Mentoring songwriters and Honing skills

[DeeAnnBailey]

I spoke with Chris Allman last night briefly after he joined and he mentioned something that may be of interest to any aspiring songwriters here. Check out his website www.chrisallman.com he wants to work with writers and help those 'new writers' hone their skills!

Way to go Chris!

[Texjoy777]

Wow! What an ingenious idea !! If I felt like I had enough potential to justify the expense, I would definitely do it! Thanks for starting the website, Chris

[dbmurray]

The prices look great for this service.

I would recommend getting some issues made clear first, though, regarding publishing.

1. Is publishing with Allman optional or mandatory? Do they continue to retain publishing if you stop paying the monthly fee?

2. Are the songs considered to be co-writes or is the role of the staff members that of a coach or work-for-hire writing? In other words, how are the royalties split if an artist records a song?

3. Who makes the call as to when a demo should be made? The songwriter may be willing to pay $100 for a demo, but Allman may not think the song is good enough to pitch to artists. Will he pitch it anyway (potentially embarrassing his publishing company's reputation with artists), or will he advise the songwriter to work on the song some more?

It's best for anyone entering into this sort of agreement to go in with their eyes wide open. Because publishing is involved as part of the package, it could become a point of contention later.

The unlikely scenario is that a song becomes a huge hit and makes a great deal of money for Allman's company as well as the songwriter who may, by that point, be wishing they'd created their own publishing company.

The more likely scenario is that a songwriter pays for writing instruction, pays for a demo, then accuses Allman's company of dropping the ball when it comes to pitching the demo to artists.

I've met some songwriters along the way who refused to believe their song was no good because "God gave it to me."

[DeeAnnBailey]

David very valid points and I saw a mention elsewhere of him possibly listening to at least one song before an agreement is entered into to avoid that very scenerio if the writer just can't write he could decline the job offer.

[chrisallman]

I would recommend getting some issues made clear first, though, regarding publishing.

1. Is publishing with Allman optional or mandatory? Do they continue to retain publishing if you stop paying the monthly fee?

2. Are the songs considered to be co-writes or is the role of the staff members that of a coach or work-for-hire writing? In other words, how are the royalties split if an artist records a song?

3. Who makes the call as to when a demo should be made? The songwriter may be willing to pay $100 for a demo, but Allman may not think the song is good enough to pitch to artists. Will he pitch it anyway (potentially embarrassing his publishing company's reputation with artists), or will he advise the songwriter to work on the song some more?

It's best for anyone entering into this sort of agreement to go in with their eyes wide open. Because publishing is involved as part of the package, it could become a point of contention later.

The unlikely scenario is that a song becomes a huge hit and makes a great deal of money for Allman's company as well as the songwriter who may, by that point, be wishing they'd created their own publishing company.

The more likely scenario is that a songwriter pays for writing instruction, pays for a demo, then accuses Allman's company of dropping the ball when it comes to pitching the demo to artists.

I've met some songwriters along the way who refused to believe their song was no good because "God gave it to me."

Great questions... allow me to answer.

Our terms are that any song on which we colaborate will be published by our company. If said writer owns a company or is presently signed with another publisher the publishing will be split.

If one stops the program, yes we would continue to hold the publishing rights to the song because it would be considered work already rendered. This would not serve as a contract for every song the writer writes to be published with us after the relationship was over.

The songs we actually have a hand in craftinng... ie: writing lyrics, adding music, re-writing would be considered colaborations. If there are songs that are pretty strong on their own but need some help, we will offer advice to the writer if he chooses to finish the song on his own.

We will use our discretion in regards to whether a song is ready to be demoed and pitched or not. If we feel as if it still needs work, we will let the writer know as our reputation is at stake as well.

Our goal is to turn out quality music that we can be proud of and therefore the writer can be as well.

We make no guarantee that a song will be recorded... just that we will express the same routes that we take with our own music giving our members a better shot. We want our members to experience success... only then will we.

Hope that helps... Chris Allman

[dbmurray]

Chris,
Thanks for the quick reply. I've also made this a blog post, so feel free to reply there as well if you want. It sounds like a solid idea. I hope it works out, and I may even give it a try myself. I've had a few song ideas rolling around lately.

http://www.musicscribe.com/blog/wordpress/?p=2896

[chrisallman]

Than so much for the help getting the word out. I'm sure there will be a lot of questions regarding terms and as we grow and advance these will be reconciled. I can promise that we will not do anything that would be questionable as our reputation is worth more than a monthly membership fee.

Blessings brother! Chris Allman