On Tuesday, August 14, 2001 at 7:16:21 PM UTC-5, David Robinson wrote:

I got a big kick out of reading the thread regarding ParamountSong, the notorious SONGSHARKING operation, and how it works. The person who
posted the original question had come across them on the web,
apparently, and wanted to know if they should get involved or not. Smart question.

But then a couple of people, well-stocked in Scare Tactic theory, piped
in with their two-cents on a company they know absolutely nothing about
and proceeded to accuse them of everything short of downright
broad-daylight armed robbery. They don't know anything from first hand experience, because they've never been involved with the company. What
they know is what they've read about 'Song Sharks' in general (no
specific company at all). It's very easy to read horror stories from songwriting books and then regurgitate them as fact from memory. But I digress....

I'm going to tell you how ParamountSong really works. I don't want to
spam the list, so for the purposes of this discussion, I really don't
care if you use their services or not. I just think it's only fair that
if people who don't know anything about it can flame the company, a
person who works for the company on a day to day basis should be able to
tell you how it actually does work. Please don't submit material to me personally through this newsgroup; if you're interested, look up the
website and learn more first hand before you do anything.

Paramount caters to people who live outside the Nashville area and do
not have access to the facilities that a city like Nashville, Los
Angeles or New York would have access to. We don't work with local
writers other than our own writing/demo staff.

First, you send your tape or lyric into Paramount. I open up your letter
or package and read your material. I open virtually all of them; that's
my main job. This also goes for material submitted via e-mail. I am the person who decides if we can work with your material or not. I send out
quite a few rejection letters; some because the work is simply not
enough material to start with. We tell those people to keep writing, and submit more when they have a little more experience.

Some we reject because the material sent in has already been demo'd
elsewhere and it's a good demo. What would be the point for us in
working with it? Our job is to work with writers and develop their
material to a point where it can be pitched; not to pitch material that
has already been developed. We're mainly looking for un-demo'd work;
fair enough to say "that's how we make money."

Other reasons for rejecting material:
We don't work with convicted felons, or anyone incarcerated in a
prison of any kind. Those people may write well, but we cannot seem to
be 'taking advantage' of someone like that, someone who has little
control over their resources to begin with. I wonder the validity of any contract a prison inmate might sign.
I usually send a nice letter to teenagers, anyone under 21, or
anyone who I think is unable to sign a legal contract as an adult, for obvious reasons. I like to encourage young writers, but when money is changing hands things get a little tricky. You can't be seen as 'taking advantage' of children, either.
I trash anything that has objectionable language in it, or any lyric
that I wouldn't personally want to demo myself. You may consider that
art, and I might even agree with you sometimes, but I won't ask my
colleagues to work on something we'd be embarrassed to put on public
display. My Grandmother (if she were alive today) would never be able
to download an MP3 file of a demo made at Paramount that contained the F word. Or was racially biased, gender biased, or homophobic. At least,
not since I've been there.
We also don't work with persons other than the writer; if your
Mother sends in one of your songs and asks me what I think, I will tell
her it's an interesting idea but YOU need to submit it yourself.
Experience has shown that when well-meaning spouses/friends/relatives
submit material, it often just enrages the writer (and legal owner of
the work). Co-writers are the only exception. You or your co-writer(s)
can submit material on each others' behalf.

If the song meets certain criteria (mostly having to do with form,
structure, etc.), we will offer you a 'Songwriter Contract' on it.

Not to toot my own horn too loudly, but I couldn't think of a better
person suited for this job. I have a Bachelors' Degree in Music, with
dual concentrates in Songwriting and Production/Engineering from Berklee College of Music ('96). I've been writing songs since before most of you
were born. When I started recording, a home studio set up consisted of a
1/4 inch mono reel to reel tape deck and a lapel-type clip on microphone...electronic reverbs hadn't been invented yet.

The contract basically stipulates the cost of the demo, the type of demo (guitar/vocal, full band, back-up singers). We do not have a set-price
list of how much we charge for demos; the simple reason is that we
don't know how much it's going to cost until we see your lyric and have
a chance to figure out what your song needs.

People who submit words and music get one version of the contract, those
who write lyrics-only get another. This is not a publishing contract; we
DO NOT take 50 percent of your royalties outright. There is a
ten-percent management fee that applies IF AND WHEN a song gets cut.

A writer who submits words and music still owns 90 percent of the
property. Anyone who has actually been in the music business will tell
you they're doing pretty good; if you ever hope to do anything with your songs, you can expect to give up at least 50 percent of it to someone.
But I really don't feel as though this needs a defense; it's a simple business proposition, and is stated clearly as such in the contract.

