Selling Songs

astonwest said:

If a person was interested in writing songs, and then selling them to musical artists, are there any reference books out there worth reading to learn more on the process (mostly the latter)?

Click to expand...

Hmmm....Are you are a lyricist? If so, can you also sing? Do you play an instrument? Do you have the ability to record your songs (a demo)? It's difficult to know how to advise you without that info. Regardless, here are a couple books that will give you a ton of information:
"The Music Business" (Explained in Plain English) by David Naggar, esq and Jeffrey D. Brandstetter, esq.
"All You Need To Know About the Music Business" by Donald S. Passman
Both books are a few years old, but packed with good info.

I wish you all the best! And remember, every successful artist was once just a dreamer...

The game isn't played like that rocket man. You need to actually get to a record company or a artist manager and ask them to look at your copyrighted words.

Then you should have a melody in mind and preferrably a demo. You can shake up a beat on electronic keyboards with a little practice. electronic keyboards are great for creating a beat for your lyrics because all you need to do is push a few buttons.
Don't spray your lyrics either. have an artist in mind that would be great with that song in your head. Target your artist to match your song.

How exactly does one get a record company to look at your songs and lyrics? Many record companies state that they either do not accept unsolicited material or that they will only go through an agent, much like novelists. However, there doesn't seem to be a book similar to that for authors where one can find a list of agents one can submit to, or record companies that accept unsolicited material.

I have written and recorded a number of songs. I have the means to record a demo CD - while it may not have all the instruments I would like (that is more dependent on getting the musicians), I have had various singers record my material. However, I have no idea how to get it into the hands of agents or record companies that would actually listen to the pieces.

Any ideas?

Hi Dark Sim,
You will need a professionally produced "demo" of your songs, and you are right - the major record companies only accept submissions through a manager or lawyer in the business. You can get a list of names in The Album Network's Yellow Pages of Rock. I hope this helps.

Writer's market publishes a book for songwriters (songwriter's market) that may be helpful to you. You should also consider joining the Songwriter's Guild of America (SGA). They're a very helpful organization for professional and up-and-coming songwriters.

-di

Dark Sim said:

However, there doesn't seem to be a book similar to that for authors where one can find a list of agents one can submit to, or record companies that accept unsolicited material
.....

However, I have no idea how to get it into the hands of agents or record companies that would actually listen to the pieces.

Any ideas?

Click to expand...

there is a Songrwiter's Market book, just like the Writer's Market, that's put out annually. My husband uses it, it's a great resource.
another one he liked was How to Get Your Hit Song Published by Jay Warner.although it was a bit outdated at the time, it's currently being revised and updated and due out in Sept '06.
good luck to you.

I should also mention that some up and coming artists have been able to get the attention of A&R people by putting their songs up on a MySpace site and getting lots of people to play/download them. You can get some CD sales that way, too, from people inquiring about where to buy more of your songs.