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WHEN DOES A SONGWRITER NEED A PUBLISHER?

5/30/2023

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In the simplest terms, a songwriter needs a publisher when they have a number of songs that are ready to be placed in a commercial market AND the songwriter doesn’t have the connections to get those songs recorded on their own. For instance, if I was Bruno Mars’ college roommate and he loved my writing, I wouldn’t really need a publisher. I would have a direct route to getting my songs recorded by a major superstar. Most of us are not in that boat.  So, we find ourselves trying to figure out if our songs are good enough, or exactly what we need a publisher to do for us. There is no one-size-fits-all answer to the question, but here are some guidelines I use with writers I mentor:
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5 KEYS TO BUILDING A BETTER SONG CATALOG

3/28/2023

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Write, write, write! There is no substitute for this. A catalog is a collection of songs. You need to write every day if possible. At least as often as you can! But the bottom line here is “the more the better”. This not only helps you become a better writer but also gives you more variety of material which increases the odds that you’ll have the right song for a particular project.
 
Don’t write just one type, style or genre of song. A great catalog has an array of subject matter, tempos, emotions, styles, and genres. The goal is to have a song ready for you or your publisher to pitch in every situation. If an artist is looking for an uptempo party song, you got it covered. If an artist is looking for a message song with a deeper lyric about the state of the world, you got it covered. You see where I’m going with this. It doesn’t happen overnight obviously, it takes time, but this is something you do by design.

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WHERE DO YOU FIND SONG IDEAS?

11/15/2022

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I’m often asked where I find song ideas. More than most people, I do actually go out and try to “discover” great ideas for songs. Many people just keep their antennae up and listen for unique things that others say in daily life. I do that as well. I’m always ready to add an idea to my “Idea Note” in my phone if I overhear something cool. Sometimes I hear a quote which I can relate a lot, it goes to my list. Sometimes I hear some story of something that happened to someone, I might take it as is, or I might make some changes (for dramatic purposes) and add it to the list.
 
When I actually sit down to look for ideas, I tend to start with quotes. Notable quotes are notable because they say something in a unique way. So, I go to sites that feature movie quotes or I search for site that have quotes organized by topic. 
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DOES A SONGWRITER NEED A PUBLISHER?

11/1/2022

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This is a question that I get all the time. Like most things in life, there is not a one-size-fits-all answer to the question. In general, I explain it to people this way: It’s very similar to the way I would answer the question “Do I really need a mechanic to fix my car?”. The answer is, “It depends”. If you have all of the tools you need to fix your own car, you have access to the parts required for the job, and you have been trained in fixing cars like yours, then probably you don’t need a mechanic. You’ll invest your own time into fixing it, but there’s no need to pay a mechanic for something you know how to do yourself. The problem is that most of us don’t have all the tools required. Neither do we have access to parts. And, we don’t have training. Therefore, we take our car to a mechanic.
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THINGS CREATIVELY SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE DON’T DO

9/27/2022

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Creatively successful people have healthy mental habits. They not only have mastered their art, but they have learned to master their habits, attitudes, and emotions. They understand this mastery allows them more creative space in their mind and spirit. Check out these things creatively successfully people don’t do so you too also become a master of your creativity and destiny.
 
Give their power away. Creatively successful people don’t blame circumstances or other people if they are not having the success, they feel they should be having. They rest all the responsibility for their success squarely on their own shoulders. They empower themselves and it drives their creativity to improve their art.
 
They don’t shy away from change. Creatively successful people don’t try to avoid change. They understand that change is inevitable and welcome it. They believe in their abilities to adapt.

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THE SINGLE BIGGEST DISTINCTION BETWEEN PROFESSIONAL AND AMATEUR SONGWRITERS

8/30/2022

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​In my mind, the single biggest distinction between a professional and an amateur writer is their way of thinking. Here are some of the most significant differences I’ve observed over the years in my day to day life as a full-time songwriter.
 
Amateurs think “Somebody is going to steal my song.” 
Professionals think, “I’m going to write my idea better than anyone else. If they write it better than I did, more power to them.”
 
Amateurs write when inspiration hits and only when it happens, and they brag about it.
Professionals write anyway.

