Submitting original song lyrics to JB

[TropicalTroubador]

My experience has been that there are so many good, deserving artists out there who go un noticed, and some real crap that gets recorded, I am now a believer in pure dumb luck"

You beat me to it. I hear better stuff at my favorite beach bar than some stuff on the radio. I've read that it comes down to who's got the most money to get their stuff promoted and played. If you have enough and pay the right people it'll get out there. I've even seen reports on TV and read other reports that there's a criminal element in this game. I'm not talikng about Jimmy now or Mailboat so don't get excited. Sure, there are talented folks who do get lucky and submit stuff that gets recognized without the big bucks, but you're right, that takes lots of luck.

The way I understand it - and I *have* been studying this - is that you need something absolutely awesome to break in. Once you're in, as long as there are enough people buying it, you can release crap to your heart's content.

I've also learned over time that whether or not I like something doesn't necessarily relate to how many other people do. There are real and valid reasons why Baskin-Robbins has 31 flavors, and why Heinz had 57 varieties.

Jimmy himself has said, repeatedly, that you never know what people are going to like. Who would have predicted that a video by an old guy doing "Pants on the Ground" would take off? Pet rocks?

You *can* stack the deck somewhat, by making sure that whatever you're putting out there is the absolute best you can put out there, quality-wise. Make the songwriting excellent. Make sure you are in tune and singing on pitch. Make sure your production is radio quality. Don't s***. Do those things, and while you may not make it big, odds are you will end up with a reasonable following at some level.

And maybe, just maybe, 10-20 years from now, you'll become an "overnight success."

[palmettopirate]

"And maybe, just maybe, 10-20 years from now, you'll become an "overnight success." "

I don't disagree with anything you have posted. You obviously are close to the industry.

Sadly though, there are those very talented musicians who struggle day in an day out until somone decides to promote them and they become that "overnight success". Then there are those who have so much money at their dipsosal that they can buy there way into fame pretty quickly. I've read that there was quite a bit of resentment in the world of country music over Taylor Swift's quick climb to stardom. Why? because she didn't have to pay her dues playing seedy backstreet bars in Nashville. She didn't earn her stripes. Her family bought her right into it. Whether or not she deserves the credit is not the real question. Are there others out there as talented who can't seem to get to first base? Probably. Garth Brooks played a long time before he finally was accepted. He did it the old fashioned way. He earned it. This is pretty common in country music.

And then there's that nasty side of the industry, usually involving music I don't care for where characters tell producers, promoters, and DJ's that they will play their guy's music or else. I mean it ain't worth getting hurt over or worse, right? the only way you're gonna get known big time is for yorur stuff to be heard on the radio. Then it's up to the audience to determine whether or not it's worth buying.

I read an article a few years about a big time DJ who refused to play someone's music and was found dead. He was either not getting paid under the table enough or flat refused. It was never proven but it was suspected that he was killed for not promoting a musician's stuff. There have been documentaries on this practice, especially on the west coast.

[capndar]

I hereby promise I will NEVER threaten or shoot anyone for playing my recording (or not)

[palmettopirate]

"I hereby promise I will NEVER threaten or shoot anyone for playing my recording (or not)"

Certainly not, but you can see where we're headed here. This is simply a tough business to break into in a big way. Shoot, it's probably easier to be an astronaut. And I wish you all the best, BTW.

[Key Lime Lee]

It's not worth sending - it will get returned, unopened. It's nothing personal, but standard procedure to limit the chances of someone coming back later and saying an artist stole their songs.

Best thing to do is keep writing. Once you get a few songs you think are good, find some musician friends to record demos. Not sure where you live, but the performing rights organizations (ASCAP, BMI, SEASAC) all are a wealth of information on how to get started in the songwriting business, and they have offices in most major cities. You will also be able to connect with other songwriters and learn about the business and make great connections.

Eventually you want to get signed by a publishing company - publishing companies have a number of writers and, most importantly, connections to artists looking for songs. If you want to make a career as a songwriter, that is where you want to be. The publishing company will work to sell your songs to artists in exchange for about 25% of the proceeds.

What you really want is for your song to get played on the radio - that's where the big money comes in. A platinum album with one of your songs might only net you $40k or so (for the mechanical royalty) but getting lots of radio play will deliver big bucks (thanks to performance royalties). One big hit could put your kids through college and more, but even if you never get there, there are lots of folks making decent livings writing music every day.

To Paul's point - technically everything you write is copyrighted the moment you write it, but you only get full legal copyright protection by registering with copyright office. Mailing it to yourself affords no legal protection. But honestly, I wouldn't lose sleep over it at this point.

Just keep in mind that if it's something you really want to do, you will be competing with a lot of others for one of the few seats in the massive duck duck goose game that is the music biusiness. But also remember that someone gets the seat, and it very well could be you.

[capndar]

Having written a number of articles and a book, I am well versed on copyright, and everything I do is registered (FWIW)

I actually have had my 15 minutes of fame...another song we did (a country song) made the Nashville Network's video rotation for a whole week (32 million households at the time)...so I guess I had my moment in the sun...and still having fun