JPF Home Page Forums General Messages General Message Forum Paying to co-write with a 'hitmaker'

Hey Nite:

I should have been clearer - I wasn't commenting on the business model. I was commenting on the educational model. That's my first instinct, given that I am an educator.

If I wanted to learn songwriting, where would I be better served - sitting in a crowd watching a power point presentation and/or listening to a panel discussion? Or by actually writing a song with an expert? Based on what I know about learning, the second one wins hands down. That's all I meant.

As far as the business model? I'm no expert but I DO have some experience. My wife and I once paid one of the most accomplished climbers in the country a few hundred bucks to guide us for a day. It was well worth it. You can learn from books and watching others but there is no substitute for having an expert watch you and say, "No, this is what you are doing wrong".

I've done the same with a famous photographer with the same result.

Both these guys were at the same level in their profession as Charles Barkley was in basketball. Neither was rich (in fact, they were barely making ends meet) and they didn't charge an arm and a leg either. I felt I got the better of the deal in both cases.

Would I pay $2500 to write a song with a hitwriter. No. But if that is what the market will bear, I don't begrudge them.

It's only if they market the experience as anything other than an educational personal workshop that I would have a problem.

Having said that, and having been both an apprentice and a mentor, I also have to admit the value and appeal of giving it away for free. The two models are not mutually exclusive though - in fact, I think most professionals with specialized knowledge do both. When to do one and when to do the other? How do balance the free exchange of information with making a living? That's a personal choice - and one that can be agonized over.

Scott