Songwriting - Which Of These have You Done?

[john]

Hi

 

Just doing a little research…

 

Which of these have you done? Please check all options that apply!

 

Cheers

 

John

[Mahesh]

Great poll @john 

Done!

[MisterB]

Voting doesn't seem to be open for me.  It just shows results - as if I'd already voted. 

[john]

59 minutes ago, MisterB said:

Voting doesn't seem to be open for me.  It just shows results - as if I'd already voted. 

 

Try now. I don’t know why it had been closed, but it had! Sorry about that.

[MisterB]

I checked yes on most things, but a couple of notes - 

 

The first question - the nature of the way I write means that if a song is complete, it will have been recorded. I used to perform live with a band, and wrote for them. If a song was complete, it would be performed… some would be recorded.  I do have incomplete songs that have never been recorded or performed. That seems obvious, but I mean, I have (lots of) abandoned songs, which I think is part of the rationale for the question.

 

I haven’t written a song that has earned me more than a $1000, but I’ve been close, and if I had received all the royalties I should have got, plus a portion of album sales that I was entitled to, I would have earned more than $1000 from one of my songs. Its sad that radio stations don't always pay for what they play.  For the total amount of money involved, legal action is not worth pursuing.

 

Not sure what counts as self-publishing...

[john]

34 minutes ago, MisterB said:

I checked yes on most things, but a couple of notes - 

 

The first question - the nature of the way I write means that if a song is complete, it will have been recorded. I used to perform live with a band, and wrote for them. If a song was complete, it would be performed… some would be recorded.  I do have incomplete songs that have never been recorded or performed. That seems obvious, but I mean, I have (lots of) abandoned songs, which I think is part of the rationale for the question.

 

I haven’t written a song that has earned me more than a $1000, but I’ve been close, and if I had received all the royalties I should have got, plus a portion of album sales that I was entitled to, I would have earned more than $1000 from one of my songs. Its sad that radio stations don't always pay for what they play.  For the total amount of money involved, legal action is not worth pursuing.

 

Not sure what counts as self-publishing...

 

Well it’s meant to cover “you up until today”, so all your experience counts.

 

I actually answered one question incorrectly. I was considering it and intended to circle back, but I was interrupted and by the time I got back I hit submit and… doh! Not to worry.

 

Self-publishing is all publishing activity done by you yourself, whether as your own company or less officially. That is everything from registering yourself and other writers/performers with PROs, registering songs with PROs, registering copyright, pitching songs to artists/managers, signing contracts, handling split sheets, pitching songs to production companies, preparing and selling sheet music etc.

[McnaughtonPark]

The money was never what I wanted thank goodness.  For me, and I’m grateful for this, the reward was in hearing my lyric in song form.  Knowing someone liked it, and that it inspired them to play and sing was the ultimate accomplishment.

 

 I’m definitely not one of those people who says they don’t care if nobody likes their work.  I care a great deal, I find it fulfilling when it’s appreciated and I am appreciative in return for their interest and efforts.  It’s just not tied to the business side, don’t know if I could deal with that.  Not sure it’s in my nature to stretch and grow in that direction.
 

 

[john]

7 hours ago, McnaughtonPark said:

The money was never what I wanted thank goodness.  For me, and I’m grateful for this, the reward was in hearing my lyric in song form.  Knowing someone liked it, and that it inspired them to play and sing was the ultimate accomplishment.

 

 I’m definitely not one of those people who says they don’t care if nobody likes their work.  I care a great deal, I find it fulfilling when it’s appreciated and I am appreciative in return for their interest and efforts.  It’s just not tied to the business side, don’t know if I could deal with that.  Not sure it’s in my nature to stretch and grow in that direction.
 

 

 

Songwriters, artists and producers come in all shades under the sun. Every single one of us starts somewhere different and we all have unique goals. We each might share our path with others for a while, before we go our own way, or we may walk in parallel with others. For some we are happy going for a relatively short walk before relaxing on a porch with a guitar, while others want to play on the biggest of stages. As far as I am concerned Songstuff is here for them all.

 

Taking your reply and thinking of @VoiceEx’s blog posts makes me reply in a way that goes beyond your reply, but it is related…

 

If you don’t want to grow in one direction, nothing says you have to. No matter what directions any of us go, we all make decisions that see us navigating and choosing OUR path. That is it. Nothing more complicated.

 

The way I see Songstuff is that it should make people aware of their options and where possible, do what it can to help get you there…. that could be via education and training, a service, pointing you at where you need to go, or it could be that Songstuff is your figurative destination as one of the campfires you choose to play your songs around or where you meet others to collaborate with.

 

Some things we will provide for free, some things take a lot to put together and demand a level of resources. Those we will need to charge for. I think that’s only fair.

