1. Domino355

    Domino355 Senior Member

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    Selling a Song I Wrote

    Discussion in 'Traditional Publishing' started by Domino355, Oct 26, 2014.

    I know this isn't really "publishing", but I couldn't find anywhere else where this thread would be more appropriate in this forum.
    There are a few songs I've wrote over the past years, and lately I've been thinking that maybe I could try to sell some of my better songs for musicians. I have a few questions about that:
    1. Do singers/bands actually do that, that they can buy the wrights to a song or decide to perform a song you sent them?
    2. How exactly do I send my song? Do I send it directly to the musician, or does the process go through an agent?
    3. Non of my songs have ever had music added to them. Is adding music by myself or do musicians, in general, when they see a good writing piece, do they add the music themselves?
     
  2. SocksFox

    SocksFox Contributor Contributor Contest Winner 2023

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    Have you done any research on the basics? Google, visit the library, or the local bookstore. Check out the Song Writer's Market. You need to do some of your own footwork.
     
  3. thirdwind

    thirdwind Member Contest Administrator Reviewer Contributor

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    Do you know any musicians/bands in real life? Maybe you could collaborate with them.
     
  4. Shadowfax

    Shadowfax Contributor Contributor

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    Do you even have a tune that you could hum?

    I've "written" songs over the years, always with the guitar in my hand, and generally with a set of chords to accompany it, and a tune that I can (!) sing it to. There are a few where I've got an idea of the tune, but I haven't worked out the chords, and those I consider incomplete.

    Most songs that I hear have indifferent lyrics, and so few of them...It's usually a hook phrase, and a repeated chorus...what makes the song popular is the orchestration, the rhythm, the whole music of it, and the lyrics are generally meaningless.

    The problem that you've got is that, without the music, your song is virtually uncopyrightable...unless the lyrics are very special, anybody could make a few changes (and few songs get covered with exactly the same lyrics) and you'd struggle to support a claim that they were yours.

    So, seek out a musician and become the Gilbert to his Sullivan.
     

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