Lyric sheet question

[nomiyah]

Do song screeners (Taxi or other) prefer to have the full lyrics completely written out? Or do they prefer to have it shorter and simpler by abbreviating repeating choruses?Do they like to have the name of the parts (verse 1, chorus, verse 2, etc) included or just define the parts the way they hear it?Do they like notes like genre, target artist or synapsis of the story?Should I include background vocal lyrics (if different) and should I put them in italics or parentheses?Probably different screeners have different preferences but I thought there might be some standards. Any thoughts?Nomi

[matto]

Quote:Do song screeners (Taxi or other) prefer to have the full lyrics completely written out? Or do they prefer to have it shorter and simpler by abbreviating repeating choruses?Do they like to have the name of the parts (verse 1, chorus, verse 2, etc) included or just define the parts the way they hear it?Do they like notes like genre, target artist or synapsis of the story?Should I include background vocal lyrics (if different) and should I put them in italics or parentheses?Probably different screeners have different preferences but I thought there might be some standards. Any thoughts?NomiI can only tell you what I do...nobody's ever complained...-Unless the lyrics of the chorus change, I just put "Repeat Chorus" the second and any consecutive times the chorus appears.-I always identify the various sections, and always separate them by double spacing and sometimes a different indent, so the structure of the song is immediately apparent. Of course it should also be immediately apparent on a first listen. If your "chorus" doesn't sound like a chorus, writing "chorus" in front of it isn't gonna get the song forwarded... -I never put any extraneous info on the lyric sheet, other than writers' names and a contact phone number and email.If I pitch music directly to a music library or publisher, any genre information would go in the cover letter.-I only put bg vox lyrics (in parentheses) if they are really prominent and add a new element that's not present in the lead vox lyric.None of this is really gonna make the difference between forward and return in Taxi's case...and for other professional screening situations, I think people will be quite happy as long as it's a typed lyric with the individual sections at least separated from one another, the name of the writer(s) and a contact phone/email. Always put the contact info, as your lyric sheet and CD may get separated.matto

[Casey H]

Hi Nomi with the nice legs Speaking about non-TAXI submissions to publishers and other music industry folks:Early on I used to submit lyrics with all my submissions. I found it to be a double-edged sword. Some publishers will quickly read the lyrics and if they don't like something, won't even listen. I believe, unless they truly are horrible, that you can't review lyrics outside the context of music (JMHO). So I stopped sending lyrics unless they were indicated as a submission requirement. However (the other side of the sword) if you send lyrics you may have made the publisher's life easier and if there is something special in them, you may get an edge.Yes, if you send lyrics, you should clearly indicate the sections and I see no reason not to use "Repeat Chorus", especially if you have made it clear what the chorus is. As Matto said, if a listener can't determine the chorus within about a minute into the song, it will get rejected no matter what.PS I did some work as a publisher/placement agent myself and always asked for lyrics. I often didn't read them. I wanted them so if someone was interested in the song, I didn't have to go chase the writer down. (i.e. Made my life easier)Good luck! Casey

[nomiyah]

Casey,I can see what you mean. If I was on that side of the industry, I think I'd listen first and if I liked the song I'd read the lyrics afterwards.Nomi(Ps, thanks for the compliment )

[matto]

Quote:What about labels on the CD's? Should one just write the information directly onto the CD or is it preferable to have stick-on labels?Printed stick-on CD labels. No handwriting directly on the CD or label, looks sloppy and unprofessional.

[nomiyah]

Hooks, really helpful solid info. When you say to label the sections, what is usually done to format the label? Parentheses, underline, bold, italics?If you have a minute, look at "Set Me Free" and see if I got it right. http://nomiyah.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=18#18. It has back vocals with different lyrics than the lead.If you want to listen, it's on the audio player on my home page www.nomiyah.com.I always add contact info too, but important reminder.

[hookstownbrown]

Whoah! You got groove, girl! Very cool tunes! I really liked 'Time It Takes' and 'Set Me Free'. Impressive work!I thought the way you did your lyric sheet was just fine.I have a system, so to speak, for lyric sheets. I'm a hopelessly detail-oriented person and as they say, 'success lies in the details' so... I use an 11 point font for the body of the lyric and an 8 point font for the section labels, the copyright notice and the contact info, which I italicize.I use 11 point Ariel because I can usually fit the entire lyric on one page and it is still at a readable size. I always try to fit the lyric to one page.If that sounds a little obsessive, worry not! The voices in my head continually tell me that I'm not quite insane yet!

[hookstownbrown]

(Chorus) is cool. I don't think it would matter. Either way, they'd get the idea... Hopefully...

[matto]

Quote:I use 11 point Ariel because I can usually fit the entire lyric on one page and it is still at a readable size. I always try to fit the lyric to one page.Actually a great piece of advice. People seem to really dislike two page lyric sheets, in my experience. In fact, I usually write out chorusses, but if that means the lyric stretches over two pages (or the font size gets too small), I'll use "repeat chorus" instead. Anything to keep it to one page .

[hookstownbrown]

Quote:Quote:You can also combine lines in verses and choruses to save space. There will always be a lyric that forces you to prioritize what's important when it goes onto paper."Set Me Free" was a challenge to squeeze onto a single page. Originally I had the back vocals written out as sung:(I say to myself, say to myselfThat I'll stay to myself, stay to myselfI say to myself, say to myselfThat I'll stay to myself, stay to myselfI'm saving myself, saving myself for true love)I went from 5 lines on each verse to 1 with the abbreviated version:(I say to myself, that I'll stay to myself, I'm saving myself for true love)And that's a good example of making it work. I had no problem following the lyric at all and it felt like it fit with the music the way you had it written.