Songwriter

For other uses, see Songwriter (disambiguation).

Songsmith redirects here. For the music software, see
Microsoft Songsmith.
A songwriter is an individual who writes the lyrics,

a songwriting career in the 2010s. Several music colleges oer songwriting diplomas and degrees with music business modules.[1] Since songwriting and publishing
royalties can be a substantial source of income, particularly if a song becomes a hit record, legally, in the US,
songs written after 1934 may only be copied by the authors. The legal power to grant these permissions may be
bought, sold or transferred. This is governed by international copyright law.[1]
Professional songwriters can either be employed to write
either the lyrics or the music directly for or alongside a
performing artist, or they present songs to A&R, publishers, agents and managers for consideration. Song pitching can be done on a songwriters behalf by their publisher or independently using tip sheets like RowFax, the
MusicRow publication, and SongQuarters.[1] Skills associated with song-writing include entrepreneurism and
creativity.[2]

1 Sta writers
Songwriters who sign an exclusive songwriting agreement
with a publisher are called sta writers. Being a sta
melodies and chord progressions for songs, typically for writer eectively means that during the term of the songa popular music genre such as country music. A song- writers contract with the publisher, all their songs are auwriter can also be called a composer, although the lat- tomatically published[1]by that company, and can not be
published elsewhere.
ter term tends to be mainly used for individuals from the
classical music genre. The pressure from the music indus- In the Nashville country music scene, there is a strong
try to produce popular hits means that songwriting is of- sta writer culture where contracted writers work normal
ten an activity for which the task are distributed between 9-to-5 hours at the publishing oce and are paid a rega number of people.[1] For example, a songwriter who ular salary. This salary is in eect the writers draw, an
excels at writing lyrics might be paired with a songwriter advance for future earnings paid on a monthly basis which
with a gift for creating original melodies. Pop songs may enables them to budget a livelihood with it.[3] The pubbe written by group members from the band or by sta lisher owns the copyright of songs written during the term
writers songwriters directly employed by music publish- of the agreement for a designated period, after which the
ers.[1] Some songwriters serve as their own music publish- songwriter can reclaim the copyright.[3] In an interview
ers, while others have outside publishers.[1] In the 2010s, with HitQuarters, songwriter Dave Berg extolled the bensongwriters are no longer dependent on labels to support ets of the set-up: I was able to concentrate on writing
their music. Technology has advanced to the point where the whole time and have always had enough money to live
songwriters can record at home with a laptop and a good- on.[4]
quality USB microphone.
Unlike contracted writers, some sta writers operate as
Songwriter and singer Chris de Burgh.

The old-style apprenticeship approach to learning how to

write songs is being supplemented by university degrees
and college diplomas and rock schools.[1] A knowledge of modern music technology (sequencers, synthesizers, computer sound editing), songwriting elements,
and business skills are necessary requirements to make

employees for their respective publishers. Under the

terms of these work for hire agreements, the compositions created under the term of the agreement are fully
owned by the publisher. Because the recapture provision
of the United States Copyright Act of 1976 does not apply to works made for hire, the rights to a song created
1

under an employment contract can not be recaptured

by the writer after 35 years. In Nashville, young writers are often strongly encouraged to avoid these types of
contracts.
Sta writers are common across the whole industry, but
without the more oce-like working arrangements favored in Nashville. All the major publishers employ writers under contract.[4] A sta writer contract with a publisher can be a rst step for any professional songwriting career, with some writers outgrowing the set-up once
they achieve a degree of success and a desire for greater
independence.[4] Songwriter Allan Eshuijs described his
sta writer contract at Universal Music Publishing as a
starter deal. His success under the arrangement eventually allowed him to found his own publishing company
so that he could "...keep as much [publishing income] as
possible and say how its going to be done.[5]

REFERENCES

that comes to them. By letting ideas ow, this generates potential lyrics and song structures more eectively
than trying to writing the song by discussing options. Cowriting can help two creators with dierent talents and
strengths to create a new song that neither could have
been able to devise if they were working alone.[7] The
rst step in co-writing is to establish the division of the
contribution between co-writers. In copyright law, there
is no distinction of importance between the lyrics of the
song or the melody of the song, therefore each writer is
given ownership equally over all of the song, unless another agreement is arranged.[8] Phantom songwriters
are those who provided small contributions to the song,
such as a band member who suggests a line for a verse
or a session musician who informally proposes a chord
progression for a coda. Unfortunately, once a songwriter
is acknowledged as a cowriter on the project, this is almost impossible to undo, so phantom songwriters are
not usually given credit.[9]