​​Amateurs think about what they want to write and what they personally feel close to and write about that whenever the inspiration hits them.
Professionals also think about what audiences want to hear.
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THE TRUTH ABOUT “TURNING PROFESSIONAL” AS A SONGWRITER

8/9/2022

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​When my cousin was going through his freshman orientation at university at the School of Music Business, a parent raised their hand and asked “So, if my daughter gets her degree in songwriting from the university, she’s pretty much guaranteed a “slot” in the Music Business, right?” There are so many things wrong with that statement that it’s hard to know where to begin. Let me take a run at it though the big issues here.

There aren’t “slots” in the Music Business There aren’t a prescribed number of openings for professional staff writers. Publishers come and go. Rosters go up and down. But as long as there is money to be made in the music business, there will be opportunities for great songwriters. Unless a publisher has no money left and has maxed out their roster, they are always open to meeting with writers who show promise. A “slot” will magically open up if you have “the goods”. 
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THE SONGWRITER’S BUSINESS PLAN

7/19/2022

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One of the things I discovered when I started mentoring songwriters is that very few of us have a plan for where we want to be in future and how we want to get there. That may be the curse of the creative mind – we get so lost in making stuff up that we lose sight of the business side of things that must be tended to as well. And it’s a big mistake for people who want to make a living in any aspect of creative industries. There is two words in “Music Business”. There is music and there is business and they both are equally important.

​None can work without the other one. In mentoring sessions, we often work on a customized plan for the specific person. But, in general, there are some steps I recommend for every songwriter who is trying to turn their songwriting passion into a business.
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THE OVERCONFIDENT SONGWRITER

6/28/2022

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​I was talking to a songwriter and he was telling about his story of when he walked into a certain PRO office like he owned the place, because he knew that his songs were better than anything they had in their catalogue. When he demanded a meeting on the spot, they escorted him out of the building. He was shocked. Then, he went across the street and tried that same plan out at another place with the same result. At the end of the story he claimed that someone else actually escorted him out of the whole city. While that part stretched believability, I’ve seen the first two routines in action several times.
Songwriter Dude, I’m sorry if you wind up hearing your story and seeing yourself here, but I have to say that your plan is a bad one. You don’t own this town. You don’t own your PRO. And, nobody here owes you anything. You didn’t build the town, or the PRO, or any of the artists involved, or in general you still hadn’t generated even a cent from your music for yourself or for anybody else. 
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I love your confidence though, but it is not going to get you anywhere in this industry. You may be a very talented songwriter. I am not here to judge that at this moment, but you have to understand where you fit into the big picture before you will ever be welcomed into the fold.

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HOW WE RAISE THE TIDE AS SONGWRITERS

6/21/2022

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In any music community I am a member I am always trying to remind everyone around me that we rise by lifting each other up. As some of us improve, the bar gets raised and others improve trying to reach for that bar. This is the healthiest way of competition inside a community that literally benefits everyone. In some ways, the music business is a cut-throat competition, with some similarities to the hunger games. Some people look at it as a “kill or be killed” proposition. This kind of behavior would create what I call dirty competition. These people try to destroy their competitors instead of trying to improve themselves and get better than the rest. If everyone just try to be better than the others rather than destroying the others, the whole team will get better and better and it’s great for everyone.

Playing “kill or get killed” kind of game stifles creativity and it creates crappy music. Our philosophy at Flipside is that if we lift each other up, better music starts to be created. ​
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5 ROOKIE MISTAKES SONGWRITERS MAKE

6/14/2022

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Act Like You Know! In the music business, your best bet is to try and ACT like you know what you are doing, even if you don’t. I don’t mean you should lie or bluff. But you want to come across to people like you know how things work in the big leagues even if you are just trying out for the farm team at the moment. The reason for this is that usually you only have one shot with each person in this industry and once they see you and feel you don’t know what is going on, that’s it. They will not remember your name or your face, or even worth, they will remember you as a person they don’t need around themselves.
Making these mistakes can tip people off that you DON’T know what you are doing, so don’t make these rookie mistakes:

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TIPS TO HELP SONGWRITERS GET BETTER SONG CRITIQUES

5/24/2022

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​sometimes, people get frustrated with the kind of feedback they get on their songs, but when we dig into the issue, we discover that they really didn’t give the feedback giver much to go on. Here are some tips to help you get accurate, helpful feedback on your songs. The kind of feedback you can count on, and use them to grow your work.
 
