Sound Advice: Respecting the Process

Respecting the Process - A Career is a Journey, Not a Destination

In today’s hyperspeed, digitized life, many fundamentals seem to get lost in the shuffle — not the least of which is understanding that real success in careers is measured in decades, not 15 minutes of YouTube fame or one hit single. While technology has devastated our traditional business model, the new waves of cutting-edge music, passion, entrepreneurship, ingenuity and hard work have always been the true drivers of our industry. From the beginning it was independents like the Chess brothers, Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry, Sun Records, Elvis, Johnny Cash and Sam Phillips, Ahmet Ertegun/Jerry Wexler at Atlantic, Herb Alpert/Jerry Moss of A&M, Berry Gordy of Motown, Miles and Ian Copeland, REM, the Police, Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin of Def Jam, Run DMC, Dr. Dre and NWA, Subpop, Nirvana, Trent Reznor, Coren Capsaw and Dave Mathews Band to today’s mixtape generation of Lil Wayne, DJ’s Guetta and Tiesto; one common denominator remains the same, all spent years working outside the system, developing a market for their music and vision that eventually became the system. Today’s business model does not resemble yesterday’s, nor will tomorrow’s look like today’s. Economists call this “creative destruction” or market evolution...I’m a bit a less pedantic, it’s called life. The true constant is "the process" of establishing a career — building contacts and reputation, gaining experience and insight that can only be learned in the day-to-day grind.

Yes, we have to find new ways to monetize our work — and yes, there will be some winners and some losers. We should be truly excited about the future of the music industry; its technology-enabled democratization that allows all artists and entrepreneurs an opportunity to heard and paid. Innovative platforms like www.pandora.com begun over a decade ago by a then unknown musician,Tim Westergren and Sound Exchange, www.soundexchange.com are just now beginning to generate and distribute meaningful new revenue streams (See http://bit.ly/foreignroyalties for more.) The proposed Performance Rights Act will enable musicians, artists and labels for the first time to collect domestic and foreign master performance royalties from FM radio. Bundling of music into packages that trend-setting artists like Prince and Trent Reznor have used so successfully. The tools we use will continue to change, however, originality, hard work and staying the course of your vision will always remain the cornerstones of careers.

Speaking of the Performance Rights Act, it appears we are making significant progress towards making the right to receive performance royalties a reality for musicians, artists and labels. According to published reports by the broadcast industry, “it’s time to hammer out a compromise with the music industry on a performance royalty for terrestrial radio,” http://bit.ly/progressinbroadcasters. While this shift in their public position is welcome, we must continue to press our lobbying efforts and support. Let’s not forget that radio has played every card in its deck to prevent musicians, artists and labels from receiving their rightful share of the advertising revenue generate by their work. Radio’s olive branch is being offered as they face an increasingly indefensible position, including very public support from President Obama and the Congressional leadership in favor of passing the Performance Rights Act this fall. The window for artist rights is open now! If you have not voiced your support already, please sign the following petition in favor of the Performance Rights Act, http://musicfirstcoalition.org/. It only takes a minute to cast a vote for a lifetime of change.

Keep it in the groove,

Eli Ball

Founder

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LYRIC Announcements

The credit crisis is still affecting many of us. If you are having difficulty getting bank approval for a loan consider calling LYRIC Financial for a royalty advance. Our FastForwardMyRoyalties program has provided over $5MM in advances to songwriters, artists, producers and publishers. Whether your needs are recording, tour support, catching up on bills or a down payment for a home, we offer risk free royalty advances on all music royalty streams…simple, safe and efficient. Call us at 615-739-6515 or go online to apply at www.fastforwardmyroyalties.com.

LYRIC Success Stories

Finding a rhyme for “Chattahoochee” probably isn’t your idea of a day job. But for songwriter Jim McBride, it was everyday business — and that rhyme (the title of a still-popular Alan Jackson hit) led to a slew of awards and record sales. A 30-year veteran of the Nashville music scene, McBride wrote for multiple publishers and dozens of artists during his time on Music Row. And though he’s put the cap on his pen — professionally speaking, at least — he’s busy paving the way for a new generation of writers and artists to get both the credit and the compensation they deserve.