Songwriter musicians
5 References

Songwriters are also often skilled musicians. In part,

this is because the process of working out a song
or arrangement requires a songwriter to play an instrument, typically the guitar or the piano, to hear how the
chord progression sounds and to hear how well a given
set of chords supports a melody. In addition to selling their songs and musical concepts for other artists to
sing, some songwriter-musicians create songs to perform
themselves. Songwriters need to create a number of elements for a song. At minimum, a songwriter must prepare a lead sheet for a song, which consists of one or more
pieces of sheet music with the melody notes and chord
progression indicated on it.
The songwriter may expand upon the melody and chord
progression by adding an instrumental melody (which
may occur before or after the vocal melody, or alongside the vocal melody) and creating a more complex song
structure (e.g., verse, chorus, bridge, instrumental solo
section, verse, etc.).

Singer-songwriters

Many leading singers are also songwriters, and as such,

they are called singer-songwriters.

Co-writing

When a song is written by more than one person, it is

co-written, or written jointly or in collaboration with another author.[6] Co-writers create songs in dierent ways.
Some co-writers use a stream of consciousness approach, throwing out every single line or word or rhyme

[1] How to pitch your songs to industry insiders.. EMusician. 1 July 2007. Retrieved Aug 25, 2010.
[2] The quaternary entrepreneur, Gian Paolo Prandstraller 2009
[3] Interview with Roger Murrah. HitQuarters. 22 June
2009. Retrieved Aug 25, 2010.
[4] Interview with Dave Berg. HitQuarters. 4 January
2010. Retrieved August 25, 2010.
[5] Interview with Allan Eshuijs. HitQuarters. 6 September
2010. Retrieved Sep 7, 2010.
[6] Denition. 2011. Retrieved Sep 29, 2015.
[7] Co-Writing. 2015. Retrieved Sep 29, 2015.
[8] Music Connection. 2013. Retrieved Sep 29, 2015.
[9] Phantom Writers. 2014. Retrieved Sep 29, 2015.

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

6.1

Text

Songwriter Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songwriter?oldid=734849157 Contributors: Deb, SimonP, Camembert, B4hand, R

