I recently attended an integrity seminar and it focused on how many people are lacking when it comes to it. People lack integrity in their careers, relationships, financial weath, health, etc., and because of this, these areas are not working for them. Without getting too deep into the seminar, I will tell that I met at least five participants that were either musicians or composer/songwriters and they were all saying the same thing. Basically, they don’t write and they don’t practice. They have become secret musicians and no one knows that they are even involved in music.

One person I talked to admitted that he was a songwriter only after I mentioned that I was one. He told me that he didn’t feel the right to say he was a songwriter because he never writes. Yet, I could see just how much pain he was in because he realized that he doesn’t write and he really wants to. Whatever the reason that he doesn’t write is not as important as beginning to turn around the thought in his head that he is not a songwriter. I told him to say it. He needed to admit to others that he was a songwriter. There’s no need to get into the excuses as to why he doesn’t write. The more he says he is a songwriter, the more his mind will believe it and he will began writing on a regular bases.

It’s the self-talk that influences the actions that we take. This person I met in the seminar got himself into a rut, and he let his passion for songwriting go into the background. The problem is that it doesn’t work for him to let this happen. He is not happy and he is not functioning properly. Speaking things into existence has been talked about in many books including a lot of religious text. This idea is nothing new. Words are very powerful.

So if you are a secret musician and you want this to change, the first thing you must do is speak it into existence. Tell people what you do. Tell as many people as you can. If they ask if you have anything for them to listen to, tell them that you will have something very soon and put a deadline so they can hold you accountable.

 By Tiffany Brooks

I used to wonder if PROs were like unions for songwriters and composers.  In some ways yes, but they don’t force membership in order to get work like some unions do.  Joining these organizations is completely voluntary.  In some cases, music buyers may do a direct licensing deal with the composer to cut out the PROs.  In fact, ASCAP has admitted that they’ve lost millions because of this. 

The idea of having these organizations in existence is good, however, nothing is ever perfect and they’ve had their fair share of complaints by the very people that they represent.

The complaints vary from pitting songwriters against media composers to abusive board members who don’t seem to believe in term limits as explained in this article over at Film Music Magazine.  Some have accused them of caring more about songwriters and not as much about composers who write for media.

On the other hand, there have been some bright spots as well.  According to an article over at Wired Magazine, BMI “distributed a record amount of royalties to its member songwriters, composers, and publishing companies for fiscal year 2006-2007.  Royalties of $732 million  constituted an 8 percent increase over the previous year.”  This is a result of the successful licensing of music across a diverse range of media, and revenue growth in foreign markets.

They have streamlined their royalty collection process for media composers by using an online sheet cue service called RapidCue.  Film Music magazine explains,”RapidCue is a secured website that allows users to enter, manage and electronically submit music cue sheet data for television, cable and film productions to BMI and ASCAP.”  ASCAP and BMI in conjunction with the participation of the film, television production and television network communities agreed upon this service.

Overall, I think PROs are still valid and they do have the songwriters, composers and publishers best interests at heart.  They have a lot of work to do in terms of  improving the operations of their organizations, but I believe that they will straighten out their issues.  If they don’t, they won’t hear the last of it from their members.