Offer To Artists & Publishers?

When you are setting up your Song Composition Title (SCT) in your Songwriter Account, one of the questions asked in the form is if you'd like to "Offer to Artists and Publishers?"

You should check Yes unless you just signed a contract for the song and you need to take it off the market or you are preparing to release your own album. You might think "No, I don't want anyone else to record my song. I am the singer of this song". Well, there is good news and bad news. Good news: Thanks to "First Use" Mechanical License, defined under the U.S. Copyright Law, the songwriter and their music publisher have approval rights over the first recorded and released version of a newly written composition. As long as the song composition has not been released to the public then you retain control and no one can record and release your song.  

Bad news: Once "First Use" has been established and your work has been made available to the public, anyone can request a license to record, release and distribute their own version of your song. They request this license through the appropriate licensing agency. They are not required to get your permission or contact you in any way. You will be paid royalties as the law allows through your PRO or royalty collection agency you contract with.

If you are a singer / songwriter and you have distributed the song on a CD or placed your song recording on any public website where it can be heard, then that is "First Use" and now anyone can record your song.

If you're preparing a new album for release then mark this No. But as soon as you release the album, change it back to yes. This allows others - like movie and TV companies - to find your song and you certainly want that! And hey, lots of famous recording artists have made more money when another artist did a remake of their song than from the original made they released. A good example is Whitney Houston doing a remake of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You".

As a songwriter, publishing your song composition on Rhythmic Rebellion does not constitute First Use. It is not offered to the public. When you create an Artist Account and create a Song Recording Title (SRT) and release it, this is available to the public and does constitute as first use.

We provide this information for educational purposes only and you should get an attorney for all legal advice.