What if???

[unsygnedhype]

I had a recording to a rap instrumental with all my own lyrics?Would this qualify for a listening?

[davewalton]

Oct 12, 2008, 10:31pm, unsygnedhype wrote:I had a recording to a rap instrumental with all my own lyrics?Would this qualify for a listening?For just about anything (inside or outside of Taxi) where you would submit music, there's going to be two different things. One is "original" material, which means that everything (music, lyrics, etc) is your own creation. The other is "cover" material which means that you do your own creation of an existing song (they have lots of these on commercials lately). But it has to be your own recording.What you can't do (without permission) is use another persons recording as your own or to use it as a background to something you do. Same with lyrics. For the most part, "original" music is what people are looking for... the vast majority of the listings are for original music. A few are for "cover" songs. If it doesn't specifically say "cover" music or whatever, the music needs to be original. If you do a cover song, the recording (all of the music) has to be your yours.HTH,Dave

[mazz]

If you don't produce your own music or tracks, I suggest you look in to collaborating with a co-writer. Many here have done that successfully. In these cases it usually follows that the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts.There are sample libraries out there that sell "construction kits" for all kinds of music. These are a viable alternative but be sure to read the fine print carefully. Many of them don't allow the usage of their kits in library music, which is a big market for a lot of us here, so that eliminates using those types of libraries.What you are talking about doing sounds like sampling to me and unless those samples are cleared, you can't use them for commercial purposes outside of your own home, basically.Tread carefully.Mazz

[hummingbird]

I think it's a good exercise to take the melody from a hit song and write new lyrics for it, following the same meter & rhyme scheme as that song. Do that every day for a week, and you have 7 new lyrics. Then your task is to take your own lyrics and write your own melodies for them.You certainly cannot submit any song that uses a karaoke track (unless you are auditioning as a session singer). Any karaoke track (or bedtrack of another writer's song), is considered to be a "Master" and unless you have the rights to use it (being the owner), you are infringing on someone else's copyright. You need to create your own melody & your own beats/bedtrack (or, as Mazz suggests, collaborate with someone who can).Even if you are submitting a 'cover' - meaning you are singing an existing song someone else wrote - you can't use the bedtrack/karoke track they created. The point of doing a cover is to create your own original recording of that cover song - your own 'Master'.Here's some recommended reading:"The Craft & The Business of Songwriting" by John Braheny - this will help you understand copyrights and other business aspects, what a demo is, etc., as well as give some pointers on writing lyrics & melody."6 Steps to Songwriting Success" by Jason Blume - an excellent book on the topic of writing your own original songs, including music.cheersHummin'bird

[unsygnedhype]

thank you all for your helpthis is very useful information