For a lyrics-only writer, we match the lyric up with a
music-writer/composer. That isn't done haphazardly; it's not a matter of "I'll take the first ten, you take the next ten." The Creative Director actually sits at his desk all day going over the lyrics and assigning
them to the various writers. He's been in the business 17 years, he
hired all the writers (including me), so he is in the best position to determine which composer can do the best job. I have to agree with his choices since I hear all the finished demos, even though I wish he would
just assign the first ten to me sometimes--I need the money.

There is no charge for matching your lyric up to a composer. There is no charge for the composer setting your lyrics to music. The money you pay
for the demo covers the cost of recording the demo, and nothing else.
The composer retains his or her rights to the music. So far the split
is: 10 percent management (if the song gets cut), 25 percent for the
composer (who owns the music half), 25 percent for the composers'
publishing, and 40 percent for the original writer. Check that against
any other deal in the world.

At this point, the original writer and Paramount are even. Paramount
insists that writers actively pitch their own material; it's a smart strategy--that keeps you as a writer in the loop. In addition to the
demo, you get a list of publishers and a newsletter with tips, etc. We
offer copies at cost (what they cost us) plus a little for postage. So:
No, this is not a service where you can simply sit at home and expect
someone else to 'publish' your work and send you royalty checks.

Do we pitch your songs? Here's the trick: if we like it and really
believe in it, we will. If you believe in the material yourself and
pitch your own song to the publishing company, there is a good chance we
will anyway. Included in that list of publishers, of course, is the name
and address of 'the publishing company' associated with Paramount, which itself is a 'Songwriter Management' company.

Who do we pitch to? I pitched one to Lee Ann Womack about a month ago. I
just happened to have access for that pitch, and we felt the song was
right. I don't normally pitch songs; Norm Daniels, the Creative
Director, does. He has his contacts, I have mine. If your song is right
for James Ingram, Hank III, Sammy Kershaw or that new Shelton guy ("PS,
If This Is Austin...."), and they are looking, I might. We don't
guarantee we're going to pitch any particular song, because we can't guarantee the pitch opportunities are going to be available when your
song is; we have to have your song in hand when the opportunity opens
up. But we certainly don't sign publishing contracts on songs we have no intention of pitching; we don't have to. I also have little postcards
that read 'Thanks, but no thanks' which I can send out at any time.
Those are even cheaper to send out than rejection letters.

Are our pitches successful? We have a filing cabinet full of
testimonials. We have a lot of independent artists sending in requests
for material, I get about 2 or 3 a week. One of the songs we demo'd was recently placed in a film soundtrack; I can't remember all the details,
but I do remember it was being handled by a 'name' publisher, a
publisher with a very successful catalog (she inherited it from her
father, but it's a viable catalog nonetheless).

The people who write music and cut demos for us are all working
Nashville musicians and writers with their own studios. I have two
studios, a home studio and a full-production studio (I don't own it, I'm
on the staff). My full production studio has cut records with John
Hiatt, Lee Ann Womack, James Ingram, Hank III, Kenny Rogers, Clint Black...you want me to go on?

A lot of the people who flamed Paramount in the original thread will
tell you that companies like this prey on the gullible amateur writer,
the writers who wouldn't stand a chance with 'REAL' 'LEGITIMATE'
publishing companies. Grandmas and hopeless wanna-be's. They are about
half right, but we don't prey on anybody. Most of our writer-clients are amateurs that major publishers won't talk to, much less 'develop' or
work with in any way. The kind of people that Best Built in Nashville
won't even accept a phone call from much less return a phone call to.

How well do they write? I've been on this NG and involved with other web based songwriting groups for a couple of years now. The material I see
coming into Paramount is comparable to anything I've seen on here;
certainly comparable to anything I've seen Danny Taddei post (sorry,
Danny). And I've seen a lot of good work on here, too; Dolores and Irene
are some of my favorite writer-friends, as well as the others. The
point--for me, anyway--isn't how good they are when they submit their
work, it's how good the work sounds when the demo leaves the office.

So if you want to call this a song-sharking operation, that's your
privilege, you have a right to speak your peace no matter how
ill-informed you are, no matter how irrational and false your
assumptions and perceptions can be. Of course, the same people who call
us a Song Shark operation won't offer to do anything for you at all;
they don't have anything to offer (try them sometime and see for
yourself). We offer the earnest, eager writers with no other contacts
and resources a way to have professional demos cut. Work with us and
we'll set you up with a professional looking package that you can shop around. You can go to another demo house and pay about the same money
for just the demo (and a copy of the demo at that). I have been in the
music business as a songwriter, singer-songwriter, musician, producer
and engineer (along with quite a few less glamorous jobs) for going on
30 years, and have yet to see any business quite like this. If it was
truly dishonest I wouldn't have anything to do with it; ask around on
this NG, people will tell you I'd rather starve (and have). As it is, I
am trying to Figgie out how to establish my own version of it.

just to set the record straight,

that's how ParamountSong.com works.

