Songwriting Collaborations

There is a discussion going on over at FAWM.ORG about collaboration. What it really boils down to is knowing enough about your co-writer to be comfortable with them. Once you've collaborated with someone a time or two, these questions no longer need to be addressed, but in the early days, it can be rough going.

Here is what I posted on FAWM.ORG under my bio (that I'm moving here to clear up some room there). It may not be complete, but it is a start on my feelings on collaborations. You may not agree and that is fine. There are many different styles of collaboration from "do your half and throw it over the fence" to "back and forth and back and forth and back and forth". Your style is totally up to you :)

The notes on February and 28 February reflect how these apply to FAWM.ORG but these can be modified for any use. Here are my thoughts:

Collaborations - I think that collaborations are hard and take much more effort than just writing a song myself. I do believe that collaborations are ways to grow as a songwriter though. Taking someone's music or lyrics and completing it is an awesome thing if the experience is good for both parties. If not, it could turn someone off to collaborating totally.

The more you write with someone the more you understand them and you get into a click. It becomes easier and easier and a whole lot of fun. But the first time....yep, that can be scarey.

Here are some general thoughts on how I approach collaboration.

If we collaborate, we are equal partners in the song. We both retain the right to perform the song on CDs, at shows, post to myspace, etc without first asking permission. Acknowledgment that it is a co-write and, when it comes up, who the co-writer is is polite. The is really no money made here anyway. If the song is going to be sold/leased/whatever, we are partners 50/50. I register my songs with ASCAP, you should register with your group

If I wrote the lyrics or music and you are completing the song:
-I don't mind changes to the lyrics to make it fit your music or even because you think a word/phrase works better...or to turn it into a call/response...or whatever. For music, if you want to add strings to it, or fade it out, or whatever...feel free. You don't have to let me hear the song before you post it. I did my part, you do the rest and post it and lets move on to the next song. Don't be concerned if I'll like what you did with my music/lyrics. I probably will, and if not, that is not the issue. The issue is song creation

If you wrote the lyrics or music. I will make my best effort at doing something nice with it. As a rule, I will not redo music for lyrics. Otherwise, I'm writing 2 or 3 different sets of music and only getting credit for one. If you want, I will let you hear it before I post it (if I have your email). I will even defer from posting it if you hate it, but we will likely not collaborate again because obviously our styles don't match

There may be other things that you have questions about and I'll modify the above as we proceed but this should be a good starting point. For me, the focus is on song creation, not on perfection. I do enjoy the challenges of collaboration, but I've done enough that I know everyone doesn't approach it the same way. It is better to find that out upfront, than on Feb 28th with hours to go until midnight, and a song unacccounted for.

Thanks for reading
~Billy Sea