This is how I go forward with my music - the real story from November 2017 and towards the album release but it took Volume 2 to get the whole way there. Creating, editing and mixing music is a complicated effort but loads of fun.
For all you who wa...
STIM This week I finally applied to STIM - the Swedish PRO (Publishing Rights Organisation) in Stockholm. If I publish my music through CDBaby or any other publisher, the money they collect will be paid out to STIM who will pay back to me. It's great that a DIYM (Do it yourself musician) can get paid at all for the income from streaming, downloads, etc.
But there is a downside too. CDBaby takes their cut, STIM takes theirs, the United States IRS Tax Service takes its share and the Swedish government take a part as well (I'm a dual citizen). I'll be glad if I have anything left to pay my accountant and buy a new microphone or at least a set of strings.
Register your music at your PRO. CDBaby lists the PRO in your country on their homepage. Here is a good start if you are wondering what to do with your music. Copy it an paste it into your browser to get a free book on songwriting:
CCLI: It's almost December but I'm not busy baking cookies. I have been getting all my lyrics ready to be posted with chords at www.CCLI.com
I have had to redo the lyrics sheets on my homepage- I found that when I used the following helpful page to figure out what I was to call the chords I was using that I hadn't been taking into account that there are often strings that you don't play. (http://www.chorderator.com/designer/)
It was important to tick off all the strings that were muted. So now i am replacing complicated chords with typical chords as much as possible. It is so time-consuming to redo everything! I have even been asked by CCLI to start Intro, Verse, Chorus, Bridge, Outro, etc on every song. I file through DocuSign on the Internet through a link CCLI sent to me. I will be done by tomorrow.
If you are a writer of songs used in churches and schools, CCLI gives you a paycheck two times a year for all the music downloads that the churches and schools make, i.e. if you register your own work with them.
What CCLI does is to put my songs, (free of charge) into a database that churches and schools can download from. CCLI works together with SongSelect. So the songs I put into the CCLI database can also be found in SongSelect's database. Churches and schools can download text, text + chords and or sheet music once they have paid a fee. There, they can transpose the works, (even sheet music!), before downloading. You can read about what they do on their homepage.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Here is an interview with a songwriter Mia Fieldes, done by CCLI. She says perseverance is key to becoming a great songwriter. You have to work at it intensely and be inspired by many who know the ropes.
Co-writing is something I look forward to doing in the future. Are you interested? Give me a call!