As the founder of Copyright Recapture, McBride knows how hard the music business can be. It’s what led him to start his company, and it’s why he trusts Lyric Financial to help songwriters and artists maintain a positive cash flow. It’s fast, it’s affordable, and it’s a heck of a lot easier than coming up with a rhyme for “Chattahoochee.”

Read our entire interview with Jim here

Q & A with Jim McBride

Background:

Name: Jim McBride
Any nicknames? Mr. Wonderful (just kidding)
Website: www.copyrightrecapture.com

What has been your role in the music industry?
I was a full time staff songwriter on Music Row for 25 years. Foster and Rice signed me in 1981 and that’s when I moved to town. I also wrote for April Music (EMI) for 8 years, Tree (Sony) 10 years. Later I wrote for Cal IV Music and Island Bound Music. I served on the NSAI Board for several years including one as president. I’ve also served on the Nashville Songwriters Foundation Board. I retired from writing every day about 5 years ago and started a company with my sons called Copyright Recapture, LLC.

How did you get your start?
I began bringing songs to Nashville in the late 1960s. My first appointment was with Curly Putman at Green Grass Music. You could go door to door back then and sometimes they would listen to your songs. I did some of that. I later did some demos with Bobby Bare. Bare wanted me to move here as had Curly years before. I had a family and a very secure job and I wasn’t ready to walk away from it. I tried to transfer from the Post Office in Alabama to the Post Office in Nashville but the postmaster wouldn’t let me. I stopped writing after that for about 4 years but got serious about my writing and moving to Nashville in 1978. I wrote every night until 2 or 3 in the morning and then got up at 6 a.m. to go carry mail. I did this for 3 years. I began to get a few cuts through Foster and Rice Music from songs written with Roger Murrah whom I had met in Huntsville years before. I also began to get songs cut I had written by myself. In 1980 Conway cut a song Roger and I had started at my house in Alabama and finished in Nashville. I determined if “A Bridge That Just Won’t Burn” was a single I was going to move to Nashville. I knew it would be a hit because Conway was singing it. It was a single (the first hit for Roger and for me) and I left the Postal Service the day after Christmas in 1980. I had a 1 year writing deal for 2/3 of my last year Post Office salary and I never looked back. I was too excited to be scared.

Who have you worked with?
Early on I worked with Roger and later I had success with Stewart Harris, Jerry Salley and Sam Hogin among others. Brent Mason made his mark as an awesome guitar player but early on he and I wrote 3 songs together and got all 3 of them cut. I even got to write a couple of songs with Harlan Howard and a few other musical heroes of mine.

Do you have a mentor? If so, who?
Curly Putman put me on the right path a long time ago. He told me he couldn’t help me unless he could be honest with me. I was ready for that. Sometimes I went back to Alabama a little down because I hadn’t brought him anything good. Other times I went home very encouraged because I had written something Curly really liked. He told me songwriting was a 24 hour a day job. He was right about that and a lot of other things. I didn’t get to Nashville until I was 33 years old. Bobby Bare also offered encouragement and later Bill Rice and Jerry Foster helped me understand a lot about the business and gave me my first writing deal. I’m forever grateful to all of them.

What types of projects do you enjoy working on?
I just wanted to be a country songwriter. Nothing more, nothing less. Therefore, writing the best song I could is all I ever wanted to do. I never had any luck writing for a specific project whether it be an upcoming album project or a movie or whatever. I thought I did a pretty good job most of the time but the “people in charge” didn’t think so. It got to where I would not even try to write for a movie or special project. I’d rather spend my time trying to write a great country song. I never wrote with an artist until Alan Jackson became one 7 or 8 years into my career.

What have been your most meaningful successes?
I had two goals when I came to town. I wanted to write some meaningful songs and I wanted to have a reputation as a good guy. I hope I accomplished both. The thing of which I’m most proud is that I found the nerve to even move here in the first place. Specifically, I like to think I helped launch the career of one of the biggest music stars of the last 2 decades. Alan Jackson would most assuredly have become a big star without the songs we wrote together but “Chattahoochee” and “Chasin’ That Neon Rainbow” would not be in his catalog. Those were both my ideas and thank God I got to write them with him. To say his recording of those songs changed my life is a major understatement. “Angels In Waiting” by Tammy Cochran had an impact for good I hope.

