JPF Home Page Forums General Messages Songwriter Message Forum What is the reality behind selling lyrics in Nashville?

This is going to be a very unpopular view, but, I consider writing the lyric to be about 10% of the entire process of the song. Even if it takes a lyric writer MONTHS to get a lyric down (like it did Travis and I on "Papa Said") it was the MELODY AND MUSIC that gave that song its drive and its hook. The lyric was acceptable enough. The vocal performance drove the song home. There were two versions...mine, and his gal Corey's. Either one could have done the job, although admittedly mine was too pitchy. Hers could have used a little more attitude, but she was on key. Either way, the melody, the awesome musication, the vocal performances, and Travis's accessability to a publisher FAR OUTWEIGH the lyric writing. I estimate that even over 2 months, we probably collectively spent about 4 hours total on the lyric. The rest was way more labor and involved a lot more time.

Again, someone sends in some lyrics, says, "put a melody to it, musicate it AND perform it". Right there, the other person is doing THREE TIMES the work the lyricist is. What's so hard to understand about that? If the person doing all the other stuff also has contacts and is pitching the song, that's a FIFTH wheel involved. AND, only charging $150 TO DO ALL OF THAT is UNDERCHARGING, therefore, the person (in this case, Haze) is way more than putting his share in.