Don’t submit finished demos if you can help it. It’s hard to give people feedback on a finished product. If you’ve already spent $800 on the demo, it breaks my heart to tell you that your second verse is ALL messed up. I’m probably going to go easier on you, because I don’t want to crush you and make you feel like you wasted your money. I’d much rather give you feedback on a work tape or a work in progress. Then, I feel like we can fix everything that needs fixing before you spend your money. Unless you send me the finished product and tell me that you don’t have problem redoing it. Then I’d know you have enough money to waste and I don’t need to feel guilty about being honest,
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HOW DO I SUBMIT A SONG AS A SONGWRITER?

4/26/2022

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Based on the emails and messages I get from young writers; it seems to be a lot of confusion out there over the question “How do I submit a song?”. The truth of the matter is that there is no one way to “submit” a song. When you simplify the “song submission” idea, there are basically three categories of song submissions that a songwriter should educate themselves about and work on them. I’ll cover each of those here.
 
Educational submissions. These are “safe” ways to submit a song that you aren’t sure about because the person you are submitting the song to knows that you are just trying to learn. You aren’t going to burn a bridge if the song isn’t there. Usually there are websites by professionals that you can submit your songs to them and take their feedback and in some cases if your song have good potential maybe they invite you for full time or project basis collaboration.
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LEARNING TO THINK LIKE BLAKE SHELTON

4/5/2022

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Songwriters, do you think like an artist? One of the tricks to getting cuts with major artists like Blake Shelton is learning to think like they do. It’s not really all that hard, but it does take some time and effort which if you ask me, it totally worth it to spend that time, energy and effort to learn to think like some of the greatest writers and build your career’s foundation. In essence, songwriters are mini speech writers. We are trying to put words in the mouths of celebrities, and they will sing them out loud for the world. If you were trying to write a speech for a major political candidate, you would try to get to know that candidate as well as you possibly could. You want your words to sound very natural coming out of their mouths because literally the whole world is listening to it – essentially, these words must sound so natural, pure and relevant that sound like they wrote it themselves. To pull that off, I try to read a lot of interviews with artists I want to aim to pitch songs to. 
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THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF MUSIC PUBLISHING DEALS FOR SONGWRITERS AND ARTISTS

3/29/2022

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Of course, any full-time writer prefers to have a proper deal with a publisher and knows their music career is going somewhere. As a general approach, there are two common types of deals that publishers make with writers, but you don’t have to limit yourself to those two options if you can think outside the box.  Here are the two common types of deals plus some ideas for creative options.
 
Staff Writer. In this kind of deal, the writes exclusively for one publisher. Basically, the name is self-explaining. The writer will be the staff of the publisher company and mostly writes on demand when the publisher has an opportunity for the writer and can pitch the song to some artists or producers. Also, the writer will be writing the songs and when they have something, they can provide it to the publisher and if publisher finds it interesting will push and pitch it for the writer. 
One important note about this kind of deal is that there is a quota of songs per year that must be written by the writer and accepted by the publisher. ​
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WHAT REALLY MAKES A SONG A HIT?

3/22/2022

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People often ask me if I KNOW that I’ve written a hit song when I finish it. The answer to that is a resounding “NO”. I generally know when I finish a song whether it is great or just good or it just simply have to get more time spent on it. Beyond that, so much goes into making a song a hit that is out of my control. So, all I can do is try to write a great song every day and then get it into the right hands. After that, it’s up to other forces to make it a hit.
 
In my experience, here is what makes a song a hit:
 
The songwriter writes a song that is catchy, compelling and commercial. That means the song is well crafted, it connects to a broad audience and it causes action on the part of the listener. It may make them cry, laugh, dance, tap their feet, or go purchase the song. In any case, it causes them to react. It also has to be commercial in the sense that an artist would want to sing it and an audience would want to hear it.