What are you working on right now?
Spending more time with my Granddaughter and helping my sons sign new clients and doing a little copyright research from time to time.

Your Career:

It’s one thing to write one hit song, but what does it take to make a career out of it? The first thing is to take time to really enjoy your first hit for a few days and then get back to work. Not many songs will, on their own, support you for the rest of your life. What else ya’ got kid. So you had a big hit, awesome, good for you. Now, do it for the next 25 or 30 years. If having one hit made the road a lot easier it must have been before I got to town. You can have a hit on an artist and they may never cut another one of your songs. What the heck? All you can do is do it every day to the best of your ability and hope that big hit wasn’t the only one you will ever have. (see first sentence in paragraph).

What has been your most difficult challenge as a music professional?
Learning to deal with the “business”. The music is sublime. The music business is not. As Clint Eastwood said in “Unforgiven”, “deserve’s got nothing’ to do with it”. I’ve seen talented people that for whatever reason never really made it. I suppose there was always a good reason it not happening. Maybe I just couldn’t see it. I’ve talked with many Hall of Fame writers and it amazes me that guys like Max Barnes and Curly Putman would talk about the ones that got away instead of their major hits. As writers, we will leave this earth someday not understanding why that great song we wrote years ago never got cut. Goes with the territory I guess. I also don’t understand how you can give your publisher the Song of the Year and then be treated like a “rookie” when your contract comes up for renewal.

You have been recognized a number of times and given many awards. What was the most meaningful of those?
Obviously, having a CMA Song of the Year is a biggie. My first award was from NSAI and that came from other writers and meant a lot. I treasure them all because for most of us they don’t come easy.

Thoughts on music today:

How has the music industry changed from the beginning of your career until now? The most obvious changes have been the buyouts and mergers of publishers and record labels. What do we have now, 2 publishers and 2 record labels? That’s not far from the truth. There’s not much down home, good ole boy business being done these days. Most big decisions are made North, East and West of here although Nashville has become a much bigger player in the game. There are more Amendments to the U.S. Constitution now than there are songs on the play list of some radio stations. No wonder the labels have to spend a half million dollars or more just to begin to break a new artist. We made the transition from vinyl to cassette to cd pretty easily but the digital age is a whole different deal. We started out way behind but I think eventually music will prosper in the digital age. A lot of songs seem to be written by committee these days and that’s not so good. Some songs need to be written by the one person who is closest to that song. Co-writing came into high fashion about the time I arrived and has become epidemic. What happened to the great song pluggers who used to take your great song out and get it cut. These days a lot of them want to set you up with Joe Blow over at Acme Publishing. They make the phone call and set up the writing appointment and think they’ve done their job. First of all, it makes them look like they are hoping the other publisher will get the song cut. Secondly, I have a phone and I can call Joe myself and make an appointment if I have any credibility at all. How about you just take my best song out and get it cut while I’m on the phone with Joe. I know that’s not how it works these days. I’m a dinosaur.

How has a your role changed over time?
I’m just an old fussy, gristled veteran now. It’s a pretty short trip from the “new kid in town” to here. Time flies when you’re living and dying by the Billboard Charts and Sound Scan. The music changes and the new boys and girls get their shot and that’s how it’s works. Nobody stays on top forever around here. No regrets. Do I like traditional country music best? Yes. However, a great song is a great song and always will be.

How has technology had an effect on your career (home studios, digital distribution, etc.)?
My first publisher told me not to touch the equipment and I never did. Okay, one time I did. Tore up a tape machine and it cost $400 to get it fixed. I never checked but I bet they recouped that from me along with my draw and demo costs.

What are your thoughts on the Performance Rights Act?
I see both sides of this issue. I know the radio stations are selling advertising and I know they are using music to draw listeners. Maybe you can break a country artist without country radio these days. Get back to me when that happens. If the artists can pull it off without harming the writers in any way then more power to them. With all due respect to my artist friends, I’ve never received a penny from the sale of tee shirts with my song titles on them or from the sale of a concert ticket. Like I said before, as long as the writers don’t get hurt I’m okay with it.

