JPF Home Page Forums General Messages Songwriter Message Forum Question for experienced writers

To sum all this up:

The 3 statements made by me during this exchange were:

1. Songwriters need to have a reasonable term reversion clause. Not having one is a terrible idea.

2. The company in question was wrong to revoke an offer to an innocent party because they were angry at others on this site who raised flags about them.

3. The company in question has a page called "Successes" which pictures a slew of famous album covers but explains in vague terms that they have worked with people who have been involved with the albums below. But they don't state (nor do I believe it's true) that they placed songs on each of those albums as publishers. Since it's a publishing site, it's very misleading to list those without a specific context. If you want to see "Successes" listed on a publishing site, you'd expect it to relate to what they do: Publishing songs. They easily could have post that list in their bio page as people they've worked with, but they didn't.

These 3 things are the issues I brought up during the discussion. As far as I am aware, there's still no mention of who these people are on this post, so outside of the handful of people who started the post, no one else will know. But they WILL understand that it's not appropriate or accepted practice to sign a publishing deal without a reversion clause. They may also learn to verify any claims made by a company on their website and not simply assume what you see is what is real. And perhaps that company will realize that punishing an innocent person because you're angry at a moderator or other party is both unprofessional and frankly immature.

I received an angry email from a friend of the company in question who is also the partner of Terri Lynn, our longtime coordinator. It was filled with personal attacks on me, on the organization, against Mike Dunbar's talent in the studio and it insulted every single member of JPF. Obviously I wasn't pleased to get this from someone who has never emailed me before and who frankly, I had no idea who he was. He also stated he would no longer offer discounts to JPF members, something which I never directly approved in the first place. He started the email with the question "Is JPF a SCAM" After my response (which basically stated the above as well as addressing some of his accusations asking for evidence that we were scamming someone) I received an email from Terri Lynn which she posted here as well. Since the entire discussion was not available (and if needed, I will be happy to post ALL of it in context) I deleted her response because it didn't make sense out of context. The essense of her statement was that the guy who sent the nasty email was her partner and drummer and that it was her studio (which he ran with her apparently) that was offering the discounts and that was approved (though not by me.. I wasn't even aware she currently had a studio after she stopped working with Mike Dunbar). She also explained that she feels my actions here have given JPF a bad name among her business associates and she has turned in her resignation as the Nashville Chapter Coordinator after 7 years.

I wrote her back and explained that no one has offered a dispute of the 3 main facts I brought up. Everyone is angry because I spoke out against a company that apparently is closely connect to/friends with Terri Lynn and her business partner. But I explained that if I looked the other way becuase it was a friend/insider, then all the work and integrity we've maintained all these years would be for nothing. We have to be open about problems whether they are within our circle of friends or not. In all this time I've never mentioned the companies name and my goal was to educate the members involved in the discussion as well as future members who will learn the facts involved. The company is far less relevent and no ones reputation is damaged if no one knows who we're even talking about. Apparently Terri Lynn and her partner disagree, but there's really no choice here.

If any of the parties involved want to dispute the 3 points above, please do so. If you're simply angry at me for pointing them out, then rant at me via email all you want, it won't change the truth of this. If Terri Lynn wants to walk away from 7 years of being involved with us, that's her choice. If we had kept our mouths shut and let a member sign his publishing rights away for life with no reversion simply because the company in question was friends with our staff, THEN she would have a valid reason to walk away. Sometimes the right thing to do is the least easy thing to do. So I wish Terri Lynn good luck and if she changes her mind she's always welcome to come back.

Brian