Official Song Codes

There are two main codes associated with songs/performance. The first is known as ISWC (International Standard Musical Works Code.). This identifies the song itself - the musical composition (lyrics and melody). The second is the ISRC (International Standard Rercording Code) which identifies a particular sound recording of the song. So, if you are lucky to have three acts record one of your songs, there would be only one ISWC but each recording would have its own ISRC.

Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL) is the official UK ISRC agency. It is possible to register with them and be given a registrant code. iThis allows you to generate your own ISRCs for your songs. This would be something like :

• • GB-ABC-25-00001 where GB stands for Great Britain, 25 is the year 2025, ABC woul be replaced by your registrant code and the 00001 woulds be for your first registration in 2025.

    If you have registered your song for copyright or royalty reasons, you should then update that record with the ISRC code.

When you then distribute a fecording of your song you use the ISWC to identyify it. Any recording of your song will be issued with a ISWC to identify the specific recording/performance. The organisation you are using to collect royalties (SoundCloud, TuneCore, etc) monitor radio, streaming services and performance venues to identify when your song is played. The ISRC identifies who gets paid perfomance royalties; the ISWC identifies who gets paid songwriter royalties.

Copyright

If you are serious about writing songs as a professional or semi-professional songwriter, you must ensure your work is subject to copyright - to stop others copying (stealing?) all or part of one of your songs.

Actually there are two forms of copyright.  There is copyright for the song itself and there is copyright for any particular recording of the song

As soon as you complete a song and it enters the public domain - as a set of printed lyrics or as a recording, it automatically become subject to copyright - and in theory at least you have protection

However there are other steps you can take to make the protection clearer.

One simple thing you can do is to load your song to one of the online services such as SoundCloud or Bandcamp.  When you load it, it is automatically timestamped, so you have access to some form of proof that you produced it at a particular time.  Equally simple is to e-mail the song to yourself and use the email timestamp as your evidence.

In the US you can register the song with the US Copyright office but in the UK there is no central government agency which provides the same service.

There is a variety of third party agencies that will take a copy of your song, log and timestamp it and even issue a certificate of registration which you can use as proof of your work..  (I use an agency called Copyright House). Of course you pay for this service - but the cost is reasonable snd it might make life easier if ever you are involved in a copyright dispute.

It is worth pointing out that if, like me, you make use of AI services to help craft your song, then the song performance cannot be copyrighted.   Like, me though, if you write the lyrics yourself, these are subject to copyright.

Again, if you are, or intend to become, an active professional songwriter.it is worth joining PRS (the Performing Rights Society as was but now they seem to prefer the title PRS for Music).  This will be covered in a little more detail in a future post about 'Royalties'.

In summary if you are based in the UK, you should

• Keep your raw files (sessions, lyrics documents, recordings).

• Use a timestamped upload (SoundCloud, Bandcamp, YouTube).

• Optionally use a registration/timestamp service if you want belt-and-braces proof.

If you are based in he US, register your outputs with the CopyrightOffice.

Note : The post offers some basic information and tips.  It does not constituter legal advice. Remember also that rules and regulations may change over time, so it is worth checking the up-to-date position.

Writing Lyrics Part 4

A useful device, used a lot in pop songs, is to have not only verses, chorus and perhaps a bridge but to also add a refrain - a short phrase, a single line or a couple of lines which is a set of lyrics which are repeated regularly - perhaps at the end of every verse, or every chorus. This creates a ‘hook’ - possibly the first thing that sticks in the listener’s mind (or ear) and they start singing along to the hook before they learn all the lyrics. It could, of course, be made part of the chorus - but used as a separate refrain, it can be added anywhere it might increase listener engagement

For an example, listen to my song ‘I Want To be At Home at Christmas’ in the Country Songs section. This uses the title phrase regularly to create such a hook.

Writing Lyrics Part 3

Each of us has a personal writing style. When it comes to writing songs, we tend to write the same kind of songs in the same kind of way. After writing a few songs, you may notice that :

1. they are getting ‘samey’.

2. you are finding it difficult to think of new song ideas.

I take you back to something I mentioned earlier - about the internal structure of a song … and its rhyming structure in particular. If you are writing verses where the second and fourth lines end in a rhyme, try to write a verse (not necessarily for the song you are currently working on) with a different structure.

One device I like (but try not to overdo) is what I call the ‘internal rhyme’. A simple example is:

Oh no! Let’s Go
Its time to see the show

where the ‘oh’ sound occurs 3 times in two lines - and links the lines together. This is quite useful in helping build a catchy chorus.

Another way of changing what you do is to force yourself to write a song in a different genre. If you normally write heavy rock songs, try to write a country ballad or a pop song for a boy band. You may have to listen to quite a few country ballads (which may be painful for you) but listen anyway, and identify internal structures and overall song structure until the genre and its particular format(s) start to make sense. Then try to write one of your own. Try not to copy but to apply what you have learnt to your own song idea.

It might take some time but you are investing in your future as a songwriter.

Writing Lyrics Part 2

I mentioned in part 1 that I sometimes write down simple phrases that I hear during the day - phrases that I think might form part of, or inspire, a lyric. Recently I have added the following phrases to my ‘Scraps’ note in my songwriting folder:

Refresh, Reboot, Replay

Never let me down

Party Afterglow

You’re the girl I never really knew at all

i’ve been riding since I was seven

Take me to the picture show

The wind howls through the apple trees.