Advice:

What advice can you give the young songwriters and musicians today? Do it from the heart and for the right reasons. I always said I would quit if I ever began to feel like I was only doing it for the money. I was beginning to feel that way. It was time for me to get out of the way of the new talented songwriters. I just don’t believe you can go wrong by coming from the heart. For the very few who might be trying to do it just for the money and not out of love for the music, please, go do something else.

Latest Endeavors:

Tell us about Copyright Recapture.
Copyright Recapture, LLC is the premier intellectual rights termination, protection and management provider for copyright holders in the United States. We offer a wide array of services to support copyright holders and their heirs, always mindful of our responsibility to them and their needs. Having chosen to establish ourselves at the forefront of this movement, we will persist in our efforts to be the most knowledgeable and experienced in the industry. We have over 100 clients from Coast to Coast representing many different genres.

When did you start the company? Why? With who? Was there something in particular that inspired you?
Copyright Recapture was started in January of 2004. The company was started by Jim and Brent McBride. Wes McBride joined the company shortly after its inception. We have a huge respect and appreciation for songwriters. We started the company to make writers, as well as the families of deceased writers, aware of their rights and then help them exercise their rights.

Who is the target audience? Who can you help the most and how?
Our client list ranges from Hall Of Fame Songwriters to songwriters with only a few hits. We think that our target audience is anyone who has ever been fortunate enough to create music for a living at some point in their life. We probably do the most good with heirs of deceased songwriters mainly because they are unaware of their rights and the opportunities that they have.

What else can you tell us about Copyright Recapture?
While filing Notices of Termination is the basis of our business, we have evolved into an all around Copyright Management service for our clients.

Please confirm your website (copyrightrecapture.com) and let us know if there is a facebook page or any other contact info you would like to share.
Website: www.copyrightrecapture.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Copyright-Recapture

Lyric Financial:

How did you find out about Lyric Financial?
I found out about Lyric Financial through the BMI Bulletin. I thought it was a great idea then and I still do. I can remember as a new writer in town, as well as a family man, going to the bank and filling out several pages of personal information in hopes of getting a 90 day note for $1,500 and being turned down. How embarrassing that was. I was no longer a trustworthy federal employee but rather a risky music business type. “Money in the pipeline” didn’t count for anything back then. That changed a good bit in later years but still usually involved a lot of paper work. I hate paper work. Lyric Financial has it down to bare minimal paper work. They are stunningly prompt. I wish they had been around when I first came to town.

How has Lyric Financial played a role in your life? What opportunities or needs has it fulfilled?
BMI does a great job collecting my foreign performances and though they pay every 3 months, there are times, for personal or business reasons, when I like to get an advance on those royalties. If I can have four smaller amounts spread over a year or a year’s worth of royalties at one time I will take the latter please.

Based on the challenges of the music industry today, what advice would you give other royalty earners if they have financial need? (either for living expenses or professional development)
I know how hard it can be on a young writer. God bless you all, I hope it works out for you. If you don’t know what leverage means then you need to listen up. You are like a professional athlete who may be injured and never able to play and make money again. You may never have another hit. However, if you are beginning to make the publisher a lot of money, remember contracts are made to be torn up and renegotiated. Get as much money up front as you can (be reasonable), you’re not ready for the hall of fame yet. Continue to work hard, spend and invest wisely as if you will never have another hit. If you need some help now especially with day to day living expenses and you’ve got something going but the eagle is far in the distance, for Heaven’s sake, don’t starve yourself any longer. Call Lyric Financial. The cost you pay is deductible and getting that financial monkey off your back is worth it. You will most certainly over recoup and that gives you something now and something to look forward to. I’ve written hungry and I’ve written well fed. Well fed is better believe me.

Anything else you would like to share?
I’ve been so blessed and I’m grateful to God for whatever talent he gave me and for the opportunity to make my living writing songs. What a deal!

Sound Advice: Hillbilly in Washington and the Performance Rights Act

Hillbilly in Washington and the Performance Rights Act

My wife Mary and I went to our nation’s capital last week along with hundreds of recording artists, songwriters, musicians and music industry professionals to lobby our legislative leaders on the Performance Rights Act. This singularly important and long overdue piece of legislation is meant to compensate artists, musicians and labels for the hits they create that generate over $16 Billion (yes, that’s 16,000,000,000 dollars) in revenue each year for the corporations that own the AM/FM radio stations in America…Wall Street financed corporations like Clear Channel Communications and Radio One. In our discussions with the legislators (most of whom support your right to get paid) one thing was clear, the tens of millions of dollars the broadcast industry is spending through lobbyists and their bully pulpit has muddied the true facts with deliberate misinformation. Broadcasters are blanketing the airwaves they control ad nauseum, poor mouthing why they should not be required to pay for using someone else’s property.

