Lyric To Music Contract?

[southern]

I have been searching for months for a recording studio to accepts lyrics and write a great melody. I have found a few studios that promise to do this for a 50/50 split. But there is red flags waving. 1 studio claims to have a parenting company that does not excist. The parenting company does the recording. the other studio requires payment before recieving the contract. My question is, is there a recording studio that can be trusted?

[Lazz]

My question is, is there a recording studio that can be trusted?

Of course.

There are many.

[Nightwolf]

I find this a little confusing. Recording studios don't Write, they Record. Sounds like you are looking for a co-Writer

[roxhythe]

I'd agree. Don't expect a recording studio to write your music. Yes, some can do a good job--but in my opinion, you'll get a better product out of a co-writer.

Second, I'd shy away from outfits that want money for writing your music. As co-writers, they're entitled to 50% of the writer's royalties. That's enough. If you're paying them money to do the music, then it's a "work for hire," and they're not entitled to any percentage, just their fee--you keep all the royalties--and they should know this. (And if they don't, you shouldn't be dealing with them.)

My recommendation accordingly would be (1) find a co-writer to do the music, (2) have the co-writer make a draft recording of it you and/or the co-writer can shop around to studios, (3) find a decent, honest studio close to you or the co-writer's home (because it's important that at least one of you be involved in the recording process), and (4) have them do the demo. Find the right studio, and you can get a very good product very inexpensively.

If you don't do this stuff, you may still get a good product--but (my opinion, again) it will because you were waydam lucky.

Joe

[Prometheus]

I have been searching for months for a recording studio to accepts lyrics and write a great melody. I have found a few studios that promise to do this for a 50/50 split. But there is red flags waving. 1 studio claims to have a parenting company that does not excist. The parenting company does the recording. the other studio requires payment before recieving the contract. My question is, is there a recording studio that can be trusted?

I would be more inclined to look for a songwriting partner if I were you. The purpose of a recording studio is to record music that has already been written. It seems a little bizarre to me that studio sound engineers would be taking this kind of work. If someone wanted to use my studio and they didn't have a clear idea of what they wanted to record, I'd suggest to them that they come back when they did...

[Retrosaurus Rex]

I would be more inclined to look for a songwriting partner if I were you. The purpose of a recording studio is to record music that has already been written. It seems a little bizarre to me that studio sound engineers would be taking this kind of work. If someone wanted to use my studio and they didn't have a clear idea of what they wanted to record, I'd suggest to them that they come back when they did...

Bizarre to me as well, but there are a number of places that have as their primary business putting generic melodies and / or canned arrangements for lyricists that don't know how to find a collaborator, or are unwilling to take the plunge into full-fledged musical collaboration. Some of these places are "honest" inasmuch as they provide a service as a work for hire, albeit of variable quality... Others try to get co-writing credit, I suppose in hopes of getting a piece of the action if some permutation of their work makes somebody some money in the distant future...

[Retrosaurus Rex]

Many studios have an in-house composer who sometimes doubles as producer or engineer. In fact, a lot of composers and producers own studios and will rent them out for some extra income. We all know how difficult it is to keep a studio afloat and diversifying is a good way to to bring in that extra income.

So, before we condemn the studio that Southern is talking about, that might be the case. Either way though, ALWAYS protect your interests in your music by getting everything on paper up front.

I don't mean to snap on studios in general, even if they provide this service as a sidelight. I personally know of one studio run by a Grammy-winning producer/engineer that probably wouldn't stay afloat if not for the fact that the space and equipment is already paid for. This guy has said that he would never be able to make the necessary upfront investment if he were starting today. I'm sure this situation is repeated around the country and in other countries. So, extra money is always good. The studio I speak of will bring in crack musicians for a very nominal fee and take your song from work tape to full demo/broadcast quality for a reasonable amount of money.

The OP was asking about places that put music to lyrics, where the lyricist has little or no musical experience or ability. I know that such enterprises exist, and many of them perform the task honestly as a work-for-hire. But even at its' best I don't personally have a high regard for this approach, because the result tends to have a "canned" feel, there's really no getting around it. The better approach for a serious lyricist is to find serious musician/composers and work with them (you know, give-and-take, compromise...) to create songs with some singular life and personality. Such a partner obviously should get a split of the final result, but the final result will have so much more potential. Bottom line, I think lyrics are important, but in the real world, the melody is going to be the first feature that sells the song, and groove, production, & personality are going to sell the record (which is getting harder to do all the time), so no matter how good the lyrics are, they're just a tiny piece of the puzzle, and you sell your lyrics short by not giving them a chance to live in a musical setting that was created with the same care as the lyrics. I would much rather listen to a great melody with vacuous lyrics than great poetry set to a bland melody. I know because I've heard both... in fact, lately I've been listening to a lot of music sung in languages I don't even understand, just because I dig the melody and groove.

The last statement quoted above is important enough to be repeated. In fact, if it's not 2nd nature you should come back and read it every day... Always have clear expectations established up front, and protect your interests by getting everything in writing.

Good luck in all your endeavors...