March BEAT

FROM THE DESK OF SHELLY HARRIS....

MUSIC LAW COLUMN

by Shelly Harris

      Last month I touched on various issues relating to music publishing,
including the possible option of signing on as songwriter with a major
publisher in order to promote your songs, yourself and/or your band. However,
because the Nashville “system” is often different in many ways than the
other major music genres, and because I have received numerous calls/emails
pertaining to various legal and nonlegal aspects of country music songwriting
in particular, I will segue into that area with this column in a general
attempt to address some of those special concerns.

    Since this is “nutshell” advice, the first and wisest thing to do is to
read the many books out there on this topic, and to regularly peruse industry
websites like www.musicrow.com. Also, if you are truly serious about your
music, you must consider making the big, scary move to Nashville. Unlike
other genres, country A&R guys are highly unlikely to come to Chicagoland to
look for new talent, and “Music Row” is obviously where most of the
influential people on any level of country music are located. It is also
crucial to interact and make industry-related allies, friends and/or
collaborators, not to mention being seen and heard by the right people.

   In fact, the tried and true blueprint is to wrangle your way into as many
“open mike” or “showcase” nights as possible, or to get a regular gig, even
at a local Nashville dive. Although it is not impossible to also get a record
deal that way, more times than not, if you are an artist/songwriter, your
best bet is to generate a “Buzz” big enough to interest one of Music City’s
major publishing companies on the look out for new writing talent or
vocalists for their song “demos.” (FYI, never send songs or music to anyone
without registering your copyright in the material.) However, even if you do
happen to “WOW” the head honchos to the extent that you get a publishing
deal, expect that, unlike the typical pop/rock scenario, the whole creative
process will have to be approached in a businesslike manner, with a regular
daytime work schedule in which you can expect to be teamed up with various
collaborators who you may never have even met before.

     One of many prototype case studies in successfully playing by
Nashville's “rules” (and paying dues) in this manner is
singer/songwriter/guitarist keith urban (see S&M Series in this issue), who
recently scored his first #1 single with “But for the Grace of God” after 10
years of sustained perseverance (and unknowable frustration).

    In 1990, urban already had four #1 singles on the Australian charts and
awards for both vocals and guitar playing. Still, he initially got his foot
in the door by moving to Nashville and working as a songwriter for MCA while
concurrently creating a stir anytime opportunity allowed, whether playing out
solo or with his band, The Ranch. Eventually, that lead to a deal with
Capitol in the mid-’90s. The artist retained a solo contract when his group
disbanded, resulting in his breakthrough album, keith urban, which is still
in the “Billboard Top 20” after more than a year.

    Though he has said it was very difficult in the beginning to stomach
“baring your soul” on a regular basis to other songwriters he barely knew,
now, in a snippet of a conversation we had about his current collaborations
(in part to amass material for his second album), urban has some interesting
(and amusing) revelations about the Nashville way of songwriting/publishing
that should also serve to help demystify that process to Region novices:

Nashville has a different kind of writing ‘system’; isn't it almost like ‘a
job’ where you go in at a set time...

keith urban (u.b.): “Yeah. I did that for quite some time when I first went
there. I did the 10 to 5 or whatever, literally getting in the car
and...well, it’s very similar to what I’m about to do right now. I’ve got a
10 a.m. writing appointment with Darrell Scott [“It's a Great Day to Be
Alive”], who’s a wonderful songwriter. We have only gotten together once
before and we really hadn’t met each other, so we spent most of the day
talking and jamming and getting to know one another; we didn’t write
anything. Today might wind up being more of the same; I don’t know, I don’t
have any preconceived ideas. I’ve got some sounds – some songs – to take to
him to see if he likes anything, and he may very well bring something to the
table as well.

   “There is definitely a discipline involved in bringing yourself into a
creative environment and then seeing what comes of it. And I think too many
times, Nashville does treat it like ‘a job’, the way they kind of throw you
together, and say – ‘Okay, write something!’”

    “I honestly don’t think it ends up happening that way quite as much as
people imagine. The writers come together and the good ones, I’ve always
found, kind of just let things unfold. If they don’t, they don’t, but if
something comes, at least you’re both together and you’re both in a room
with pad and pencil and a cassette recorder, and you can start documenting
some stuff.

    “Truthfully, I like that kind of environment, because if I sat at home,
I’d never write anything – not every day anyway! If you have to be somewhere
at a set time, that helps with getting the discipline underway. And you do
need that. I think every creative person needs a deadline to work by. You may
bitch and moan about it, but you ultimately will usually meet the deadline,
and you’re grateful for it, otherwise you would’ve taken forever.”

True! But, on a human level, I can see that it’s a necessary thing to take
the time to get to know the person you're writing with, otherwise it might be
too awkward to just jump right in there!

k.u.: “No question, you do need to kind of ‘court’ each other to some
extent. You need to almost...kind of go to the bar, have a few drinks, and
get to know one another...because, you know, it is an intimate thing,
songwriting.”

Yes... I can’t imagine too many things more intimate.

k.u.: “No! Only one really springs to mind that’s just as intimate –
(laughs) – and it, too, isn’t something you rush into...if you want to do it
right!”

Next Month : Performance rights organizations, publishing contracts, and
creating your own publishing company.