published. Since the number of albums being put out are diminishing and the number of artists are too, then getting your required number of songs published is harder than it was previously. For these reasons, the panelists suggested songwriters sign a publishing deal which requires the least amount of songs.
- Be sensible about the amount of money you are requesting in your publishing deals. Why? Because first, you only get paid after recoupment. Publishing contracts are essentially loans that you must pay back. You only get paid after the publishing company recoups the money loaned. So with that in mind, the panelists recommended that you make sure you only get the amount you need and don't spend your advancement on frivolous things yet.
- Publishing contracts have bonuses in them. There are bonuses in some publishing contracts that will reward you if your song is ranked, and the length that it is ranked, and I think also if your song is placed with major artists. They all said they liked the bonuses.
- Artists may try to get a portion of your publishing. They indicated that some artists will attempt to get a portion of the songwriter's publishing. Artists will sometimes ask to get a writer's publishing because of the artist's reputation or because they want to be seen as part of the writing team, and/or because they want some of the publishing money even though they didn't write any of the song. So the panelists recommended that you consider the source of that request. If the artist is major and you know that your song will be a single, then perhaps giving up a portion of your publishing will be worth it. Johnta Austin and Manuel Seal both said that even if you gave away all your publishing to a major artist, you will still win because your name is on the song and your name on the song will now lead to other songwriting opportunities. However, they indicated that if the artist is just starting out, is not signed, etc, then there may be less of a reason to give up portions of your publishing.
- People get publishing deals because they are scared. Lyfe Jennings said that. He said people get publishing deals because you are scared of what to do with your success and the money. He suggested having a plan for what you are going to do with the money that you get from a publishing deal, such as investing it into real estate or a business.
- In addition to keeping your deals to the lowest number of songs, keep the number of years of the publishing deal low too. Lyfe Jennings said that he was in a three-year publishing deal which he liked because afterwards he can do his own thing. He doesn't need the publishing deal after that.
- Know why you need a publisher. New writers need publishers because they don't know anybody in the business. They don't have direct access to major artists. They need help with getting placement of their songs. They need better relationships. However, once you become a seasoned writer with some hits, you then have direct access to major artists. The artists themselves will call the writer asking to write with that writer. No in-between person is needed then. At that point, the writer needs a publisher just to exploit the copyright to its maximum by getting the song licensed to say film, ringtones, overseas, etc. So know what you need and why you need it.
2. Writing - the essence of what we do!
- Write real records! By that, each panelist meant that you as a writer should write songs that you can feel. (This goes back to my three key elements needed to write a hit, one of which was that the song had to be heart-felt).
- Write songs that are timeless. Don't "date" your record by simply writing songs that are going to be hits now. Johnta Austin noted that some songs, when they are timeless, may not be hits at the time the song comes out. But because the song is timeless, it still has the potential to become a hit. He gave examples of Lyfe Jennings' CD which during its first week sold only 3,000 copies but is now a platinum album. He also cited John Legend's album as another album that didn't have a lot of sales the first week out but because it was a good album, has sold millions of copies and go on to win various awards.
- Real, timeless records will always in the end win. Johnta Austin noted that because Clive Davis believed in Alicia Key's talent and sound, he kept her with just her piano and vocals without the use of rappers on the track. They said so don't succumb to writing songs that are dated or try to keep up with the times just to stay relevant.
- Hit records consists of: a great melody, great lyrics, a good song concept, great production, great performance of the song, believeability of the song, and a team who believes in, and works, the song, according to Manuel Seal. He said that a great performance of the song where an artist really believes what he's singing and the song is ringing true to the artist will make a good song a great song. He said that it used to be that artists were really worked in the studio on making the song believable and making sure the artist felt the songs they sung. I recently saw an example of this when Sean "P. Diddy" Combs refused to allow the men from the Making of the Band IV (or Day 26 as they are now known) to go into the studio and record until the men became passionate about what they were singing about. P. Diddy got the guys a vocal coach, Ankra, not because they were off key, or needed vocal training, but to help the fellas connect with the song and with their audience.
- Write simple words and hooks: Atozzio said that he had to simplify his lyrics to keep up with the times. He noted that at times he wrote a more catchy hook by simpling repeating a line. Lyfe Jennings said that his hardest problem with writing was saying more but saying it more concisely.
- Reseach your song concept idea: Cri$tyle said that she researches her song ideas before writing the song. She studies whatever she is writing on so that she can clearly and effectively write a song about say, water. For her, researching helps her creativity. And I agree. I recently wrote a song about a subject that I myself wasn't familiar with but always wanted to know. I researched the subject by going to Wikipedia. It helped my creativity.
- Spark your creativity: Cri$tyle indicated that she prays before writing every song. Atozzio and Johnta Austin related that their songs sometimes come from his experiences or from things they simply wanted to say but couldn't. Lyfe Jennings indicated that he tries to put himself in the song as well as think of other people who are also going through the same situation and how they must feel. RL said that sometimes because writing is so personal that sometimes its a writer's therapy so don't be afraid of what content comes out during difficult times. He indicated that the songs he wrote while going through a divorce were all related to those feelings. I laughed in agreement to this statement since I was recently looking at the slant that all my recent songs were taking and thinking they all dealt with one subject, love.
- Write and then move on. Cri$tyle indicated that she would mistakenly marry her songs. By that, she explained she meant that she couldn't write another song because she was still worried about the last song she wrote. She knew that the last song she wrote was great so she worry about its placement and what everyone else was doing with that song, instead of just writing. I could definitely relate to that as well! Write, give the song to your publisher, let them deal with the particulars, and just keep on writing!
3. Building business relationships - each person opened up the panel discussion by talking about how they got started in the business. Inevitably it all boiled down to meeting the right people.
4. Humility- All of the artists expected greatness from themselves but they were so humble. Cri$tyle was the most humble as she said several times that she felt so blessed to just be able to write for the people she has been able to write for. When asked does she get upset or feels it is unfair that a track is being given to her as well as to other more seasoned writers who have the ability to directly talk to the artists and find out exactly what the artist wants to talk about, she said no, she doesn't get upset. Instead she expressed her gratitude about even being considered in the same category as these writers to get the same tracks they get. She said that as a new writer, she understands paying her dues. She understood that she doesn't have the business relationship with an artist that say a Johnta Austin has since he's been in the business much longer and has written for so many different people and has some awards and hits under his belt. So the point is, be humble, stay humble.
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Thedy B
Hits A Million, LLC
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