Is It Impossible?

[Phuser59]

Hello All,

 

     It's early, I'm on my first cup of coffee, and I'm not sure what my name is yet.  But this is what I'd like to ask all of you - especially those who really know the business.  I'll try to be brief.  So, obviously I'm pretty new to this.  I've always been very good at any and all sorts of writing, and I fancy that I write really good, and unique, song lyrics.  But aside from the pleasure of writing and creating I'm wondering if the business end is even worth pursuing.  It seems to me that the more I look around I see all these seasoned veterans of the biz are writing books, giving seminars, and teaching classes - instead of writing songs.  Why do you suppose that is?  Could it be that no matter how good your work might be that the chances of making even a moderately decent income from songwriting (in my case lyric writing) are pretty much zero?  I very much enjoy writing, but I can't afford to invest a great deal of time if there's basically no chance that it will pay off.  Let me know what you know/think.

 

Thanks,

Phuser59

[MazingMaryRocks]

Hi and welcome to Songstuff!

We all have our own reasons for writing lyrics. I am not the right person to answer your question, though. 

This section is set up for saying "Hi" and you should post this thread in the Music Industry forum instead to get better response to your specific question:

http://forums.songstuff.com/forum/133-music-industry/

 

Anyway; nice having you around!

//MMR

[justsoulin]

Hi & welcome.

 

I concur with Tom above. No matter what part of the Music & Entertainment Industry you are in, without a passion, without a kind of unconditional love for music and creativity (same applies to painters, dancers etc), without an uncompromising amount of dedication and an acknowledgement that you find 'enough' in just what it is you do, whatever that may be, focusing on it as an income or generator of income isn't going to work, 99.9% of the time. The reason for that is you get so many knock backs, disappointments etc, without the above you'll just give up.

 

And you're focusing 'just' on being a lyricist.

 

You've also got to take into account of the people 'you're' looking at, wanting out of a vicious circle, the rat-race, fed up of profit-led companies slapping too restrictive constraints on them, changes in family obligations ....... the list goes on and is never 'that' clear ......... and possibly that they want to give back and find they're just as good if not better at doing that!!!

 

You say you're very good and write very good lyrics. Put something on the Lyric Critique board, let's have a look? Let some 'veteran' peers give you some honest feedback first.

 

And if you have this talent, and want to do lyrics, what else can you use it for that is viable to support you?

 

Half of me is thinking that you've given up before you've tried What's behind 'the' door for you if you knock on it, is very possibly something completely different to what lies there for me.

 

We can all play the game of 'how glamorous it all looks, if you 'have the luck', but those who are successful do not have an easy life of it And that applies - in a financial way - to any 'career' aspect you may choose. All that glitters is not gold

 

So, if you can put aside the monetary aspect, what have you got to lose?

 

Looking forward to seeing 'a' lyric from you

[MazingMaryRocks]

Hmmm, I would not satisfy with just knocking on the door, I would knock it in! But thats me....

 

//MMR

[MazingMaryRocks]

Well, easy for me to say... I don't do it for any money. For me it's about other things. But if "knocking in doors" what I have to do to reach my personal (non-profit) goal I'll do it.

So if we are strictly talking about making enough money to live on as a lyricist...the answer would be different.

MMR

[john]

Can you make a living? Yes, but breadth gives stability. The reason they write books etc I'd because it pays, and sometimes because they simply enjoy passing their knowledge on. You can still be a pro, you can still pursue a mainstream career, but now you can also pursue a more indie career and you can have a career that draws on more income streams than before, and songwriters already drew on a number...

The fact is that it is harder to make a living as a non-performing songwriter, but easier to make a living as a performing songwriter... But I think that is set to change.

For years now it has been tough being a songwriter. Piracy ripped the ass out the industry, in particular income from recorded music... But that is changing. Holland has just passed laws making piracy a criminal act, not a civil breach.... This is a sign of the times and potentially a game changer.

For years now governments have been avoiding making piracy a criminal offence as to do so would have meant damaging the industry of tomorrow that would have flattened all the old school money makers like music and movies and books... The internet. But the intranet is now established as a money making enterprise and giants like Google are not struggling. Meanwhile the old school money makers are struggling, if at least they could be making a lot more money than they are, and that means more tax!

More to the point governments round the world are desperate for tax income. By making piracy a criminal act they can begin to stop piracy in it's tracks. They are also saying to Google, get the pirate sites out your results or we will... Literally. This in turn will give PROs a backbone when negotiating with YouTube, Pandora and Spotify driving up income from those sources, and about time too...

Even without that change, the changing musical landscape is resulting in more accessible markets, and that is enabling songwriters to leverage far more income streams full stop...

So, while I agree that we should write for the passion of it, the love of it, I see nothing wrong with aiming to make a living from it... Just know that in doing so you old have to be very hard working, diligent, creative in your approach and very patient!

[Phuser59]

Hello All,

     Thank you all for your replies to my question.  I haven't been back on the site since I'm currently deeply engrossed in life's trials and tribulations.  I'm sure some songs will come out of it.  Hope to chat with you all soon.

[Janeva]

Hi

 

Welcome to Songstuff 

 

I've never earned a bean out of writing lyrics but I couldn't put a price on how it feels to receive an email with each new recording.

 

Enjoy the site 

 

Jan