All contents ©2003, 2004 CJ Hughes for CJ-Hughes.com As if you cared. country music artist, country music singer, singer songwriter, country entertainer, country demo singer. traditional country music singer songwriter CJ Hughes. |
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Songwriter Lingo Cheat Sheet Have a friend or a family member living in Nashville that enjoys using snazzy "Songwriter Lingo" around you and you don't know what in the world he/ she means half the time? Fear not, just refer to CJ's songwriter lingo cheat sheet. Use these words and phrases to jump to the subject you want info on, or just scroll down and peruse. In the round AKA In the round w/ AKA Songwriter Round Artist/ Songwriter Showcase Open Mic AKA Open Mic Night Round Host AKA Songwriter Host AKA Showcase Host Germing AKA Gherming Gig On the books AKA lets get on the books AKA are we on the books Pitch, Pitching, Pitched A song Song hold, hold, song on hold Work Tape Demo Song Plugger Publishing Deal, Writing Deal Record Deal, Recording Contract Developmental Deal Draw, Songwriter Draw Songwriter Royalties, Songwriter Percentage, Songwriter Share In the round AKA In the round w/ AKA Songwriter Round Any of these terms refers to a group of songwriters, normally 3-5 who have been scheduled, usually for free, at one of the various clubs in town to come out and sing their original material. They are all on stage at the same time, usually accompanying themselves on guitar or piano. They take turns singing their original songs. Normally a round will last from 30 minutes to an hour, with each writer doing 3-5 songs. The most popular venues for rounds in Nashville include: BACK TO TOP Artist/ Songwriter Showcase A showcase is similar to a round except that there is normally only one person, group, etc.. performing and it is for the purpose of being "showcased" to Music business professionals. Normally the artist has backup which may include a full band and/ or musicians. Music industry professionals, including publishers, record label executives, etc.. are invited by the artist and/ or their representatives in the hopes of obtaining a publishing or major label record deal. There is also an infant version of the showcase in which an individual songwriter, or performer is asked to do their own set at one of the various venues around town. BACK TO TOP Open Mic AKA Open Mic Night Most of the venues that schedule artist/ songwriter rounds will have an open mic that takes place AFTER all of the rounds are finished. The purpose of the open mic is for new/ green singers and songwriters to introduce themselves and their music to the host of the rounds. Usually the host will keep a list with them and a person that wishes to participate in the open mic must give the host their name. Then after the scheduled rounds are complete the open mic begins. This usually happens in one of two ways. Either the host will take the list and place the first three to four writers on stage, as an impromptu round. Or, those wishing to participate will be given the opportunity to sing a set of their songs by themselves on stage, in the order that they signed up. An open mic is a great opportunity for singer/ songwriters that are new to Nashville. By performing in the open mic they are displaying their talents to the round host, who may ask them to put together their own scheduled round if they like what they hear, or they may place the new singer/ songwriter in a round that they are building themselves out of new writers. The most popular open mics in Nashville at the time of this writing include: The Hall of Fame Lounge (CLOSED 2003) The Broken Spoke Songwriters Cafe (CLOSED 2003) The Boardwalk Cafe Jack Scott hosts a set of songwriter rounds here on Tuesdays, Open Mic following the rounds, be prepared to stay late and play to few. The French Quarter Not in the best area of town, ladies be sure to go in groups. Jack Scott hosts songwriter rounds here on Thursdays, open mics follow, be prepared to stay late and bring your own crowd. UPDATE: Barbara Cloyd is now hosting Wednesday night songwriter rounds. Douglas Corner Douglas has an unusual way of setting up their Tuesday night open mic. Basically those wanting to sing have to call the number provided starting at 12pm on the Tuesday that they wish to play. They have to keep calling, much like a radio contest, until they get through to the answering machine, where they leave ONLY THEIR NAME, if they get through and get their name on the list, they are in the open mic. Douglas Corner's open mic begins at 8:00pm. Participants should get there early. All they do on Tuesdays is the open mic, crowds usually aren't that big but its a great place to get heard. Usually the newer a songwriter, the later they play. The Bluebird Cafe The Bluebird is world known for its "shhhh/ quiet" policy when someone is singing, be quiet or you may be asked to leave, no they aren't kidding. This environment is unique to the Bluebird within Nashville.The open mic has been hosted by Barbara Cloyd for several years now. Barbara is a hit writer with "I guess you had to be there" by Lorrie Morgan to her credit. The open mic takes place on Monday. Best bet is to check out the website: www.bluebirdcafe.com Usually the open mic begins at 5:30pm remember that this is the mother of all open mics. If a songwriter is well received here, they may be given the opportunity to perform in a round at the Bluebird in the future. Historically there are always more writers than there is time at the open mic. The way they get around this is to give a card to all who did not get to perform. The card guarantees them the opportunity to perform at the next open mic. I believe participants get 2 songs. The atmosphere is rushed so songwriters should keep their mic chatter to a