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 wants to record the...

  Even those who have written thousands of songs could benefit from reviewing the basics of what a beginning writer does when writing their first song. Every now and then, someone joins SongTown who is just trying to learn how to write that first song - to turn their own feelings and experiences into music that other people can connect...

Hi, are you a songwriter? I’ve had people come up to me and introduce themselves in a setting where I suspected that they were also songwriters. When I ask if they are songwriters they say, “Not a real songwriter – I’ve never had anything recorded”. That always breaks my heart. I believe that commercial success does not make one a writer any...

From time to time, someone asks me "What are the odds of getting a cut?"  In my mind, what they are really asking is "Is this even worth trying?"  I'm going to suggest here that this is the wrong approach to dream chasing of any form. Let me put it to you this way.  What are the odds that a Nashville...

    The longer I live and the more I write, the more I realize that there really is no “destination” in life, unless it is death.   Short of the grave, we are all still on the journey, trying to figure out the world and our place in it. In regard to writing, we all (or most of us anyway) have hopes,...

Early in my songwriting career, I knew nothing about how the business works or how to actually become a full-time songwriter and sustain a career as one.  This is a list of things I wish I knew when I was starting out.  Knowing these ten things could have saved me years of trial and error.  Consider them my gift to...