Some in our music family have been swayed by the broadcast industry’s efforts, worried that this bill will take away from the songwriter’s and publisher’s royalties. Don’t buy that! This has nothing to do with the song copyright and everything to do with the recording copyright (the record). To be crystal clear, the recording of a song is a separate asset from the song itself in the same way an office building is a separate asset from the land it is built on. As a banker, I value the office building and the land separately, as each has its own value. Using the same principle, I value the song and a recording of the song separately as they are individual assets with unique economics.

Let me ask you a question, if songwriters didn’t have singers and musicians to interpret their songs and labels to promote those records, where would the hits come from…and if publishers did not have record labels promoting those hits what would their catalogs be worth? How dare these mega corporations demand their inventory for free because they are doing us a favor when they are generating billions of dollars in revenue using the music we have committed our lives and careers to creating and promoting.

Thanks to the collective efforts of NARAS, SoundExchange, RIAA, Future of Music Coalition, ASCAP and thousands of other supporters the tide is turning against these corporate bullies. Our legislative leaders on both sides of the aisle feel the time is right to finally pass this bill. Republican and Democrat, House and Senate, and even Presidents Bush and Obama agree that this is an issue that is not only fundamentally fair, but necessary to the economic survival of the music industry.

This is our time. Seventy years of waiting for the stars to align is long enough. This will not take care of itself; we must act to support our livelihood - now! If fair compensation for your work is worth two minutes of your time, please register your support for the Performance Rights Act at this link: www.musicfirstcoalition.org.

Hell, have your mom, your dad, sisters, brothers, cousins, friends and even your dog register, because they all care about your future and want to see you get paid for your work!

Keep it in the groove,

Eli Ball

Founder

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LYRIC Announcements

The credit crisis is still affecting many of us. If you are having difficulty getting bank approval for a loan consider calling LYRIC Financial for a royalty advance. Our FastForwardMyRoyalties program has provided over $5MM in advances to songwriters, artists, producers and publishers. Whether your needs are recording, tour support, catching up on bills or a down payment for a home, we offer risk free royalty advances on all music royalty streams…simple, safe and efficient. Call us at 615-739-6515 or go online to apply at www.fastforwardmyroyalties.com.

LYRIC Success Stories

Ree Buchanan always knew she loved music; as a youngster, she even lent her voice to a variety of commercials. And while you won’t hear her voice on the radio today, Ree’s making more of an impact than ever — as co-founder of Wrensong Music, a boutique publisher that takes unknown singer/songwriters and transforms them into hit songwriters and artists. She loves humble success stories, dives headfirst into hard work, and knows the financial struggles that face even the best and brightest in the industry… which is why she recommends Lyric Financial to her own roster of artists.

Read Ree's entire interview here.

Q & A with Ree Guyer Buchanan

Background:

Name: Ree Guyer Buchanan

Website: www.myspace.com/wrensongpub

Q: What has been your role in the music industry?

A: I am a music Publisher. I own my own boutique independent company. I specialize in developing writers and artists. I work on making them Hit songwriters and artists.

Q: How/when did you get your start?

A: I grew up in St. Paul Minnesota and worked with many talented writers there who wrote mainly commercials for top brands. I used to sing on commercials as a kid. I graduated from College and knew I wanted to be in sales. So my Father and I started Wrensong/Reynsong to help these writers. I began by taking trips to Nashville and setting up meetings with Top Publishers. I thought they would want to co-publish my songs. I quickly realized that I would have to find homes for the songs myself. So I began meeting producers, they were the decision makers at the time regarding what songs artists put on their albums. I was fortunate enough to meet Billy Sherrill, he was producing George Jones, Tammy Wynette and others and he was running CBS Records. This opened many doors for me.

Q: Who have you worked with?

