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#848907 - 10/06/10 10:47 AM
Re: What is the reality behind selling lyrics in Nashville?
[Re: Steve Cooke]
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 4,262
Roy Cooper
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Top 100 Poster
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 4,262
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#849392 - 10/08/10 05:06 PM
Re: What is the reality behind selling lyrics in Nashville?
[Re: Bill Robinson]
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Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 318
Z. Mulls
Serious Contributor
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Serious Contributor
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 318
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Wow. I'm a day late and a dollar short on this one, aren't I? I'm one of those lyricists who struggles with the fact that the melody/words split is 50/50, but the "musicating" is a lot of frustrating work.
I'm certainly with everyone up to the point where a demo work-for-hire (we'll arrange this song for you for $150) is different from a co-write (you want a melody? We're 50/50 on the song).
Gets tricky there. The musician now owns half of the song and has an interest in getting it right. And hiring other musicians and vocalists sure costs money.
So, says the lyricist, I'm cool with splitting the costs of anyone you have to hire. But, he continues, I'm uncomfortable paying you for working on your (our) song in your (our) studio.
I get what Polly is saying -- what does the musician half get for all that work except frustration? But is it fair for one partner to charge another for labor he is doing on their joint composition?
There are a few ways to split this baby. One is to have an agreement that the musician half will do the work but if the song makes any money at all, the first $XXX will go to the musician off the top for the studio work (and they will split any external costs). Another is instead of taking a co-write to charge an extra $100 for melody (which is probably more than you'd see from the song anyway).
Gets trickier if the produced track is to be used for anything other than a demo. If it's to be pitched for film or TV, who owns the master recording? Seems to me that the studio would expect to participate in profits of a "real track."
It's a sticky wicket, no doubt about it.
As for the age-old question of whether lyrics or music is more important, the answer is always "it depends." Sometimes it's one, sometimes it's the other. And Marc quotes the general truth that the music pulls them in but the lyric gets them to stay. So while sometimes one is more important than the other, 50/50 (or equal shares) is usually easiest.
I recently wrote a song with two composers. I started with one, and he pulled in a friend to help write and produce the track. They said I should get 50% because I came in with the lyric, and I thought it should be more equal (funny, the positions seem reversed, don't they?) We agreed on a 40/30/30 split, recognizing the strength of the lyric, but giving the 2-person music work more than half.
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#849416 - 10/08/10 07:44 PM
Re: What is the reality behind selling lyrics in Nashville?
[Re: Stephen Brooke]
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Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 135
Wyndham
Serious Contributor
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Serious Contributor
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 135
Seagrove NC
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I'll add another dimension to the whole discussion, maybe these issues are why engineers that mix and master, just do the best they can, get paid and go to bed happy for a good days pay. If anyone wants to read a tutorial on sound mixing, there's a great one at: http://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=29283I've only gotten 3 pages in but what an eye opener. Very technical but worth the read. Wyndham
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#852322 - 10/21/10 07:02 PM
Re: What is the reality behind selling lyrics in Nashville?
[Re: Ott Lukk (D)]
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Joined: May 2004
Posts: 2,244
Sam Wilson
Top 200 Poster
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Top 200 Poster
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 2,244
Nashville, TN USA
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Were I to "sell" a lyric, that by chance evolved into a demo, I would insist that all involved be treated fairly.
However, if someone who has no part in it made me feel like they couldn't be trusted, or wouldn't handle things equally, then I would pull my work out of the arrangement......and all involved would be at their own discretion to do what they wanted to do with their contributions.
Anyone else here would do the same. Every participant deserves full credit and all due monetary rewards for having worked on the song.
Now, having said that, I would like to see the initial point of this whole discussion become real. Uhhh, that is, if possible....?
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