 

That reminds me, I still need to answer VX! I better do that asap. It’s been busy days for the last 10 days or so.

[VoiceEx]

7 hours ago, john said:

That reminds me, I still need to answer VX! I better do that asap. It’s been busy days for the last 10 days or so.

 

For the record, while its true that my post was indeed inspired by real topics and real questions, it is still a work of fiction. Which is why it was featured in my Blog and not somewhere else. I have added in baseline speculations and humor only for entertainment purposes and as a means to encourage a engagement.

 

However, this does not mean that anyone actually 'has' to address any of these topics. I'd prefer it of course because that would be more interesting. But it is not an obligation by any means.

 

Plus. In case you were wondering. If I had any questions of my own, wouldn't it be easier to simply.. ask you? That would be my first choice. Not to mention, I could have also done a servery or a poll around my topics of interest. There's plenty of options.

[GregB]

Perhaps I'm too pedantic/literal ...

 

>>> Written songs/music that have earned you more than $xxx

Ambiguous ... one title or all titles?

 

>>> "performed" vs "recorded"

Confusing ... one can perform without being recorded.  But when recording, a person is performing (singing/playing)

 

"Recorded"?  Any recording.  Or 'recorded' for release?

[GregB]

The percentages mean what?   As I'm writing this, 7 people have responded.  So ...

• 0 persons ticking a box = 0%
• 1 person =  14.3%
• 2 persons = 28.6
•  
•  
• 7 people = 100%

[john]

1 hour ago, GregB said:

The percentages mean what?   As I'm writing this, 7 people have responded.  So ...

• 0 persons ticking a box = 0%
• 1 person =  14.3%
• 2 persons = 28.6
•  
•  
• 7 people = 100%

 

What’s your point caller? Lol

 

With low response any poll is less representative of a statistically significant result. If 1 more person replies the percentage impact (and therefor margin of error) changes by a bigger amount when there are less respondents. Approximately around 10 respondent, 1 respondent will make a +-5% difference in any result. At 100 respondents it is a +- 0.5%, at 1000 respondents it is +- 0.05%.

 

All polls start at 1 person makes 100% of a representation of the vote. then 2 is 50%. When the next person votes, 1 person will represent 12.5% of the vote. The solution? Get more people to respond  We are trying

[GregB]

38 minutes ago, john said:

What’s your point caller? Lol

Most of the scores were below 5% ... which with a max of 7 respondents made no sense ... 1 respondent ticking the box would be 14.3%.

Doesn't really matter. I just like to understand what I'm seeing/reading.

[john]

53 minutes ago, GregB said:

Most of the scores were below 5% ... which with a max of 7 respondents made no sense ... 1 respondent ticking the box would be 14.3%.

Doesn't really matter. I just like to understand what I'm seeing/reading.

 

Ah… sorry, yes that is weird. My guess (and it makes no sense logicallly) would be that if you added up all the cast votes in all categories, that is what is represented. Exactly why… I have no idea. It didn’t used to be that. You might have discovered a post upgrade bug (the forum software was upgraded last week). I’ll be sure to highlight that. Thanks!

[john]

Looking at the software I think I know what is going on:

 

If I ask: What is your fav colour?:

 

I like red

I like yellow

I like blue

I like brown

 

3 people voting where 1 vote per voter might be:

1 ——— 33%

1 ——— 33%

1 ——— 33%

0 ——— 0%

 

Votes relative to number of voters.

 

3 people voting where tick all that apply

 

3——— 100%——-37.5%

1 ——— 33%———12.5%

2 ——— 66%———25%

2 ——— 66%———25%

 

In that context 100% is of limited usefulness.

 

The 3rd column shows percentage relative to expressed preferences.

 

Depending on what you are polling and if you allow single or multiple votes, percentage relative to voters or preference makes more sense. Sadly they don’t give you the option on creating the poll.

[john]

I’ve raised the point. I was correct. 

 

The difference seems to be whether it is a poll or a survey. To be honest a simple switch can let the post creator decide, so I’ve left that as feedback.

[Kaushini Peiris]

Great work 👏 

[Odi]

Hmmmm... Goals, Options, Resources...

I always figured, if I actually had something worth marketing or pitching, somebody would let me know. And, most importantly, it wouldn't cost me anything lol.

 

I guess I'm just cursed to a life of mediocrity 🙃

 

[Reid Gibson]

One thing that was missing from this poll was:  Has your music ever been played on the radio?     That would be a good one.

[KiwiTone]

On 11/16/2024 at 5:13 AM, john said:

 

I swapped a song to a mate of mine that was the guitarist for a top Aussie band in the 80s that was recorded & regularly performed. He liked my song, I coveted his Blackface Vibroverb. Does that count ? lol