Music Business

Do songwriters need a publisher? This is a question that I get all the time. Like most things in life, there is not a one-size-fits-all answer to the question. In general, I explain it to people this way.  It’s very similar to the way I would answer the question “Do I really need a mechanic to…

I grew up with a father whose financial philosophy was “If it’s in the bank, we should spend it. There will be more there next month.” That resulted in our family often running out of money before all the bills were paid. And it resulted in a lot of stress. When I first went out…

Over and over, during my songwriting career, I have been a part of debates over the issue of holding on to publishing vs signing away publishing. As a general rule, keeping your publishing would be preferable. After all, the publishing share is 1/2 of your share of the song. So, why would anyone sign away…

This is one of the top questions filling our ST mailbox! The writer often states that they have songs and just can’t get the right person to listen. They feel their songs are as strong as what’s playing on radio, so how can they get a publishing company to take a chance on them? Well, I’ve…

Lately, I’ve run into several interesting situations with “first use” song licenses, so I thought I’d try to educate and enlighten just a bit here.  Copyright law allows the copyright owners to control the FIRST recording of any song.  After that, a compulsory license kicks in.  After the first license is granted, then ANYONE who…

How To Behave In The Music Business: Don’t Be A Squirrel! By: Marty Dodson This is one of the questions I get all the time. People will say, “I called ASCAP and they never called me back. Why are they so rude?” Or, “I went to five publishers and none of them would listen to…