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THINGS MUSIC PUBLISHERS LOOK FOR IN A SONGWRITER

3/8/2022

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​Music Publishers seem to be the “holy grail” for songwriters trying to get that first cut. Somehow, many people have the idea that if they could just “get a publisher,” all of their problems would be solved, and the cuts would start rolling in. While having a great publisher can be very beneficial, “getting a publisher” isn’t the most important piece of the success equation by any means. And, notice that I said having a GREAT publisher can be very beneficial. Having a bad or just mediocre publisher is often worse than not having one at all. So, proceed with caution and do a lot of background checking before agreeing to work with any publisher on an exclusive basis. Having said all of that, and as a publisher myself, here are a few things that publishers are looking for in a writer. Working at becoming all of these things before you meet with a publisher is going to increase your chances of that publisher wanting a working relationship with you.
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THE TRUTH ABOUT PITCHING SONGS

3/1/2022

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One of the biggest areas in which I see songwriters being scammed is in the area of pitching songs. There are untold numbers of services that will gladly take your money to “pitch your song”. There are two big reasons that this arena is full of sharks. One is that you have no way of knowing if they ever really pitch your song. And the other problem is that you want a cut so bad you’ll believe anyone who says they love your song. Guess who loves your songs most, other than you and your mom? Scammers. Why? Because they know they can get you to fork over some dollars for that song, even if it doesn’t have a chance of getting cut. Even if they have no real connection to the artist at hand. Even if they have never gotten a song recorded. Even if the artist isn’t looking for songs. All they have to do is tell you that they love your song and your wallet falls open. So, how do you keep the wallet safe and avoid wasting your money? By understanding how the business works. And by doing some homework. Here are some important things to know about pitching songs.
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THE SONGWRITER’S SINGLE SONG CONTRACT – A CAUTIONARY TALE

2/15/2022

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When I was first starting on my commercial songwriting journey, I was dying for someone – anyone – to like my songs. One day I got the call that a publisher was interested in one of my songs. Not just any publisher. It was actually a very well-known publisher. Not one of the big majors, but almost everyone would know the name of the publisher if I threw it out there. I was elated! I was so elated, that I nearly just signed the single-song contract without having a lawyer check it out, or matter of fact, almost without looking at it at all. After all, this was a real publisher. They wouldn’t give me a bad contract, because who am I that they try to rip me off, right? Fortunately, I decided to take it to an entertainment lawyer just in case there was an issue with it. Turns out, there was an issue. Not a little issue. A deal breaker issue. In the contract, it stated that the publisher (who was already getting 100% of my publishing in the deal) would get 50% of my writer’s share if they changed “one note of my arrangement”. 
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WHAT IS A STAFF SONGWRITER?

2/8/2022

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There are many misconceptions of what it means to be a “staff songwriter.” So, I thought I’d make an attempt at clearing that up. In layman’s terms, a staff writer has signed an exclusive agreement assigning a publisher some portion of every song they write during the term of the agreement.  So, if a songwriter signs a “5 Year Deal” for a straight (100%) publishing deal, the publisher will own 100% of the publishing on every song the writer writes during those 5 years. However, a “5 Year Deal” is almost always actually a one-year deal with 4 extra options that the publisher can exercise.

That means that the writer gets to write for the publisher for one year. At the end of the year, the publisher may or may not pick up that option. If they do pick it up, then the writer hangs around for another year. The same thing happens another 3 times. The publisher decides yearly to keep the writer or let them go. The writer generally does not have the option to leave until all 5 years are up. 

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QUESTIONS ABOUT CO-WRITING ETIQUETTE

1/25/2022

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Once in one of our sessions a songwriter asked me, “If I don’t like the way a song turns out with a co-writer, am I free to take the idea and write it with someone else?”. It was very easy to answer her question as it’s pretty obvious and I was kind of surprised seeing that she didn’t know the answer, but on the other had the answer to such question is not written anywhere as a rule or anything. Maybe because it’s just simply too obvious, and no one ever cared to actually make it clear for anyone who might not know. The answer to her is; No. Not really. Generally, once you write an idea with someone, you are in it for good with them. It’s considered as a very bad form to take your idea and write it one your own or with someone else. And it would probably destroy your relationship with writer #1. If you are in such situation and you really don’t like the result of what came out with that writer but you really like the topic, I would suggest that the better approach is to see if you can get your co-writer to agree to bring in someone else to help you fix it or make better, while the writer #1 is also involved in the process. If he / she agrees, then the three of you could sit down and hopefully get it where it needs to be. 
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HOW TO ENJOY SUSTAINED SUCCESS IN THE MUSIC BUSINESS