A: Jon Vezner, who wrote our song of the year in 1990 "Where've you Been", was my first writer I signed, Blair Daly, Will Rambeaux, Jaime Kyle, Sherrie Austin, Burton Collins, Aaron Benward, Jon Randall, John Wiggins and Ashley Monroe.

Q: Do you have a mentor? If so, who?

A: Yes, Billy Sherrill, Pat Higdon and Karen Conrad

Q: What types of projects do you enjoy working on?

A: I love developing a writer/artist. I love putting together a team for an artist.

Q: What have been your most meaningful successes?

A: It is most meaningful to me when a writer becomes successful and remains humble and loyal. I have enjoyed working with Jon Randall and seeing him become a worldclass writer.

Q: What are you working on right now?

A: I am excited about Ashley Monroe. I signed her when she was 17 and she is 23 and having her first #1 record. The songs I have owned over the last 5 years, I have always known they were great,now the industry knows they are great and she is having great success.

Your Career:

Q: It’s one thing to get one hit song, but what does it take to make a career out of it?

A: Hard work. persistance persistance persistance. I am always thinking about my songs and who I can get them too. The writer and artists I know that are successful work harder. Everyone we deal with has a measure of talent, but a work ethic is key.

Q: How did you “break in” to the music industry?

A: Making cold calls to producers and publishers.

Q: What has been your most difficult challenge as an indie publisher?

A: There is power in numbers. The big corporations have deep catalogs and they can live off of their base. With a small catalog you always have to get new activity.

Thoughts on music today:

Q: How has the music industry changed from the beginning of your career until now?

A: When I came to town in 1995, there were about 8 producers. It was smaller and easier to get answers. Now most artist projects involve huge committees to decide on the music. This waters it all down.

Q: How has a your role changed over time?

A: The music business is all about who you know and your network of contacts. This is the most valuable thing you own. Today when I have a great song, I go directly to the source to get answers on the song. This is because my network is very deep and wide.

Q: How has technology had an effect on your career (home studios, digital distribution, etc.)?

A: Technology has made my job easier. Making a cd for a meeting takes seconds. I do not miss the days of reel to reels to cassettes in real time. It took forever to get ready for meetings. The one thing that I do not like about technology is the I pitch songs now by MP3. Many producers want to get MP3's instead of taking a meeting with you. It takes the salesmanship and fun out of the process for me.

Q: What are your thoughts on 360 deals?

A: I think they are a good idea, but it is hard to get paid by the labels right now, labels are holding 50% reserves on our royalties, what will happen when they control all the money. Little scary to me.

Advice:

Q: What advice can you give the young songwriters and musicians today?

A: Network, Network, network. Everyone you meet in the business is important, even the assistants. One day they will be A&R people or producers.

Q: Is there a formula to a hit song?

A: We are selling emotion period.

Lyric Financial:

Q: How did you find out about Lyric Financial?

A: thru Kurt Denny

Q: How has Lyric Financial played a role in your life?

A: Lyric Financial has stepped in and supported me in a time when banks cannot give a service anymore. As a small publisher Lyric Financial is essential for our business.

Q: What opportunities or needs has it fulfilled?

A: Eli interviewed me when he was first developing his business plan. He has done very thing he set out to do. It is a great time for Lyric to succeed.

Q: Based on the challenges of the music industry today, what advice would you give other royalty earners if they have financial need? (either for living expenses or professional development)

A: I would highly recommend Lyric Financial because they are filling in a gap that is desperately needed in the creative business today. They help you base only on activity, not pie in the sky deals.

Getting Your Songs Back...in plain english

Sometimes there’s elephant in the room that can’t be ignored.

In 1976, Congress created an opportunity for songwriters and artists or their families to get the ownership of their songs back for free! Remember, the life of the copyright lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years…and that’s a long time. The window for that opportunity is now open and the songwriters or their families need to be aware that they have the right to regain the ownership of their catalog or renegotiate a significantly more favorable deal than they currently have. There are two different termination provisions in the Copyright Act of 1976 for getting your songs back depending on whether you signed over the ownership of your songs to a publisher after January 1, 1978 or before 1978.

