I agree with Justin too. From my perspective, if someone wants to do one of my songs, I could really care less about the money aspect of it at this point. After 12 years of writing, I've made all of zero dollars. So if I was depending on that to eat, I'd really be in bad shape. My friend, Kevin, contacted me last night and said that he wants to pick up "Give Me A Moment" and cut it in a couple of weeks when he goes back in the studio to record. He asked me what percentage I expect. I told him I could care less about that. Just having my name attached to it is really the only thing that matters to me.
I also thought it was funny when he was talking about the scope of Texas in size. It's amazing that you can cross New England in less time than you can drive from Texarkana to El Paso. Interstate 20 is generally considered the dividing line between East and West Texas and in itself, those are two different worlds.When I was traveling, I personally thought from a people aspect that rural Tennessee reminded me more of home than anywhere else I went.
MAB, when I read a story about a person that is standing in the office of BMI or visiting the tourist traps in Nashville, I always get a mental image of myself. I remember when I was working in New York, a guy told me that the "pick pockets" and "scam artists" always can tell a tourist by the way they stand and stare upwards at the skyscrapers. Another time, when I was in Boston, we had to take our smoke breaks outside. There would always be several people standing out there. It was during the winter storm of 2000 and while we were standing outside, this guy ran up behind a suit with a briefcase. He snagged it and took off in a jog with the suit and another guy jogging after him while they talked with police on their cells. I made the remark that if I was going to steal something, I would be running a lot faster than the guy who had robbed the briefcase. The guy next to me remarked that he stole it so he could get arrested. That way he would have 3 hots and a cot instead of being out in the weather. Definitely not something one would ever see where I came from. And I think that is a perfect example of where I am in music. Everything is something that makes you go "hmmm?" I like the humorous way you approach things though. It makes for more interesting reading and tends to stick with me better than just lines and lines of initials I have to research to know what they mean.
Going back to what my friend Kevin asked me, Word for word, it was..."If it's not under contract I would love to release it. I could have it ready and mastered by the first week of March. Let me know what % you need." To which I told him whatever the norm is. And then he wrote "I was thinking 50/50. I could have them split up an iTunes account half of the proceeds would go to your account and half to mine? And then I will get them to send you a link so you can check out the summary. It would help you to learn to know about that stuff." Naturally, my reply was idiot proof or not, "Sure, whatever the norm is. Just let me know and I'll work with you anyway I can." Starting off where I am, is there anything I'm missing here that I need to know or ask from a CYA standpoint? Because to be honest, my whole thought process is "Ok, just record it and I'll be happy."
Also, thanks for the nice welcome folks. I appreciate it!
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