minimum. BACK TO TOP Round Host AKA Songwriter Host AKA Showcase Host It is the hosts job to book the songwriter rounds. They are also in attendance during the round to insure that it goes smoothly. Their goal is to keep the rounds running on time and to keep the singer/ songwriters on stage in line and running in a timely fashion. The host is usually paid a percentage of the bar's nightly take in exchange for hosting/ running the rounds. Most hosts are also accomplished songwriters who know dozens of other established writers. They may call on these "hit" writers from time to time to perform in their rounds. BACK TO TOP Germing AKA Gherming This term isn't used as much as I hear it used to be. It refers the the act of brown-nosing an established artist, writer, producer, music professional, etc... for the purpose of advancing one's own career. Songwriters and artist that are labeled ghermers will find the doors of the music business locked more often than those that make an effort to work hard, hone their craft and make true friends within the business that can help them climb the ladder. BACK TO TOP Gig A gig is normally a paid affair. An artist/ writer or band is booked at a club or venue to perform for a predetermined amount of time in exchange for a flat wage plus a percentage of the door, all of the door, or some combination in between. Most of the bars and clubs in Nashville are looking for strong cover bands that can entertain a crowd, because a happy crowd drinks more liquor. BACK TO TOP On the books AKA lets get on the books AKA are we on the books Songwriters "get on the books" with order writers to set up times to write together. If I am on the books for Wednesday at 10am with my friend and co-writer Shawn Harnett, we will meet at a pre-determined point, usually my place or his, with guitar in tow and knock out a new song or finish up an old one from our last co-writing session. BACK TO TOP Pitch, Pitching, Pitched A song The act of getting a recorded song to an artist, their producer, manager or label. The most common form of pitching would be to the Artists and Repertoire department of the label of the artist you are pitching your song(s) to. Pitching can also be done directly to an artist their manager or through other venues. Stories have been told of writers breaking into artist's cars and putting their tapes in the deck so that it would play when they got in. Since the advent of car alarms and cd players I don't think this happens much anymore, which is probably a good thing. However it made for a good plot point in the movie "Thing Called Love." With River Phoenix. A guy breaks into Trish Yearwood's mustang and plants his tape. Then wrecks his own car when he hears her sing it for the first time on the radio. Ahh the irony. BACK TO TOP Song hold, hold, song on hold Once you get that song pitched, a label, manager, artist, etc... may place it on hold because they feel it may be a good song for their artist. They will then get their artist to listen to it. Sometimes artists are told what to cut and sometimes they choose their own material, most albums are a mixture of both. Unless your Alan Jackson and then you cut whatever the hell you want. I have heard horror stories from songwriters I know where they had a song put on hold, which was great until they figured out later that the only reason it was on hold was because the artist or label was recording or about to release another song to radio that was similar to the held song. So, basically they where locking up the song so that no one else would record it, and have a song similar to their artists' on the charts at the same time. Ah, the dark underbelly of Nashvegas. BACK TO TOP Work Tape After a songwriter(s) finishes writing a new song they will often record it on some type of low grade equipment. I use a standard Radio Shack tape deck. You do this so you can use it as reference should you forget the melody, or a cool little guitar lick you got in when you first wrote the song. Work tapes can also be pitched on occasion. For instance once wrote a song with my friend Wayland Patton. He made a work tape and took it directly to Doug Howard, head of Lyric Street records. He did so because he knew Doug would be listening to material for one of his artists that weekend. He also knew that Doug is himself a writer and would be able to "hear" what the song was about without all of the fancy backup. He passed on the song by the way. BACK TO TOP Demo A demo is a quality recorded version of a song. Some songwriters fully demo each of their songs, meaning they use a full band in a top notch studio. For those of us without hits we record a slightly less polished demo, maybe the vocal, and a couple of guitars. This demo is then used for pitching. Unless a songwriter has a publishing deal, demos can eat a lot of their income. BACK TO TOP Song Plugger A song plugger is a person that will pitch a songwriters songs to artists and labels. Good pluggers have strong contacts within the industry and can get into doors that songwriters couldn't get into on their own. If the plugger gets the songwriters song recorded by an artists, they are paid a flat fee, percentage of the royalties or obtain the publishing on the song, it depends on the contract methods of your specific plugger. They all work a little differently. BACK TO TOP Publishing Deal, Writing Deal The great white Whale for most songwriters that make the big move to Nashville. There are hundreds of variables they may or may not be included in a publishing deal, but basically it boils down to this: 1. A song publisher hears some of the songwriter's material. 2. The publisher asks him/ her to write for their company, exclusively usually. 