My good friend and esteemed legal scholar, Robert Clarida at Cowan, Liebowitz & Latman, P.C. in New York has provided a basic how to in plain English, which is available at http://bit.ly/GetYourSongsBack

Keep it in the groove,

Eli Ball

Founder

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LYRIC Announcements

Our royalty advance program, FastForwardMyRoyalties, now in its third year has come a long way since it began with BMI in 2007. We have funded nearly $5MM in royalty advances to songwriters, publishers, artists and producers. Yep…that’s right we are now funding artist and producer advances.

LYRIC funds advance

requests on performance, mechanical, artist or producer royalty streams from ASCAP, BMI and most of the major labels/publishers.

For more information on royalty advances, visit www.fastforwardmyroyalties.com or you can contact me directly at eli@lyricfinancial.com. FastForwardMyRoyalties is a simple, safe and fast way to access your royalties.

LYRIC Success Stories

For those who could not attend, BMI’s Trailblazer Gospel Awards Luncheon in Nashville last month…it was incredible. The Grammy’s should take a page from BMI VP of Urban, Catherine Brewton’s playbook as she turned a barren warehouse into an intimate, dramatic venue. To experience Marvin Winans, Donnie McClurken and Yolanda Adams on the same stage was simply life affirming!

And did I forget to mention that my friend and LYRIC client, Derrick Starks won the award for “Most Performed Gospel Song of the Year”. All of us in the LYRIC family are so proud of Derrick’s success…he’s an absolutely phenomenal talent and most importantly, he’s a genuinely great human being! Check out Derrick at myspace.com/derrickstarkstodaysgeneration

- Eli

Lyric Financial had the chance to catch up with Derrick and this is what he's up to...

From his early years at the edge of an organ stool, watching as his Auntie Chaquila played hymns at church, Derrick Starks found himself drawn into the world of music. And through two decades in the music industry, Derrick has worked with some of the greats — and remains passionate about songs that “transcend generations.”

Between writing and recording his own music, and running his Starks Music Group gospel label, Derrick is busier than most — but music doesn’t offer the comfort of weekly paychecks, which is why he’s sought out Lyric Financial.

“Lyric has given me the resources to start and run my label, support a studio, and develop new artists,” Derrick says. “At a time when our economy was having major problems, Lyric helped me continue to pursue my dreams. They offer a variety of financial solutions, with more flexibility than a traditional financial institution… I encourage anyone who relies on royalties to consider talking to Lyric.”

Read Derrick's entire interview here

Upcoming Events

March 9, 2010

California Copyright Conference

"Monetizing Music Publishing - Show Me The Money!"

Commerce in music publishing has never been livelier. Buying, selling and borrowing against copyrights remains a vibrant market. During these challenging economic times, lenders are offering publishers and writers creative ways of generating cash flow . A panel of experts (including Eli Ball of Lyric Financial) will discuss music catalog valuation and deal structures for sales and securitization purposes, how royalty streams can be pledged, what lenders require to finance publishing deals and the due diligence steps publishers can take to enhance copyright value.

To register for this event please visit http://www.theccc.org/meetings.php

Get Your Rights Back: Statutory Termination of Copyright Grants

Get Your Rights Back: Statutory Termination of Copyright Grants

by Bob Clarida (rwc@cll.com)

Imagine you sold some songs back in the 1980s, maybe the 60s or 70s. Your assignment to the publisher said, as per the usual boilerplate, that you were assigning the songs "for the full term of copyright in the work, including all renewals and extensions thereof." The copyright in the songs may not expire for a very long time – 70 years after you’re dead. Does this mean your rights are locked up until that date? No. Under the Copyright Act, there are two different statutory termination provisions, set forth in sections 203 and 304 of the 1976 Copyright Act, under which you or your family could get back your rights in the songs prior to the end of the copyright term.

Section 203 – Recapture 35 years after the contract date

Under § 203, any grant of rights in a copyrighted work "executed by the author on or after January 1, 1978" may be terminated at any time during a five-year window beginning 35 years after the date of execution of the grant. Before termination, you have to serve a written notice on the party who’s being terminated, and that notice has to be served not less than two years, and not more than ten years, before the effective date of the termination. Accordingly, if your old deal was signed on January 1, 1978, your termination window would run from Jan. 1, 2013 to Jan. 1, 2018 and the period for serving the notice would run from 2003 (2013 – 10 = 2003) to 2016 (2018 -2 = 2018). Notices have already been sent to terminate a number of high-profile contracts from the late 1970s, and no doubt more writers will begin sending notices as the word gets around. So dust off those old contracts you thought you were stuck with, and send out the notices during the proper time period; if they’re early or late they won’t count.

