Lyricist.com FAQ

Not surprisingly I get a lot of email from beginning songwriters and lyricists asking me songwriting questions. Most of the time it's a question that I've already answered time and time again. Here are the most frequently asked questions. Please see if your question is already answered here before you email me and that will save us both time. Thanks!

Can you critique my lyrics? ...give me feedback on my MP3's?

Sorry, I'd love to critique lyrics/music, but I'm afraid I don't have enough time to do this. There are plenty of forums for song critique, such as songwriting workshops put on by songwriters organizations. There are instructors who can do this over the mail. Critique is a membership benefit of some songwriting organizations. Finally, you can get your lyrics critiqued for free on various songwriting message boards and newsgroups (though sometimes you get what you pay for!)

Can you publish my songs? ...hook me up with famous artists? ...pass on my music to industry execs?

Sorry, I'm not a publisher and these are not things I do.

How do I market and sell my lyrics?

I'm afraid nobody wants to buy lyrics. What you hear on the radio are complete songs. This is what you need to produce. Song publishers and record label A&R people will listen your songs in the form of a demo tape or CD, if they are to experience them at all.

So your first step is to create a song that can be recorded as a demo. For this, my suggestion is team up with a musician. There are many talented musicians out there who do not possess the gift of lyric writing. Some may already be performing, but need new material. You may also want to find other songwriters (more musically gifted than you might be) to collaborate with.

How do I copyright my songs?

The following applies to the United States...

First of all, your songs are already copyrighted -- that happens automatically as soon as they are in fixed form, such as a page of lyrics. I would recommend putting a line like: "Copyright 2000 Irma Songwriter" on whatever lyrics or lead sheets you pass off or post to let the reader know that you consider this copyrighted.

Now, registering your copyright is another matter altogether. Registering is not required for copyright protection, but would help prove your registration in a legal situation. Registering is simple and inexpensive. You do it through the U.S. Copyright Office, which has a website and forms downloadable online. You'll probably want form PA, as this covers musical works. However, form SR is also available for recordings of specific performances.

Under form PA it is possible to register the copyright of collection of songs all at once. Some people do to save money on registration fees, which would be substantial if you wanted to register all 200 songs you wrote in the last ten years. However, there is a downside... if you do want to license a song copyright, you risk granting license to the whole collection. Also, it will be hard for someone (say an artist wanting to record your song) to find your song since it would be listed under the name of the collection.

Copyright Office Website: http://www.loc.gov/copyright
Copyright Basics (includes links to forms): http://www.loc.gov/copyright/circs/circ1.html

Library of Congress
Copyright Office
Publications Section, LM-455
101 Independence Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20559-6000

For more links, see the Copyright section of Lyricist.com

To be continued...

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