So you’ve written a great song, made a fabulous demo and now you’ll live happily ever after, right?  Well, kind of…  This article is the official “chapter after” you’ve written and recorded your song.  There’s no doubt that being a great songwriter and having beautifully recorded versions of your songs is an admirable goal in and of itself.  However, if you’re interested in having your songs see the light of day then your work is really just beginning.  While organizations like Tunecore do a beautiful job of helping you get your music out in the world, it’s still entirely up to you to make sure your songs get in the right music industry hands.  Until the people who can actually do something with your song (i.e. record labels, producers, managers and publishers) have heard it, it might as well not exist.  I know this sounds obvious but I think you’d be amazed at the number of songwriters out there who have great song demos that very few, if any, music business people have ever heard.  Creating the music is one thing but getting your music out in the world requires an entirely different set of skills.  The skills I’m going to focus on are networking, professionalism, persistence, persistence (yes, I know I wrote it twice…) courtesy and patience.

Networking

Like any business, it’s not only “what” you know but “who” you know that gets you ahead.  What this means in the music world is getting yourself out there to open mics, writer’s nights and any industry events you can find.  For those of you in music cities like New York, Nashville and Los Angeles there are an almost endless stream of opportunities.  For everyone else, you might have to look a little harder or travel from time to time to one of the cities I just mentioned.  I think it’s a universal truth that this kind of stuff isn’t always that much fun but especially when you’re starting out, it’s essential.  Let’s put it this way, all things being equal, if you’ve met someone from a record label or publishing company in a social setting and assuming you’ve had a nice exchange, there’s a much greater likelihood that they’ll not only remember you when you call but will make more of an effort to help you out if they can.  The point is that the more you’re out there, the more people you’ll meet and the greater the chance it will pay dividends down the road.  I’d also recommend remembering a few basic social skills while you’re at it like not immediately launching into your 10-minute, spoken-word bio when you meet someone.  It’s a much better idea to find out a little something about the person you’re talking to by remembering to ask a few questions as well.

Professionalism

Did I mention we’re talking about the music business?  This means it’s in your best interest to be professional about how you approach people in the industry.  When reaching out to someone in the music industry, call or email first.  Make this first contact short and to the point.  In other words, let them know why you’re calling/emailing (i.e. to schedule a meeting, to see if they’re accepting CD’s, to ask whether you can submit an mp3, etc.).  This is not the time to have a long discussion.  If you’ve been referred by someone they know (see “networking” above) mention this as well. Also, while it’s great to be excited and even confident about your material, it rarely pays to tell someone that you’ve got a “great” song or you’re an “amazing” songwriter.  Let your music speak for itself.  Once you’ve gotten approval to do so, then submit your song or bring it to the meeting.  It really doesn’t make sense to send out CD’s or mp3’s without first getting approval as they usually end up at the bottom of a pile or even worse, the person who hasn’t asked for it considers it an intrusion. Don’t kill the messenger here, I’m simply saying that the odds are that if someone isn’t expecting your material, there’s a good chance it won’t get heard.

By the way, if you’ve never seen the office of an A&R rep or music publisher, I’m here to tell you that it’s wall-to-wall CD’s.  We’re talking hundreds and hundreds if not thousands of them.  Make sure that your CD is clearly labeled with a few simple elements: Your name and contact information (phone and email), the name of the song or songs and possibly - if it’s a song for an artist - the name of the person you’re pitching it to. Also, make certain that every part of the package is labeled.  This means put your information on the CD and on the CD sleeve or jewel case.  Make sure that if the CD itself gets separated from the case, the information is the CD, too.  Also, if you’re using a jewel case, make sure there’s information on the spine.  Remember the part where I said there are thousands of CD’s in these folks’ offices?  When your CD ends up on a shelf with all the others, the spine of the CD will be the only way for them to identify it.

Finally, I can think of no good reason why any submission should be more than three songs.  If you’re pitching a song to an artist, they’re not hoping for a “bonus track.”  If you’re pitching to a publisher, three songs is a good way to show them you’ve got more than one good song without overdoing it.  If they want more, believe me, they’ll ask.  It all comes down to putting yourself in the position of the industry person.  If they’ve got a desk full of CD’s to listen to and have to choose between a CD with two songs on it or one with nineteen songs, which one do you think they’ll pick?