Lowry, Gpietsch, Dcljr, Haakon, TUF-KAT, Angela, Kingturtle, Silversh, Hyacinth, Huangdi, Robbot, Hankwang, Dmn, Wayland, Netoholic, Siroxo, Solipsist, Antandrus, Crimespree, Mucket, Imroy, Moverton, Rhobite, Tinus, Jnestorius, Prsephone1674, Bobo192, NetBot, Cmdrjameson, Espoo, Ranveig, Keenan Pepper, MarkGallagher, ReyBrujo, Versageek, Ukulele~enwiki, WadeSimMiser, MONGO,
Abd, MoogleFan, Dragony888, Wikix, Mayumashu, Koavf, Missmarple, SMC, Bensin, Bhadani, Tbone, FuriousFreddy, Tuneman42,
Gurch, Bgwhite, Rob T Firey, Wimt, Malcolma, Zagalejo, Don Williams, Ageekgal, Street walker, SmackBot, Lawrencekhoo, Ohnoitsjamie, Amatulic, Bluebot, Pietaster, Persian Poet Gal, Blindsuperhero, Kleinzach, Basalisk, Xbxg32000, Can't sleep, clown will eat me,
Shalom Yechiel, Cobain, Amber388, Mystaker1, Bejnar, John, Bydand, Melody Concerto, Cortezz~enwiki, JHunterJ, Durajohnpatrick,
Beetstra, Joebennett, Manifestation, Grahamenglish, Levineps, OnBeyondZebrax, Iridescent, Buo, Abog, Tawkerbot2, Devourer09, J
Milburn, Juhachi, -Anthony-, Alucard (Dr.), Roberta F., Tresero, Nathan86, Richhoncho, Mattisse, Barticus88, Horologium, Okki, Mr.
Brain, Stoshmaster, NERIUM, AntiVandalBot, Luna Santin, Fayenatic london, Dockurt2k, Res2216restar, Dan D. Ric, 09aidepikiw,
PhilKnight, Freedomlinux, VoABot II, The Timid Crusader, Redaktor, Catgut, Rja23382, Wlawrencer, DerHexer, Edward321, Deggle, Gofastfast, Cooke350, InnocuousPseudonym, Smokizzy, J.delanoy, Captain panda, Pharaoh of the Wizards, Ali, Tommcmillain,
Elkost, Floateruss, Sd31415, BlaQsheeP, ACSE, Jessie12333, Amaraiel, Nextbross, Andres rojas22, Ridernyc, Taoshaman, Davidsilver65, Loumarvin, BotKung, Maxim, TravelingCat, Cnilep, Kamixpl, Biasoli, Traxinet, H92, Accounting4Taste, WereSpielChequers,
Dawn Bard, Stratman07, Grimey109, Wiki edit Jonny, Kse319, Nuttycoconut, Audiogonzo, Pacemanscoop, CharlesGillingham, Squizzysh, Scottyoak2, Jaan, Steler, Songwriting, JL-Bot, Cameelb, Warrenmaynard, Faithlessthewonderboy, Brucecaravan, FxJ, Leahtwosaints,
ClueBot, Phoenix-wiki, The Thing That Should Not Be, EoGuy, SilentShout666, Kajirus, Mild Bill Hiccup, Yuckhil, The Watusi, Amirreza,
Flipja, Tsukamoto, LoniRR, Leroyinc, Matthew Desjardins, Bjdehut, Jane Bennet, Wikimasterind, Apparition11, Greastliogirl, Antti29,
Leodlover, Ceri sullivan, XLinkBot, Laser brain, WikHead, Networkprosource, Alexius08, Paddy78, Brian Floe, RyanCross, Addbot,
Lookskywatcher, Friginator, Haruth, Metagraph, Refractions, CanadianLinuxUser, Damiens.rf, Csikk, Tassedethe, Fabulous08, Tide
rolls, Lightbot, Loconut5, Legobot, Yobot, Bill Kores, DoctaPhilly, Jnivekk, Jamiemackie92,
, AnomieBOT, HONEARTH, Piano
non troppo, Materialscientist, Gsmgm, Zad68, Capricorn42, Jubileeclipman, Tfts, CJdude55, Prunesqualer, Zimbop, Sabrebd, Koolkidpaige, Erik9, Spiritofdragony, Grinofwales, Masrudin, FrescoBot, Ben Culture, Sm3a, MJ94, Cjasper, Pezwinter1, Geo Whistle,
Mercy11, ItsZippy, Vrenator, Sthornton, Cowlibob, I2zy, Satdeep Gill, Tbhotch, Hizuzozen, Mamapurple, Vinnyzz, EmausBot, Rachelwhittierismystudyhallbuddy, Paranoialevel5, ITshnik, Tommy2010, K6ka, AvicBot, ZroBot, Bamyers99, Lexusuns, Shenegamy, Mayur,
Abcdefghijklmnoqrstuvwxyz, Poonburnsred, Npshiels, Manytexts, ClueBot NG, MelbourneStar, This lousy T-shirt, Stultiwikia, Rezabot,
Locolocoloco13, Vibhijain, North Atlanticist Usonian, MerlIwBot, Jimbo231moll, MarkMysoe, BG19bot, Chess, John Bagley, Altar,
MrRikmysta, Writ Keeper, Asolio123, Snow Blizzard, Irfanshaharuddin, Jonnyk522, BattyBot, Adamwwumy, Teammm, Flameofreccafan, Mbz21, Moony22, Michaelaurand, FrigidNinja, Aman80180, J."Woody Woods, JaconaFrere, Jjveloria, Onedirection05614, Nediva,
WikiOriginal-9, AThickclearCovering, Ahmed Shehrose, Kbmarti2, Enilarch, Goldyrocksslimshady, Amintly, Niunai, Strongjam, KasparBot, Looklike.5, Locknloaded17, Lilywolcott, Qzd and Anonymous: 421

6.2

Images

File:Chris_de_Burgh_(Kempten).JPG
Source:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/Chris_de_Burgh_
%28Kempten%29.JPG License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Richard Huber
File:Commons-logo.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Edit-clear.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f2/Edit-clear.svg License: Public domain Contributors: The
Tango! Desktop Project. Original artist:
The people from the Tango! project. And according to the meta-data in the le, specically: Andreas Nilsson, and Jakub Steiner (although
minimally).
File:Folder_Hexagonal_Icon.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/48/Folder_Hexagonal_Icon.svg License: Cc-bysa-3.0 Contributors: ? Original artist: ?

6.3

Content license

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0