JPF Home Page Forums General Messages Songwriter Message Forum What is the reality behind selling lyrics in Nashville?

I had to jump in here (again) because Bill, you're right, musicians are in huge abundance IN NASHVILLE, but that's a very unique situation. Here in Cincinnati, good musicians are no where near as abundant. You also pointed out (or someone did) that a good producer would chart out a song and musicians IN NASHVILLE could do it in two takes. True 'nuf. That's IF you have a good producer with a song already charted out. I'll even give you one up...most musicians IN NASHVILLE can probably come up with parts fairly easily on their own. This is not the case in Cincinnati, at all. Very few people like my friend, Haze, exist. His ability to furnish a good melody and good musication to a lyric is unique here. There are a few other people, but they won't bother with a lyrics-only song. They'd rather work on their own stuff.

Roy makes a good point about a good lyric being easier to set a melody to. That's true. But again, is it a mediocre melody or A GOOD melody? Some demo places will just slap something generic together for a fee and send you on your way. Maybe that's why they don't want cowrite on it. Someone like Haze puts his heart and soul into every lyric that comes his way. He won't send anything mediocre out the door. He won't put his name on it if he doesn't think it's good. Also, he won't work with a lyric if he doesn't think it's a good enough one.

So again, in his case; lyricist and melody writer get 50/50 cowrite. He then seperates himself from that and does the musication, vox, recording, mixing, and delivering the product, all for $150, because he used to get $400 but as part of being cowrite, the lyricist pays a part of Haze's time, and that's fair. The only way the lyricist shouldn't pay anything is if the lyricist also musicates, sings on, records, and mixes the song. The demoing of the song is SEPERATE from writing the lyric/melody, and why should the melody writer do all that extra work for free while the lyricist does nothing beyond provide the lyric? What's fair about that?

Bill, I also agree that there are a lot of crappy lyrics out there. MAB always says, "Try to find a way to say the same idea that's been expressed in hundreds of songs, differently." This is a very difficult thing to do. Writing lyrics and writing GOOD lyrics are two different things. My strategy is to only write about those things I personally know about or have personally experienced. You'll never see me attempt to write about prostate cancer or rocket science.

In closing, I think what Jim was saying was, it's a lot easier for a song to survive as long as it has a catchy melody and good music...the lyric sometimes "gets by"...case in point: Olivia Newton John's "Let Me Be There":

"Let me be there in your morning
Let me be there in your night
Let me change whatever's wrong
And make it right
Let me take you to that wonderland
Where only two can share
All I ask you
Is let me be there."

Not exactly deep, meaningful stuff, but you remember the melody right away, correct? Now, take that melody away, and what do you have? CRAP! Yet the song was a number 1 hit!