JPF Home Page Forums General Messages Songwriter Message Forum Nashville Songwriters Association International NSAI

If you are writing country music, NSAI is worthwhile. Christian/Gospel maybe as well... Rock, Pop, Jazz, Rap etc. not so much. I too was an NSAI member for many years before I launched JPF as an answer. And the Mentor program now part of NSAI came directly from JPF (I told Gracie Hollombe, their former Membership Director, to interview with them when she needed work) and she took a lot of the programs we were offering and incorporated them into NSAI such as the Mentor program). I believe we both borrowed from John Braheny and Len Chaney's Los Angeles Songwriters Showcase as well. Though NSAI insists it's for all genres, I can tell you that 95% of the activity ends up being Country in nature. (Just like our message board, something else they borrowed from us though I haven't seen theirs in ages). All that to say if I wanted to write country music and was just getting started, I'd definitely join NSAI if they had a local active chapter near me. JPF used to have over 100 active chapters but I let them fade away because I had to either give them up or the music awards because we were just too overwhelmed here without a large paid staff like NSAI has. (And we're also totally free and volunteer run). If I did other genres of music, I'd join TAXI instead (frankly, TAXI would be the first place I'd join that I had to pay for). I'd also join JPF of course and Muses Muse which are both free. Indie-Music.com used to have a variety of things they offered, but I can't tell you what they are up to at the moment. If you are on the West Coast, I'd join the West Coast Songwriters Ass. they do excellent work. If you're in LA, Orange County, Tampa, Buffalo, Nashville, Chicago or one of the other new cifies we're launching chapters you should join a JPF chapter. Any face to face peer networking you can do, do it. (And you can start a JPF chapter anywhere there are at least 10 interested artists/songwriters or industry folks). The big music cities have all sorts of extra stuff to join like NARAS chapters, or folks like Doak, MAB or Billy Block who always have stuff to offer and help.

Basically, help is out there, free and for a fee. Check out all of them, join all the free ones, and get involved. The more you put in the more you'll get out.

Happy hunting!

Brian