Who can do it: Only the songwriter can terminate, if he or she is alive. If the songwriter is deceased, the right may be exercised by the widow or widower, if living, and any children or grandchildren. If more than one of these relatives is living, the rights are divided half to the widow/widower, half to the children and surviving grandchildren, divided among them proportionally. A vote of the majority of the termination interest is required to make an effective termination – if there is a stand-off between the widow/widower (who owns half) and everybody else who owns the remaining half, the termination is not effective. If there are none of the above relatives still living, the right can be exercised by “the author’s executor, administrator, personal representative, or trustee.”

The written notice has to specify what work is being terminated, the particular agreement being terminated, the effective date of termination, and the authority of the person exercising the termination (as author, widow, trustee, etc.)

Significantly, the termination right under § 203 may not be waived by prior agreement, as the statute provides that termination may be effected "notwithstanding any agreement to the contrary, including an agreement to make a will or a future grant." So the writer or heirs cannot actually sell or waive their termination right to anybody. Like life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness these termination rights are literally “inalienable.” The law does specifically allow authors to negotiate new deals with their original publishers after the termination notice has been served, however. Many publishers try to acquire such rights whenever possible, to avoid losing valuable older titles.

Even before the termination notice is served, recent cases in the courts have also allowed authors to make new contracts with the original grantee to supersede the older, termination-prone ones, but courts scrutinize such agreements very carefully to make sure that the original buyer is not taking unfair advantage and undercutting the basic purpose of termination, which is to give the writer a second bite at the apple and realize the true long-term value of a song that may have been sold too cheaply back in the day.

Section 203 does have its limits, however. It does not apply to works made for hire, since those works are deemed owned by the employer ab initio rather than by means of a grant from the individual creator. Also, it does not divest the publisher of foreign rights in the work, but only pertains to rights under the US Copyright Act. Moreover, only grants executed by the author may be terminated under the section. Further, § 203 does not prohibit the continued exploitation of derivative works prepared by the publisher "under authority of the grant before its termination." Accordingly, a publisher would not be able to continue issuing licenses for new uses after termination, but older recordings or videos could continue to be sold.

Section 304 –Recapture 56 (or 75) years after publication

Section 304 provides for another form of termination, which takes effect at the end of the 56th year of the copyright term. Under § 304, any grant executed before 1978, by the writer or any of his/her statutorily designated heirs, may be terminated in a five-year window between the 56th and 61st year, allowing the author or heirs to recapture the copyright in the work for the remainder of the term. For works still under copyright but beyond their 61st year as of 1998, the § 304 right is available in the five-year period between the 75th and 81st years of the copyright term.

Like § 203, § 304 does not apply to works made for hire and does not allow for the termination of foreign rights. Like § 203, Section 304 also permits the continued exploitation of derivative works made prior to termination, but only when the terminated grant was made by a party other than the author (§ 304(c)(6)(A)). As noted above, under § 203, grants made by persons other than the author are not terminable at all, but all pre-termination derivative works may continue to be exploited.

As with § 203, only widows, children and executors can exercise the termination rights, and they must follow similar procedures as to the timing and content of the notice of termination. These formalities are easily complied with by motivated authors and their estates, however, provided that they are made aware of their termination rights.

In sum, if you sold your rights under a grant that was (a) made prior to 1978, (b) by the author or a widow/child/executor, § 304 makes those rights subject to termination, in the US, as of the 56th year of the copyright term in the work, or beginning in the 75th year, if the work was already past its 61st year in 1998. If you sold your rights under a contract (a) made in 1978 or later, (b) by the author, those rights are vulnerable to termination under § 203 starting in the 35th year after the execution of the grant.

Robert Clarida is a partner at Cowan, Liebowitz & Latman, P.C. in New York

Please contact Robert with any questions you may have at rwc@cll.com

© 2010 Cowan, Liebowitz & Latman, P.C.