(405) THEN THERE'S THE BUSINESS OF SONG WRITING

ASCAP (THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF COMPOSERS, AUTHORS AND PUBLISHERS)
BROADCAST MUSIC (BMI)
NASHVILLE SONGWRITERS FOUNDATION
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MUSIC EDUCATION : MUSIC COPYRIGHT
PERFORMING ARTS SOCIETY for MUSIC (UK)
RECORDING INDUSTRY OF AMERICA
SOCAN CANADA SONGWRITERS REGISTRY

These are links to the left side of the blog on the links panel.

Let's say you've written a song tonight! Is it time to register it with ASCAP, BMI, or another organization, say in the United Kingdom or Canada?

That depends. Copyright law is that an Intellectual Property is copyrighted the moment it is written. Maybe you wrote the song alone, maybe there was a group of musicians and singers working together, maybe you have a verbal agreement with your friends, maybe you don't, about who gets credited.

Let's stick with the easy situation, you and only you have written the lyrics and the melody. No one else can take credit for the song. No one else has even heard the song!

Do you plan to sing it and perform it yourself, for a YouTube video to promote it , expose the song potentially to the Entire World, or at least show your friends at the next party you go to? Do you plan to sing it and perform it yourself at the next Open Mic, or at a club in Hollywood where you like to go?

Let's stick with the easy situation.
If you're on YouTube or at a party or a club I'd announce to the world that I am the singer-songwriter of the song.

You still really don't have to belong to any society to tabulate any money you might make on the song, as the performer, as the singer-songwriter, or as a publisher of the song, though there is always the chance you might be blown away to hear your song or a part of it on the radio, some other singer or band cashing in. Blown away that someone you trusted is profiting off you. IT HAPPENS!

You can, though the Copyright Office of the United States will tell you this is no official way to prove copyright, send your Intellectual Properties to yourself in the mail. They call that the POOR MAN'S COPYRIGHT because it costs a lot less than the Copyright Office.

If you do the POOR MAN's COPYRIGHT, you can send one or a hundred, printed, on a CD or stick full of songs to yourself, just make sure that there is a OFFICIAL POST MARK from the post office on the envelope and then YOU DO NOT OPEN IT! (When it gets to court to hand the envelope to the judge and let him be the one who opens it.)

The point I want to make here, is that if you're serious about making money as a song-writer, there is a lot of business after writing that song!

If you're just starting out (and that doesn't mean that the first song you wrote isn't a hit) you may wait a while to sign up with an ASCAP or a BMI, but if your friend's band starts playing your song at the Whisky, I'd get that going ASAP! If your friend's band gets signed and the song appears on their first album, there is no way you're not going to!

SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR Quotation on Friendship

"One's life has value so long as one attributes value to the life of others, by means of love, friendship, indignation and compassion." - Simone de Beauvoir

FROM OUR ARCHIVES : (11) CHRISTINE WHITE, JAMES DEAN, & ME

FROM OUR ARCHIVES from October 27, 2008

(11) CHRISTINE WHITE, JAMES DEAN, & ME

Uncanny as it is, before I was "discovered" to be The Next James Dean, I took my first trip to Hollywood, and it was my fate to meet one of Jimmy's best friends! Dad and I were on a respite from home building. I loved to read all the fan magazines and I wanted to see the streets that all the stars - including James Dean - walked on.

So I headed to Los Angeles, California for the first time. I was coming out of a department store when I saw a beautiful young blond woman on the street. I recognized her from one of the movie magazines I'd read, an article called "The Girl He Left Behind." He meaning James Dean. The blond was CHRISTINE WHITE, a great actress in her own right. She and James Dean had auditioned together for the famous and prestigious Actors Studio in New York and both got in. James Dean might have been the youngest actor to be accepted there. Like James Dean, Christine White was active in television, live theater, and movies.


I introduced myself and Christine and I spent a few hours talking in a restaurant over tea. I asked her to tell me everything she knew about Jimmy. Christine and I would pick up our friendship years later when I moved to Los Angeles and I am blessed with her friendship to this day. Christine White is a devout Christian. I can tell you that she's played the part of angel in my life! Christine White is a regular speaker at the James Dean Conventions and has made many appearances in biographical films about James Dean.

CHRISTINE WHITE on IMDb World's Largest Movie Database linked above!

SHINDIG - THE ROCK AND ROLL TELEVISION SHOW

THE FOURTH ANNIVERSARY OF WES BRYAN - MY LIFE IN MUSIC BLOG : THANKS GOOGLE!

Christine here: Wes called me the other day, the anniversary of Elvis Presley's death. We reminisced. Elvis was one of the big inspirations for us to start this blog. In fact we dedicated it to him. When I first met Wes Bryan, it was in a local library where he liked to meet with some of his friends. I knew Wes and his friends liked to talk old Hollywood. One day I realized that when he said anything about Elvis there was almost a reverent hush. Wes had a lot of fun with Elvis.

Blogging was an endeavor that was new to us. We have learned so much in the process! We couldn't do it without Google Blogger, which remains at no charge to us. Google recently bought YouTube, another site with thousands of contributor posted music videos that have become a resource for music historians all over the world. When we link to a site or a video we like to think we are sending our readers to more information and experience.

One of the thrills for Wes is that this blog has attracted not only new friends like Arne in Sweden, but so many old friends have found this way to reconnect. We say hello to all of you and thank you again for your contributions to the success of Wes Bryan - My Life in Music.