David

They did me right with a great demo!

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Hi David my name's KEVIN my writing name is kB devotion,
I've been writing lyrics since school and yes I'm an amateur but I have been contacted by coca cola for my lyrics they were very interested and sent them to mcamm and Ericson in London and it got all the way to Brian Rodgers desk there creative director,
and if I'd had music to it then my life might have been a lot different I've wrote songs about love marriage (my wife walked down the isle to one )..
Even wrote a song for Lamborghini lyrics anyway they wrote back and said if this ever gets any further then they would allow me to use Lamborghini in the song ...I've written a Christmas song too and many more I'm 47 so it's not for trying believe me but
at 40 years old I put them away in the loft ...
But I always had a feeling that someday my songs would get somewhere I even sang a song on a 4 track at home and jive bunny Andy pickles thought I was def leopard singing haha ...
John Parr loved my lyrics and helped me to fine tune and rethink how I write ...
I'm not saying I'm gonna be famous someday to be honest I never wanted that but I've only ever sung in a studio 3 times a home studio of a guy and I told him how the song I think Linda should go and he put the music using guitar and computer...
I'm not one for giving in God knows I've had one hard ride in life I don't have loads of money and lot of dreams have faded away but I do write lyrics naturally they just flow whether there good or bad professionally who knows ...
I know that to get music to my songs will cost and I would have to see how much I'm the only worker in my house as wife has epilepsy and my 4year old is a handful bless him ..
I even wrote him a lullaby when he had his heart operation when he was born... The truth I still not down lyrics I never stop thinking and singing to my self haha my biggest fan haha I did contact paramount with an email but never heard anything back anyway THANKYOU David for reading my waffle ...
I'm from a little town called Doncaster
In England ...
Yours gratefully KEVIN ....

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

I have has a few demos cut with
This company and have has no results
And have a very difficult time
Getting in touch just to update my
Address and contact information.
I actually believed the while pitch
For a long time and still hold out hope. I have been writing since I was
A kid and I do it very well I just
Can not afford the extra stuff
Involved. My personal experience with
This company is pretty long. I submitted my lyrics, received contracts, paid the amount required to have my songs cut. After finally receiving my cds and a list of publishing companies I then called to thank them for their help and was told my music
would be pitched very soon. Then I received another letter in the mail telling my my song could be added to the "Catch A Rising Star" cd all I had to do was pay the few and my song would be on the album and sent to a library where it would have better
chances of being picked up by an artist. So I paid the price which I really could not afford and for a letter and another cd in the mail. That was in 2003 and I have kept vigilant contact with them I have moved only a couple times and have always updated
my info with them and still a while lot of nothing. And the publishing companies that are on their list I'm not even sure are real because I have sent my music to all of them more than once and always get letters back apologizing to me because they do
not accept unsolicited material. These are the companies that Paramount tells songwriters are best to solicit music to. Anyone know how I can finally get somewhere my music without all the added layers of false info and promises? I do have experience
with This company and am beginning to believe the scam and sharking posts are pretty accurate. And if anyone knows how I can actually get my music really heard I would truly appreciate it. Thanks.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

i did something really stupid over 30 years ago and i have a felony on my record and i read that u don't work with convicted felonys would that include me?

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

For one they do not communicate with any clients. Two if you will notice ( unlike I did) the contract requires you to pay demo fees before contract is effective!Never sign anything they send you because it is a scam to take your song and your royalties.
They give nothing but lies and fake hopes. I used them and am now in court fighting to expose their scam and how they cancel and breach your contract before the year term. They never even give you a reason why they cancel the contract and the Record deal
with Star Tune Records is a scam as well.That company has no contact information noted by Amazon or iTunes! Norm Daniels signs both contracts and he breaches both contracts.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Wednesday, August 15, 2001 at 5:16:21 AM UTC+5, David Robinson wrote:

I got a big kick out of reading the thread regarding ParamountSong, the notorious SONGSHARKING operation, and how it works. The person who
posted the original question had come across them on the web,
apparently, and wanted to know if they should get involved or not. Smart question.

