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The Bottom Line to Selling Songs

By Pamela Parker, Esq.

You may by now be wondering why a lawyer is talking to you about setting performance goals and joining associations. Shouldn't I be talking about how to copyright your songs?

The truth is, unless you are good at what you do, organized about how you do it (even if you depend on someone else to keep you organized) and up to date on trends in music, you will never need a lawyer and it'll be a waste of your money to register anything with the copyright office.

That's the bottom line. No one will "discover" you if you don't put your music "out there" somehow, and no one will buy it after it's discovered if you don't know who owns what. And if no one's interested in the music, you'll never need a lawyer.

So I want you to do well, I really do. And here is your bottom line, stated another way:

1. Study your craft and constantly seek to become better at what you do.
2. Create opportunities to let as many people as possible hear your music.
3. Learn about the business of music - what paperwork do you need, what registrations do you need, what sorts of agreements do you need with your musicians? And then do those things.

If you need help with those things, that's perfectly okay. Most musicians have someone in the background who keeps up with papers and the like. But it is up to YOU to make sure that someone is attending to those three things. Because when you are a songwriter, you are the product, and you are ultimately responsible for whether you succeed or fail in the business of selling your music.

Full post as published by After Writing on January 29, 2007 (boomark / email).