FAQ

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There’s no one perfect answer, but you have to get the attention of the person who’s booking the festival/tour. Show them that you’re drawing big crowds at your gigs and that you’re getting a lot of radio/retail/press attention…you get the picture. State your case in terms that translate to people showing up to see the show.

You can advertise in any number of music trades like Billboard or contact organizations that deal with music industry employment (NARIP, for one) to find someone to handle your publishing catalog (if you’re willing to pay a salary). Publishing administrators wear many hats, from trying to place music to collecting money to making sure the paperwork is up to date. Administrators find money in anything that uses music-film, TV, advertising, web sites, ad infinitum.

You should register your songs as soon as you have officially registered as a songwriter. Again, most offer online works registration or you can call your local office for the paperwork.

Hopefully you are signed up with a performing rights organization like BMI (see Is a Performing Rights Organization the Same Thing as a Publisher?. PROs collect money from radio stations (and other businesses that use music) and distribute them as royalties to songwriters. You can only get paid from radio play if you are affiliated with a PRO.

The Musician’s Atlas and the Music Registry are just two examples, but there are lots of directories on the market. Google can help you find them and most are available via Amazon.com or directly from the publishers.

You can perform any song you want- but, if you record a song and then sell the CD, you’ll need a mechanical license.

Faculty Comments:

“You are free to perform songs that are in general release without permission of the writer or publisher. If you choose to record the song and sell the music, then you would be required to obtain a mechanical license from the publisher or the publishers representative.”

- J.W. Johnson, Artist Relations Executive & Songwriter101 Faculty Member

Registering your copyrights is not required but it is highly recommended since doing so will give you certain protection under copyright law in case you need to sue someone for using your song without your permission.

We don’t shop deals for affiliates as a general practice, but if we hear something that is extraordinary, we certainly make our friends in the A&R community aware of the artist.

- J.W. Johnson, Artist Relations Executive & Songwriter101 Faculty Member

Obviously, the best arrangement is for the person who writes the songs to have it clearly stated that they wrote the songs. Consult an attorney. You need to get a clear agreement as to who owns what.