But then a couple of people, well-stocked in Scare Tactic theory, piped
in with their two-cents on a company they know absolutely nothing about
and proceeded to accuse them of everything short of downright
broad-daylight armed robbery. They don't know anything from first hand experience, because they've never been involved with the company. What
they know is what they've read about 'Song Sharks' in general (no
specific company at all). It's very easy to read horror stories from songwriting books and then regurgitate them as fact from memory. But I digress....

I'm going to tell you how ParamountSong really works. I don't want to
spam the list, so for the purposes of this discussion, I really don't
care if you use their services or not. I just think it's only fair that
if people who don't know anything about it can flame the company, a
person who works for the company on a day to day basis should be able to
tell you how it actually does work. Please don't submit material to me personally through this newsgroup; if you're interested, look up the
website and learn more first hand before you do anything.

Paramount caters to people who live outside the Nashville area and do
not have access to the facilities that a city like Nashville, Los
Angeles or New York would have access to. We don't work with local
writers other than our own writing/demo staff.

First, you send your tape or lyric into Paramount. I open up your letter
or package and read your material. I open virtually all of them; that's
my main job. This also goes for material submitted via e-mail. I am the person who decides if we can work with your material or not. I send out
quite a few rejection letters; some because the work is simply not
enough material to start with. We tell those people to keep writing, and submit more when they have a little more experience.

Some we reject because the material sent in has already been demo'd
elsewhere and it's a good demo. What would be the point for us in
working with it? Our job is to work with writers and develop their
material to a point where it can be pitched; not to pitch material that
has already been developed. We're mainly looking for un-demo'd work;
fair enough to say "that's how we make money."

Other reasons for rejecting material:
We don't work with convicted felons, or anyone incarcerated in a
prison of any kind. Those people may write well, but we cannot seem to
be 'taking advantage' of someone like that, someone who has little
control over their resources to begin with. I wonder the validity of any contract a prison inmate might sign.
I usually send a nice letter to teenagers, anyone under 21, or
anyone who I think is unable to sign a legal contract as an adult, for obvious reasons. I like to encourage young writers, but when money is changing hands things get a little tricky. You can't be seen as 'taking advantage' of children, either.
I trash anything that has objectionable language in it, or any lyric
that I wouldn't personally want to demo myself. You may consider that
art, and I might even agree with you sometimes, but I won't ask my
colleagues to work on something we'd be embarrassed to put on public
display. My Grandmother (if she were alive today) would never be able
to download an MP3 file of a demo made at Paramount that contained the F word. Or was racially biased, gender biased, or homophobic. At least,
not since I've been there.
We also don't work with persons other than the writer; if your
Mother sends in one of your songs and asks me what I think, I will tell
her it's an interesting idea but YOU need to submit it yourself.
Experience has shown that when well-meaning spouses/friends/relatives
submit material, it often just enrages the writer (and legal owner of
the work). Co-writers are the only exception. You or your co-writer(s)
can submit material on each others' behalf.

If the song meets certain criteria (mostly having to do with form,
structure, etc.), we will offer you a 'Songwriter Contract' on it.

Not to toot my own horn too loudly, but I couldn't think of a better
person suited for this job. I have a Bachelors' Degree in Music, with
dual concentrates in Songwriting and Production/Engineering from Berklee College of Music ('96). I've been writing songs since before most of you
were born. When I started recording, a home studio set up consisted of a
1/4 inch mono reel to reel tape deck and a lapel-type clip on microphone...electronic reverbs hadn't been invented yet.

The contract basically stipulates the cost of the demo, the type of demo (guitar/vocal, full band, back-up singers). We do not have a set-price
list of how much we charge for demos; the simple reason is that we
don't know how much it's going to cost until we see your lyric and have
a chance to figure out what your song needs.

People who submit words and music get one version of the contract, those
who write lyrics-only get another. This is not a publishing contract; we
DO NOT take 50 percent of your royalties outright. There is a
ten-percent management fee that applies IF AND WHEN a song gets cut.

A writer who submits words and music still owns 90 percent of the
property. Anyone who has actually been in the music business will tell
you they're doing pretty good; if you ever hope to do anything with your songs, you can expect to give up at least 50 percent of it to someone.
But I really don't feel as though this needs a defense; it's a simple business proposition, and is stated clearly as such in the contract.

For a lyrics-only writer, we match the lyric up with a
music-writer/composer. That isn't done haphazardly; it's not a matter of "I'll take the first ten, you take the next ten." The Creative Director actually sits at his desk all day going over the lyrics and assigning
them to the various writers. He's been in the business 17 years, he
hired all the writers (including me), so he is in the best position to determine which composer can do the best job. I have to agree with his choices since I hear all the finished demos, even though I wish he would
just assign the first ten to me sometimes--I need the money.

