From: owner-headline-girl-digest@smoe.org (headline-girl-digest) To: headline-girl-digest@smoe.org Subject: headline-girl-digest V4 #307 Reply-To: headline-girl@smoe.org Sender: owner-headline-girl-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-headline-girl-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk headline-girl-digest Wednesday, December 26 2001 Volume 04 : Number 307 Today's Subjects: ----------------- merry christmas everyone! ["secret agent kr" ] LEONA NAESS "i tried to rock you but you only roll" [JewelEDA21@aol.com] Tricia you poor thing... ["Tanisha Taitt" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 25 Dec 2001 06:13:09 +0000 From: "secret agent kr" Subject: merry christmas everyone! hey allkr here playing around on the internet till santa comes down my chimney.....just wanted to say happy holidays to everyone on the list. i hope everyone is well and enjoying life. be well and eat lots this winter everyone!!!!!!!!!heaps and heaps of love,krxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxwhaaats everyone doing for new years? http://www.jackhadagroove.com for the best in house and trance djs and downloads! - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: Click Here ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Dec 2001 02:40:55 EST From: JewelEDA21@aol.com Subject: LEONA NAESS "i tried to rock you but you only roll" Buy this album if you want to be a better person. peace ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Dec 2001 11:51:35 -0800 From: "Tanisha Taitt" Subject: Tricia you poor thing... [demime could not interpret encoding binary - treating as plain text] Hi Tricia, I read about your dilemna and thought I'd offer you my two cents worth. First of all regarding copyright, you do not have to copyright your work. Each of your songs carries with it an intrinsic copyright upon creation. What is may want to do however, is register your copyright. You can register each song individually, or collections of work. It's also a good idea to join SOCAN if you haven't already. Doing both of these things could significantly assist you should you have to prove ownership later. If the melody and the lyrics of the song are yours, the song is yours. A backing musician coming in and playing some accompanying chords does not grant him or her partial ownership of your song, especially since the melody line of your song will strongly suggest the proper chord. If the musician does something out of the ordinary which becomes a defining piece of the song, such as Keith Richards' guitar riff in Satisfaction, then it may be fair to split writing credit. Similarly, if a musician in your band takes your melody and sets it to a chord progression completely different than the one implied, and you choose to use it, then it would be fair to also split credit. The division of song ownership should be determined at the time the song is being arranged by you and your musicians, however, so as to avoid potential problems later. The simplest way to state ownership of your songs is to ask yourself this question: When you perform these songs in your solo shows, is there anything that you play that WAS NOT YOUR IDEA. If the basic melody, lyric and chord structure is yours, then the song is YOURS. Whatever a guitarist or drummer adds in a band setting is arrangement, is icing on the cake so to speak. It may sound great, but unless it is something the song COULD NOT BE PERFORMED WITHOUT, and unless it was part of the song at its initial completion, you shouldn't have to give them any songwriting royalties. For example, I perform regularly with a good friend of mine as her backing vocalist. I provide harmonies for all of her songs with I've come up with myself, and almost every audience we play for hears those harmonies and knows them as part of those songs. But I certainly don't deserve songwriting credit, but those songs existed as completed works before I ever came on the scene, and Rachel is qui! te capable of doing shows and performing her songs without me. They're HER songs, and I just add another musical element to them as an electric guitarist or bass player would. I did not write them in any way, shape or form. They're Rachel's songs. What is perfectly reasonable is to give the musicians a share of your sales royalties of CD sales, if you so desire. It's also completely acceptable to pay them a flat fee for each recording or show they do with you, and keep your royalties. Sorry this is so long-winded, but I really wanted to help shed a little more light on this if I could. As for your band not calling your egotistical for calling yourself a solo artist, it sounds like the egos in question are theirs, not yours. There are some incredibly giving and sweet musicians in the world, there are also some frustrated songwriters who wish they had the talent that you do Tricia, and who will try to ride your coattails in order to make up for they can't do themselves. Don't let the jealousy and insecurity of other people persuade you to sell yourself short. You're a solo artist with a backing band. There are a million of them! Are these guys living under a rock? Don't compromise. This is your vision for your career and your life. Be strong and stand up for yourself. Best of luck to you. Yours, Tanisha Taitt - ------------------------------------------------------------ Get YourName.Music.com- http://www.music.com/myband_main.html Reserve your .Music.com address and reach thousands of fans! ------------------------------ End of headline-girl-digest V4 #307 ***********************************