3. The publisher may or may not cover the full cost of the songwriters demos. If they do, they will want the cost back once they make some money from the song(s.) 4. They work to get the songwriter's songs recorded by major artists. When a songwriter has a publishing deal they may or may not be paid a weekly/ monthly draw towards future royalties. Once the songwriter makes money from songs that the publisher has administered and gotten recorded for songwriter by an artist, the songwriter must pay back the full amount drawn. When a songwriter has a publishing deal the publisher will take a percentage of the songwriter's publishing royalties, money garnered from airplay and album sales, usually the higher draw you are getting and the more money they are spending, the higher the percentage. Most publishing companies want 100% of the publishing royalties from songs written by new songwriters with no established track record. Those with track records are able to negotiate, there by getting a bigger piece of the pie. This is how publishers make money, ever time a song is player or a record sold with the songwriter's song on it, a publisher's share is made, if it was 8 cents per song for example and the artist sells 100,000 copies of a CD with the songwriter's song on it, the publisher would make $8,000.00 Assuming they have 100% publishing of the song. So how does the songwriter profit from a publishing deal? First, if they are being paid a draw they don't have to worry about trying to pay the bills with a full time job, and writing. They can just write because they are being paid to do so. Secondly, they don't have to worry as much with the business end of songwriting, pitching the songs, getting them recorded, etc.. they can concentrate on songwriting. The main benefit is that the publishing house, hopefully, is able to get into doors that the songwriter could not get into alone. Thereby getting the songwriter's material on more desks. And then there is the added bonus of the songwriter royalty. Or, the amount a songwriter is paid when a CD is sold with one or more of their songs on it. Or, when one of the songs they have written is played on the radio. If a songwriter was the sole writer on a song that was played 1 million times on the radio, and the songwriter share was a nickel per spin, the songwriter would make $50,000.00 They would then also make money off of the album sales. If that rate was 8 cents and the artist sold 4 million copies, the songwriter would make $320,000.00 from the album sales alone! Normally a #1 hit song will make a sole songwriter between $250,000.00 and $500,000.00 dollars.. Just one of the reasons there are songwriters coming out of the woodwork in Nashville. If more than one songwriter is involved the songwriter royalty share is split equally among them. BACK TO TOP Record Deal, Recording Contract I will only touch briefly on this, because there are tons of websites and books dedicated just to this subject. All major recording artists have a recording contract with their respective record label. It details how much the artist is to be paid for their services, how many albums they must record for the record label, and a million other variables. The record label foots the bill on recording costs, advertising, marketing, CD duplication, distribution of the CD, etc.... and makes money from the sale of the CDs. They are much like a wholesaler of finished CDs to retailers. Their profit is the difference between all the costs involved with the artist and their album, and the wholesale amount they charge for that album to retailers. BACK TO TOP Developmental Deal A developmental deal normally takes place between an artist/ writer and a record label, manager or song publisher. They agree to take the artist under their wing and nurture them, getting them ready for the big world of recording, touring, being in the public eye, etc.... This could cover the gambit from vocal lessons to teeth bleaching. If the developmental deal is with a publisher, they will try to get the artist a record deal using their contacts, once they think the artist is ready. They profit from this relationship by being the artist's publisher once they are raking in the album sales. If the developmental deal is with a manager or music executive they will want a piece of the pie, once/ if they get the artist a recording contract. This may be a one time buy out payment, or a percentage of what the artist makes from touring, etc... Developmental deals are few and far between these days. As volatile and unpredictable as the recording business has become, record labels want an artist READY TO GO when they sign them to a record deal. Then they throw them up against the wall and see if they stick. If they don't, they quickly move on. BACK TO TOP Draw, Songwriter Draw This was touched on under Publishing Deal. A draw is money paid to a songwriter by a publisher whom they are under contract to write songs for. The draw is a means of income for the songwriter until the publisher is able to get one or more of their songs recorded. Once the songwriter starts to make money from the songs the publisher has gotten recorded for them, the publisher will normally require reimbursement of the draw. Draws are normally paid on a weekly/ bi-weekly basis. BACK TO TOP Songwriter Royalties, Songwriter Percentage, Songwriter Share THIS is where the money is at as far as a songwriter is concerned. When a song is recorded by an artist, put on a cd that is sold to the public, and played by radio, there is a fee that is paid to the songwriter, they wrote the thing after all! The songwriter share of a #1 hit can potentially make the songwriter over a quarter of a million dollars. For full information on this subject, and MANY more concerning songwriting, , visit: www.TAXI.com Review their articles, there are a ton of them. BACK TO TOP I GO HOME! |