Persistence…Persistence

Let’s say you’re fortunate enough to reach someone by either phone or email and they’ve agreed to let you mail in a CD or email them an mp3.  Here’s what you should expect. Nothing.  In other words, it’s extremely rare that you’ll hear anything back quickly after you submit it.  (See “thousands of CD’s” above…).  As a matter of fact, you should put in your calendar to follow up two or three weeks after you’ve submitted something.  This follow up should be even shorter than your initial contact.  Email is probably best for this.  A simple email saying you wanted to make sure they’d received your submission is enough.  Also, don’t be surprised if the response you get back (if you’re lucky enough to get one) says they haven’t gotten it and would you mind resending it.  (See “persistence…persistence” in the above heading.)  Resending material is something that you should expect to do.  Following up every two to three weeks (unless you’re asked not to) is perfectly acceptable if you’re polite and to the point.  I’m not a cynic and I don’t believe that anyone has an agenda to ignore submitted material.  I’m a realist and the sheer number of submissions makes it almost impossible for anyone to stay on top of things.  Anything you can do to help remind someone is in your best interest and generally appreciated.

Courtesy

I think it’s important to realize that no one in the industry owes you anything.  This may sound harsh but it’s an important point.  You may very well have great songs and it would be in the best interest of the industry professional you’re pursuing to listen to them, but there are a lot of great songs out there and only a limited number of opportunities for them.  All this to say, if your song isn’t listened to right away or even if it’s lost or ignored, don’t take it personally. I’m a songwriter myself so I know exactly how important your songs are to you.  It’s not easy to submit them for judgment and tougher still to wait around hoping someone will actually listen. However, you’ll only do yourself a disservice by being rude or impatient with someone and heaven help you if you get a reputation in the industry for being difficult or unpleasant.

Patience

Given that there are so many artists, songwriters and songs out there vying for a limited number of spots, it all comes down to patience.  Patience with yourself as you improve your musical skills and patience with the industry people you’re soliciting as they make their way through all of the material in line ahead of you.  My recommendation is to have as many irons in the fire as you possibly can at all times so that you’re not waiting for any one thing to happen or not to happen as is so often the case.  The more people you get to know, the more opportunities you explore and the more submissions you make, the less likely you are to get discouraged and the more likely you are to start having success.

Good luck!

For most songwriters in the early stages of their careers, the idea of being hired as a staff songwriter for a publishing company is close to the Holy Grail. It represents that most coveted prize of industry recognition and validation of your talent along with a gateway to cuts, movie placements and any one of a number of other exciting possibilities. However, keep in mind that wanting or entering into a relationship with a publisher in order to simply validate your talent is probably not the best approach. As with any business relationship, it’s essential that you, as the songwriter, understand what you’re giving up as well as what you stand to gain by signing over partial (or complete) ownership of your copyrights to a music publisher.

What is a Publishing Deal?

Let’s start at the top, in general terms, a typical publishing deal involves the assignment of some part of the ownership of your songs to a publishing company in exchange for a monthly payment known as a draw. The publisher can also provide co-writing opportunities based on their industry relationships and pitching opportunities by members of the publishing company’s staff called song pluggers.  I’m aware that there are many variations on this arrangement such as no draw in exchange for giving up less ownership of your copyrights to the publisher but for the sake of this article, I’m going to paint in broad strokes.

The Pros

Listing the advantages of a publishing deal is easy as most songwriters have heard (or dreamed) of these.

1.     A Draw - For a songwriter getting started in the business, it’s extremely difficult to write full time without having money to live on.  The monthly draw provided by a publisher can help ease that burden.  While some draws are enough to allow the writer to write full time, most are enough to, at least, make it so the writer only has to have a part-time job leaving more time for songwriting.

2.     Demo Budget - Making high quality recordings of your songs is not cheap and having a publisher to put up the money for these recordings can help out quite a bit.

3.     Song Pluggers - These are employees of the publishing company who are specifically charged with finding opportunities for your songs.  They pitch your songs relying on their relationships with record labels, producers and artists as well as a variety of other music business decision-makers.

4.     Networking/Connections - The credibility that comes from signing with established music publisher is a powerful thing.  It can open doors to meetings, co-writes and countless other relationships in the industry.  Also, publishers have industry-wide relationships that can provide great opportunities for a songwriter who hasn’t had the opportunity to network much on their own.

5.     Validation -The validation that comes from a publishing deal is what most beginning songwriters long for. In the early stages of most songwriters’ careers, they’ve most likely written songs in obscurity and with the exception of friends and family they’ve never received praise and recognition from anyone in the industry.  It can even act as a motivator to improve a writer’s work ethic and even inspiration.

The Cons

This is where I’d recommend paying close attention.  I know the idea of being able to write songs and have your publisher take care of all the details is an appealing thought…but the reality is a bit less simple. Don’t kill the messenger here, but as a friend of mine once said, “They don’t call it the music ‘friend’ or the music ‘nice.’”  This is a business and it helps to remember that a publisher is giving you something in order to get something.

