The most common mistake songwriters make is not understanding the mechanics of the business of music.  This information may be repetitive to some of you but I cannot over stress the importance of these basics. If you haven’t done the following please start the processes as soon as possible. This is the lifeblood of a creative artist.

First, make sure your work is properly copyrighted. You own the copyright on a work as soon as you create it. It is still important to protect yourself legally. There are two distinct entities here. Copyrighting the song and copyrighting the sound recording. In general you use form PA to register a copyright on the song and form SR to register a copyright on the sound recording. If you are a solo artist it is possible to use a single form SR for both purposes. Listed below are links to the forms and instructions.

A couple of notes, in general the short form PA can be used. Also, you do not have to pay the $45.00 fee for each song. As long as the songwriters are all the same for each work, register it as a collection for a single fee.

http://www.copyright.gov/forms/formpai.pdf - Form PA.pdf

http://www.copyright.gov/forms/formpas.pdf Short Form PA.pdf

http://www.copyright.gov/register/performing.html – How to information for form PA

http://www.copyright.gov/forms/formsr.pdf - Form SR.pdf

http://www.copyright.gov/register/sound.html – How to information for form SR

You can right click and "save as" on these links to download the forms.

They are the official US Government Registration forms and instructions.

Second, register yourself as a writer with a performance rights organization. Gravelsauce is affiliated with ASCAP but you do not necessarily have to be. Below are the instructions on how to join ASCAP, BMI or SESAC. Registration is free. Why is this important? Because this is where songwriters will make the majority of their money over the course of a career. These organizations collect money for every use of your song. This includes radio play, television and movie usage and even live performances.

http://www.ascap.com/about/howjoin.html – How to join ASCAP

http://www.bmi.com/join/ - How to join BMI

http://www.sesac.com/writerpublisher/howtoaffiliate.html – How To Join SESAC