What incentive do we give to songwriters in a time when royalties dwindle down to pennies?
It used to be that the writer would receive the lion share of the publishing and royalties of a song. The artist would profit from money made in live performances and advertising revenues.
Since my first Hit “Pacific Coast Highway” came out, the number of radio stations playing Contemporary or Smooth Jazz has been cut in half. When in 2005 Pacific Coast Highway was the number one song on Billboard Smooth Jazz with almost 800 spins per week, in 2014 the typical number one song only had about 250 weekly spins. That means less money from radio airplay, for the writer of the songs.
We also know record sales (excuse me: CD sales) are down and even downloads are giving way to streaming, which pays next to nothing to neither the writer or the performing artist.
It is becoming apparent to us musicians, that performing live is the only way to make a good living these days. That’s the opposite of what it used to be. A live tour used to be an expense to sell records. Now a CD is an expense that gives you an excuse to go out and perform live.
About 3 years ago I started noticing that my Soundexchange checks are surpassing my ASCAP checks. Soundexchange collects money from Digital streams, digital radio etc and pays the performer, ASCAP also collects money from radio and internet performances and pays the writer. So I can make more money playing anybody else’s music than writing new songs for somebody else.
But herein lies the problem. If we reward the live performance, but not the creation of new material, who is going to write the melodies we love for the next generation of fans. Do we really want to regurgitate old classics over and over? Nothing against a good cover tune, but if that’s all we do, I believe the art form will die.
I am a producer, a writer and a performer and I think the writing of songs is the most important part of the industry we call music. Without a good song a brilliant production is pointless. And even the best executed performance will never stick in your head like a good melody can.
I take a great song whistled onto an old tape recorder any day over the the greatest production and performance of some horrible composition. It always starts and ends with the song. The production can make it shine. The performance can make it a classic, but only when the song is truly great. So shouldn’t we make sure, that the writers are compensated and incentivised?
I recently started producing and writing for a number of contemporary jazz artists. I have a song coming out with Nate Harasim on Woodward records, featuring myself and Dave Koz. I have the first track “One of a Kind” on Brian Simpson’s new CD “Out of a Dream”. I produced the new album “Always in Motion” for Reggie Codrington (a fantastic project if I may say so myself. You can check it out here) I wrote some of the songs for it, and co-wrote with Reggie on the material . And I wrote/ co-wrote half of the tracks for Keith Andrews CD “Adventurous Soul”. his first single just cracked the Billboard Smooth Jazz Top 20 . Al DeGregoris latest release “All in good time” was produced by myself and Jeff Lorber.
All in Good TIme CD cover
I co-wrote the first single and wrote the second one as well. Granted the new artists are just happy to get some chart action for the first time. But even with Brian and Nate’s projects, I can’t expect a big publishing check anymore.
So why do I do it? I did hear the little voice in my head saying, “keep the songs for yourself !”
Two reasons:
First of all I want to keep writing. Writing songs is like working a muscle, you get stronger when you keep doing it. I never think a song is the last or best I’ll ever write. There are songs , I know that have hit potential and others are more eclectic. I try not to judge while I’m writing, I just do it out of habit.
Secondly, when I write songs for artists that I work with, it’s because I want any project that has my name attached to it to succeed. Not all artists are great writers, so if a song is needed I will provide. It’s not ego, it’s just good business.
From an economical point of view I could just pick a cover and re-record it. But as an artist I am not interested in re-chewing old tracks. I want to define my identity with the material I write as much as with the way I play it. Maybe I’m an idealist, but I’ll keep on writing….