1.     Your draw & demo budget are essentially loans - The money that makes up your draw and your demo budget is money that the publisher will take back from your share as soon as your songs start generating income.  More importantly, unlike a loan paid back to a bank, even after you’ve made back the money to pay the publisher for the money they’ve invested in you, they will continue to own the publishing on your song and make income from it.  In most cases, this is an arrangement that lasts for the rest of your life and then some.  Also, in most cases that recording that the publisher split with you or loaned you money to make is their property entirely. This translates into no master fee payment for you, the songwriter, if that recording ends up in a film or on TV.

2.     You and your songs aren’t always the priority - Even though the idea of a song plugger getting your songs heard is comforting, the reality is that in most publishing companies, there are many more signed writers than there are pluggers.  In other words, your songs, while the most important songs to you, are among the hundreds (actually thousands if you count the back catalogs of most publishing companies) that the overworked song pluggers have to consider for every pitch opportunity.

3.     Validation is NOT enough - As a songwriter, I understand how good it feels when someone in the industry tells you they love your songs.  In and of itself, this is not enough of a reason to give away your publishing.  To me, the analogy would be of a guy going up to a girl in a bar and saying “You’re beautiful and you should sleep with me.”  In other words, as a writer, you should work every day until you’re confident your songs are good.  Use resources like song critiques, songwriting organizations and your songwriting peers to get good, constructive feedback on your material.  Don’t just sign with a publisher because they tell you you’re good.

Your Options

My intention is not to discourage but rather to empower you.  By not looking at a publishing deal as the only answer to your songwriting prayers, you’ll put yourself in a position to do for yourself which, ultimately, will be the most consistent and rewarding way of having a sustainable career as a songwriter. In other words, you don’t have to have a publishing deal in order to act like you have a publishing deal every single day.  Here’s what I mean…

1.     Be your own publisher - You don’t need an established publisher to publish your songs. It’s a relatively simple proposition to start your own publishing company through one of the performing rights organizations (ASCAP, BMI and SESAC). A simple phone call to one of these three organizations can get you started.

2.     Put yourself on a regular writing schedule - If you want to be a professional songwriter, act like one.  Set aside regular times to write and treat it like a job. Folks in the working world don’t skip work because they “don’t feel like it” and neither should you.

3.     Demo your songs - Develop a relationship with a professional recording studio and when you’re absolutely certain you’ve got a song that’s ready for prime time, spend the money to make a broadcast-quality version suitable for a variety of uses from pitching to artists to placement in film and TV. And speaking of pitching…

4.     Pitch your songs - Actively look for opportunities for your songs.  It’s one thing to write a good song and have a great demo but if no one hears it, then it can’t possibly generate any income for you.  This isn’t the glamorous, romantic part of the business but I promise you, the overwhelming majority of successful songwriters - even those with publishing deals and song pluggers - spend a lot of time pitching their own material. It’s tough out there and you need to do everything in your power to get your songs heard.  Also, as I mentioned above, no one will make your songs a priority more than you will.

5.     Network - Another less-than-pleasant reality for the gifted, introverted songwriter is that there is no substitute for the relationships you make in the industry.  Get out there and meet people.  This doesn’t mean you have to be fake or stay up until 3am drinking every night (unless you like that kind of thing).  It does mean, however, that you have to find opportunities to interact with the decision-makers in the music industry.  A few suggestions of ways to do this might be attending music conferences, songwriter festivals and some of the events sponsored by organizations like the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) or the Songwriter’s Guild of America (SGA).

6.     Sign an admin deal - If you’re starting to get some cuts and placements for your songs and the subtleties of copyright law, royalty statements and licensing feel like too much to keep track of or negotiate, then consider signing with a publisher to administer your copyrights.  In other words, instead of giving away ownership of 50%-100% of your copyright, give a copyright administrator 15%-25% to “mind the store” while you’re taking care of the other stuff.  I promise you, if you’re making money from your songs, you’ll have no trouble at all finding an experienced publisher to administer your copyrights.

Conclusion

For the sake of simplicity, I’ve kept this article and the terms of a publishing deal very general. There are all manner of publishing deals from copyright administration all the way to full ownership of your publishing and there are reasons for and against all of these. Music publishers provide a valuable service in our industry but I think it’s important to realize that signing a publishing deal isn’t always your best option.  Be absolutely certain you understand what you stand to gain (beyond the simple validation of your talent) and what you’re giving up to get it.  In the world of professional songwriting, there is no one way to achieve success and, no matter what, the more you understand and can do on your own, the better off you’ll be.  Good luck!

Spencer Day on playing “Mary Lincoln’s Last Night Out” on KPSP Channel 2 in Palm Springs.

As a transplanted songwriter from Nashville to New York City, I’ve had the chance to observe, up close, the approaches to songwriting and the songwriting communities in both cities. While there are of course many similarities, there are also quite a few differences.

Read the full article here.