When I looked at my list the other day, ‘Parrty Afterglow’ stood out as a great concept - and possible lyric. So, I did some work and turned it into the basis of a song called (not surprisingly) Party Afterglow. This is now a completed song. See Songs … Pop Songs.

Among my finished songs, there is one titled Livin’ on the Edge. This came about because I read sbout a young Australian adventurer who had been killed in an accident. His parents, when interviewed about his death, said he loved adventure and was quite prepared to take risks. He hsd a website which said “If you’re not living on the edge, you’re taking up too much room’ .I thought that was a great line, so wrote it down and used it for a song some months later.

Sometimes, the idea - and the song title that emerges from it - dictate the style of the song. For example, because of the title and the young man’s inspiration, to me Livin’ on the Edge had to be a rock song. See Songs …. Rock Songs.

Writing Lyrics (Part 1)

I assume you are reading this because you are an aspiring songwiter, so perhaps you already have some experience of lyric writing..

Anyway, here are some pointers.

The hardest part of any writing (a book, an article, a song or whatever) is the start. You need an idea.

Is your song going to be a love song? a song about an event? a song of celebration?

Have you heard a phrase somewhere that you thought, “That would work in a song!”

If none of these apply, you need to do some thinking and come up with a subject. If I am really stuck, I pick up a newspaper or magazine and glance at the headlines - and see if anything comes to mind. Sometimes a word in a headline just triggers a thought.

Another thing you need to think about is the sub-structure of your song. For example, will every line rhyme? Will alternate lines rhyme? Wlll no lines rhyme. Is the rhythm of the words and phrases important. Listen to songs and see how different strructures have been used. Probably the commonest is a four line verse or chorus where the ends of the second and fourth lines do rhyme. (This is known as the ‘rhyming scheme’.)

Remember, any chorus will be repeated, perhaps several times,.so take greater care over your chorus if you have one. The chorus is what should ‘hook’ your listeners. The rhyming scheme for your chorus might be different from that of the verses. In fact it is a good idea to make it different as it adds variety and interest to the song.

Write one verse and say it to yourself over a few times. Does it ‘scan’. (i.e. are the lines of the right length to fit your intended rhythm). When you come to write following verses, the rhythm should be the same as your original verse to maintain consistency. It helps the listener to follow the song and to learn the words. As with sub-structure, the chorus may have a different rhythm - and will therefore scan differently.

The song may also have other elements - a pre-chorus or a bridge for example.

A pre-chorus might have been part of the chorus but you might want to change the words slightly each time it is sung before the main chorus.

A bridge is a contrasting element - probably a different structure, rhyming scheme and scan - to add drama or variety, perhaps to give a ‘twist’ such as a change of emotion. It breaks the song up for the listener making it more interesting. Listen to lots of songs and identify the verses, choruses and any pre-chorus or bridge. One common ‘bridge’ is to have an instrumental/solo, again to break up the simple repetitive pattern of verse, chorus, verse, chorus, etc. So, when you write down the structure of your song, you may put ‘guitar solo’ instead of ‘bridge’.

Finish the lyrics and put the song away for a day or two. Then take a look at it and see if it works’. Could you improve how it rhymes, how the words scan, how it is structured, or anything else. If so, have another session and make those improvements.

You now have a song.

Are you proud of it? It may not be the best song in the world (it won’t be) but its yours. If you feel brave enough, show it to someone else and ask their opinion. Ask them to be honest. After all, you want to improve, don’t you.

Your second song should be better!

Using AI to Create a Song?

I did mention earlier that I have started using AI (Artificial Intelligence) software. I use SUNO Pro, though plenty of others are available,

In such a case, I write the lyrics (I want some of the song to be completely mine) and then the structure of the song (VERSE, CHORUS, VERSE, BRIDGE, SOLO, etc), and feed these into SUNO. I then ask SUNO to create the song using a ‘prompt’ which gives SUNO details of the kind of song i want - contemporary pop, hard rock, male or female voice, include specific instruments, etc.

Instead of inputting the lyrics, you can ask SUNO to produce lyrics - and then edit these.

When I tell SUNO to create the song, SUNO produces two versions for me to choose between. I can then ‘tweak’ my preferred version. by changing the parameters or by giving extra details.

When I am happy with the result, I ‘publish’ the song so SUNO knows I am finished.

I download the song (in both WAV and MP3 versions) and I can then do what i want with it.

What’s the Best Way to Write a Song?

Trick question?

There isn’t one best way. Different writers/composers (and different writing partnerships or teams) approach the task in different ways, dependent on their particular skills, the type of song they are writing - and their particular preference.

For example, I consider myself primarily a writer of words (books, magazine articles, blogs, poems and so on) and I, therefore, always start by wrtting the lyrics first. I then tend to write a chord sequence - by playing through various possibilities on my guitar. Quite often, a melody then suggests itself. I often then play my putative song to a ‘real singer’ and ask them to refine the melody from a singer’s point of view.

Voila! We have a song

(I normally take another look at it a few days later to see whether I am impressed or disappointed by my efforts.). If disappointed, I either modify it or I may discard it if I feel it ho real, intrinsic quality.