Q&A: Should I Copyright My Songs?

Here are three copyright questions I get asked all the time…

Q: Should all my songs be copyrighted?

Before you start pitching your song to publishers, film & TV music supervisors or music libraries, before you enter it in a contest, or otherwise spread it around the industry, I definitely recommend copyrighting your songs or lyrics. In the United States, you’ll do that  through the Library of Congress. Their online e-filing system makes it easy.

If you live outside the U.S. be sure to research the copyright laws in your country. That said, there are many countries that share copyright agreements with the U.S. that allow you to protect your song through the U.S. copyright office. Find out more about registering foreign works in the U.S.

You’ll also find a printable form, FAQ, and helpful instructions at the Copyright Office website. There’s a fee for each form you file – whether it’s online or via mail –  BUT you can register groups of lyrics or songs on a single form. Do that!

Can You Pitch a Home Recording?

Q: Do you think it’s okay to pitch a home recorded version of a song or should I have the song professionally recorded?

…The answer is: t will depend on how elaborate your demo needs to be. You can record a simple acoustic guitar and vocal or piano and vocal with a minimum of gear. A couple of microphones may be all you need for a Singer-Songwriter demo. If your song is good, your playing is confident and steady, and your vocal performance is emotionally authentic, you’re well on your way to having a song that might work for the Film & Television market or streaming for fans of acoustic music.

How to Rewrite Your Melody

Q:  I usually get stuck on the first melody that I think of but all my melodies are starting to sound the same. How can I rewrite my melody?

A: Most of use know how to rework a song lyric to make it stronger but melodies are often left out of the rewriting process. Try these tips to work on  your lead melody line:

1. Break up a series of similar lines into different lengths. Turn a long line into two shorter phrases or run two short phrases together by adding notes/words. 

Linking Verse and Chorus

Q: Arash asks… I have written a good chorus but the verse I wrote for it sounds like it doesn’t belong to that chorus musically.. What can I do?

A: There could be a few things causing this…

1. In today’s successful songs, the chords in both the verse and chorus are usually very similar. Check to see if your chords have changed too much, if you’ve moved too far outside the key, if you’re changing chords too frequently in your verse.