FAQ

Be smart, do your homework! Take advantage of the resources that are available to you, such as organizations like TAXI or Circle of Songs. There are great classes and seminars offered by organizations like BMI that can further help you develop your songwriting skills. In addition there are several trade magazines, such as Performing Songwriter, that offer valuable information for the beginning songwriter.

It is usually the job of a publisher to pair your songs up with artists. This is one of the creative functions a publisher provides.

Keep in mind that although companies like Taxi do provide a legitimate service of shopping your music to industry executives, it will cost you. A few agencies will also include evaluations, live events, news pages and other bells and whistles but it’s best to consult with your manager or attorney to determine whether or not you should sign up for such a service.

Each performing rights organization has its own fees for setting up a publishing company and many impose an annual charge or collect annual dues. BMI, for example, charges a one-time fee of $150 for individually owned publishing companies and $250 for partnerships, corporations (including sole stockholder corporations) and limited liability companies.

Go to your profile page by clicking on your name in the upper right.

The button to log out is labeled “Logout”.

Yes, a new version of an old song, also called a derivative work, should be copyrighted, noting the ways it’s been altered from the previous version.

You should register your songs as soon as you have officially registered as a songwriter. Again, most offer online works registration or you can call your local office for the paperwork.

You must contact the song’s publisher or publishers to get permission to sample a song. Publisher information can usually be found in the Performing Rights Organization websites.  You’ll likely have to search within the PRO with which the song is registered.

Obviously, the best arrangement is for the person who writes the songs to have it clearly stated that they wrote the songs. Consult an attorney. You need to get a clear agreement as to who owns what.

You don’t need to have a publishing company to register a song with a performing rights organization.