Hello all!
I am a brand newbie to this game and to this forum. I have been writing for years, but just venturing out and wanting to get music put to my lyrics.
I was contacted by Nashville Song Service but I saw on one of the forums here that this may not be the best idea to go with as they "own" the melody to your song if you go with them. The good thing I thought about them is that they help pitch your music. I live in the midwest so i'm not sure where to start with pitching my music to artists.

The other place i was looking at trying was EastCraft Demo recording. I wonder if this is a place anyone has used and could give me some advice about.
Thank you for any help you can give!!
So glad to be a part of this group!

Bethany Koubsky

Welcome, Bethany. Nice to see you here. You are right to be wary of some of these demo services in my opinion. If you give them only lyrics then you will probably get back a recording with a very generic melody. When you compose your lyrics, do you have a melody in mind?

Hi Bethany,

Welcome to JP folks - I have not been on the forum that long myself.

Lyrics without a melody would be almost impossible to pitch but I am always looking for really good lyrics to write music to. You could always post a sample of your lyrics in the lyrics section

The companies that charge you to write a melody and promise you the world will usually not deliver the goods.



Jane

Sometimes I do and sometimes i don't. I can imagine what the speed of the song would be or if i want it to be acoustic or not. I guess i'm just trying to get started and not sure how!

Thank you! I will try to post some lyrics and get some feedback. I am not even sure if they are any good! hah

Welcome Bethany,
I have only been coming here off and on lately but I have been a member for years, and written a bunch of songs. I have had help on quite a few, and given help on quite a few here. Best you can do is post and if we have anything to say take it into consideration. The other thing is to read other lyrics posted to see how they flow, especially the ones you like, and comment or ask questions about why they are written the way they are. I don't post anything if I think I can't help. Personally, I only really follow lyric 3

Writing to a specific genre of music will help you somewhat... But even so, if you don’t write with a melody/rhythm in mind then prepare yourself for lots of interpretations and opinions... even if you pay for them. No two studios will put your lyrics to the same music, it’s all very subjective... but they will all charge you for the service just the same. Many argue that songwriting is not poetry... I only half agree. Songwriting is a marriage of music and poetry which varies by genre. The mood, tone, and rhythm of the music has to fit the mood of the lyric in order to emote effectively. The truth is any singer with a good sense of rhythm can sing any lyric to any music. So, you really need to be able to write with a purpose in mind. Otherwise, as above, just post some lyrics and see what happens... There’s lots of very "opinionated" musicians here lol

Having three dogs raises you in my estimation. Dog people make the best writers .

The reason I would be wary of demo services that put music to your lyrics is that, if you have a killer melody, you are probably going to use it yourself rather than "throw it away" in a work-for-hire arrangement. It's pretty easy to quickly put a workmanlike melody to something, and amateur lyricists will just be thrilled to see their words put to music. It's a different matter if you go in with words and melody, and there are reputable studios who will do a good job for a price.

I see you are in Omaha. There is a chapter of Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) in Lincoln that meets once a month. That might be a good way to meet people in real life and maybe make songwriting friends that you can collaborate with. I was a bit nervous about joining my local chapter, given that I'm not really a performer, but they made me feel very welcome, and I expect you would have the same experience. You could ask to attend a few meetings before deciding whether or not to join, as I did.
http://www.nashvillesongwriters.com/nsai-lincoln-ne-chapter