12/14/2021

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I’ve enjoyed a 16-year music business career that has exceeded my imagination by far. When I started doing music, I could never imagine that one day it will become my full time job - although I was desperately hoping for it. I couldn’t even imagine to be anywhere near where I am today, yet all those dreams came true and today I am very happy about where I am and what I am doing for a living. After all these, now it’s time for me to pass on some of the things I’ve learned in this time period of 16 years, about keeping cuts coming over time. Here are the ways I have turned a couple of cuts into a bunch of cuts.
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Don’t develop a “thing” that you do. I always cringe when someone says, “This is what I do.” If your “thing” goes out of style, you are in trouble. Try to write all over the spectrum in your genre. Don’t limit yourself to only one aspect of what you are doing and don’t let people to think your capabilities are just limited to that one “thing”. 
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STOP ASKING THE WORLD TO LISTEN TO YOUR MUSIC AND WRITE SONGS SO GOOD THEY WANT TO HEAR THEM

11/2/2021

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A few years ago, I urged a popular music forum to start a songwriting thread. The songwriters involved in it thought it was a great idea and I stop in from time to time to discuss writing and read comments. It started out really cool. Discussions about lyrics, melody, popular songs vs. classics, etc. Later on, I stopped in to read up on the discussions. I admit I hadn’t logged on in a few months. And guess what the most popular column on the songwriting thread was? “Post your demos here” 121,000 views & comments in the last 6 months. The closest column about actual “songwriting” in the Songwriting Thread was 718 views!
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Now understand this was not a site where fans buy music or publishers go to find songs. It was just a forum for songwriters to discuss songwriting and to share their opinions and ideas on this one particular topic and nothing more than that. 
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SHOULD YOU PAY YOUR CO-WRITER TO DEMO YOUR SONG?

10/26/2021

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Let’s talk about some co-writing scenarios. Sometime ago, we had a lively and awesome debate in the one of our sessions at Flipside with the young writers about whether or not a “track guy” (Or girl) should charge their co-writers for building a track/demo for their song. There truly no one’s answer is right or wrong to that question. There might be times when that is appropriate, but there are definitely times when it’s highly inappropriate. Let me illustrate some of the complex situations that occur in my writing and let you weigh in on the answer to that question.

Hit Writer/Staff Writer Track Guy. One guy I write with has had a number of hits and lots of cuts. He’s a great “track guy”. He has produced songs on some major label artists. He has a publisher, but they don’t have an office in Singapore, so we work together whenever they need to get anything done here and we let them to use our Flipside’s office and recording studio. 
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They are great with sync and pop pitches, but not really a player at all when pitching film music – which is my specialty in composing and in my heart, it is my personal preference to compose film music more than anything else. So, this writer and I wrote what we thought was a great pitch for one of major artists. I spent about an hour and a half the morning of our write working on ideas and found a great one that we used. I came in with it all mapped out and part of a chorus. We quickly wrote the song. Two days later, he sent me a demo. I got it pitched to that singer we had in mind and she put it on the hold. If we get it cut, we make the same amount of money since we have similar pub deals. So, what do you think? Should I have paid him to track the song? Should he have paid me to pitch it since we used my connections for pitching and he admitted, “never leaves his basement”? Is a great demo that never gets heard worth anything?​

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HOW SONGWRITERS GET PAID?

10/19/2021

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Several people have asked about the different ways for songwriters to get paid. It seems to be a big question for everyone even inside the industry that how one can sit down and write music and make a living out of it! Growing up in Iran, where people appreciate music more than anywhere else I had ever seen, yet nobody wants their children to become musicians, I often had this problem that when anyone was asking me about my job and I was saying that I am a songwriter, their next question was, “No, what is your real job? How do you make money?”. To this date I can say this is one of the most common questions I get. So, here are a few ways for songwriters to get paid.

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Publishing Draws for songwriters. This is a monthly amount a publisher pays to a writer that is on a staff publishing deal. This basically is same as any other sort of employment and the writer is being hired by the publisher as a full-time staff, getting paid to write a certain number of songs that would be approved by the publisher. 
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These are really advancing on royalties that have to be repaid out of incoming royalties. Once your catalog is recouped, the publisher pays you semi-annual royalty checks for money they have collected. This part can be taken as the “bonus” in business world. Basically, the more you write, the bigger your catalog would be, and the bigger your catalog is, the more semi-annual royalties will come to you.

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