There is no charge for matching your lyric up to a composer. There is no charge for the composer setting your lyrics to music. The money you pay
for the demo covers the cost of recording the demo, and nothing else.
The composer retains his or her rights to the music. So far the split
is: 10 percent management (if the song gets cut), 25 percent for the
composer (who owns the music half), 25 percent for the composers'
publishing, and 40 percent for the original writer. Check that against
any other deal in the world.

At this point, the original writer and Paramount are even. Paramount
insists that writers actively pitch their own material; it's a smart strategy--that keeps you as a writer in the loop. In addition to the
demo, you get a list of publishers and a newsletter with tips, etc. We
offer copies at cost (what they cost us) plus a little for postage. So:
No, this is not a service where you can simply sit at home and expect
someone else to 'publish' your work and send you royalty checks.

Do we pitch your songs? Here's the trick: if we like it and really
believe in it, we will. If you believe in the material yourself and
pitch your own song to the publishing company, there is a good chance we
will anyway. Included in that list of publishers, of course, is the name
and address of 'the publishing company' associated with Paramount, which itself is a 'Songwriter Management' company.

Who do we pitch to? I pitched one to Lee Ann Womack about a month ago. I
just happened to have access for that pitch, and we felt the song was
right. I don't normally pitch songs; Norm Daniels, the Creative
Director, does. He has his contacts, I have mine. If your song is right
for James Ingram, Hank III, Sammy Kershaw or that new Shelton guy ("PS,
If This Is Austin...."), and they are looking, I might. We don't
guarantee we're going to pitch any particular song, because we can't guarantee the pitch opportunities are going to be available when your
song is; we have to have your song in hand when the opportunity opens
up. But we certainly don't sign publishing contracts on songs we have no intention of pitching; we don't have to. I also have little postcards
that read 'Thanks, but no thanks' which I can send out at any time.
Those are even cheaper to send out than rejection letters.

Are our pitches successful? We have a filing cabinet full of
testimonials. We have a lot of independent artists sending in requests
for material, I get about 2 or 3 a week. One of the songs we demo'd was recently placed in a film soundtrack; I can't remember all the details,
but I do remember it was being handled by a 'name' publisher, a
publisher with a very successful catalog (she inherited it from her
father, but it's a viable catalog nonetheless).

The people who write music and cut demos for us are all working
Nashville musicians and writers with their own studios. I have two
studios, a home studio and a full-production studio (I don't own it, I'm
on the staff). My full production studio has cut records with John
Hiatt, Lee Ann Womack, James Ingram, Hank III, Kenny Rogers, Clint Black...you want me to go on?

A lot of the people who flamed Paramount in the original thread will
tell you that companies like this prey on the gullible amateur writer,
the writers who wouldn't stand a chance with 'REAL' 'LEGITIMATE'
publishing companies. Grandmas and hopeless wanna-be's. They are about
half right, but we don't prey on anybody. Most of our writer-clients are amateurs that major publishers won't talk to, much less 'develop' or
work with in any way. The kind of people that Best Built in Nashville
won't even accept a phone call from much less return a phone call to.

How well do they write? I've been on this NG and involved with other web based songwriting groups for a couple of years now. The material I see
coming into Paramount is comparable to anything I've seen on here;
certainly comparable to anything I've seen Danny Taddei post (sorry,
Danny). And I've seen a lot of good work on here, too; Dolores and Irene
are some of my favorite writer-friends, as well as the others. The
point--for me, anyway--isn't how good they are when they submit their
work, it's how good the work sounds when the demo leaves the office.

So if you want to call this a song-sharking operation, that's your
privilege, you have a right to speak your peace no matter how
ill-informed you are, no matter how irrational and false your
assumptions and perceptions can be. Of course, the same people who call
us a Song Shark operation won't offer to do anything for you at all;
they don't have anything to offer (try them sometime and see for
yourself). We offer the earnest, eager writers with no other contacts
and resources a way to have professional demos cut. Work with us and
we'll set you up with a professional looking package that you can shop around. You can go to another demo house and pay about the same money
for just the demo (and a copy of the demo at that). I have been in the
music business as a songwriter, singer-songwriter, musician, producer
and engineer (along with quite a few less glamorous jobs) for going on
30 years, and have yet to see any business quite like this. If it was
truly dishonest I wouldn't have anything to do with it; ask around on
this NG, people will tell you I'd rather starve (and have). As it is, I
am trying to Figgie out how to establish my own version of it.

just to set the record straight,

that's how ParamountSong.com works.

David

Hello! David I want to sell out my self written song. The everything is perfect and song's quality is very high but I'm affraid of cheating. Kindly guide me that what should I do.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

My name is David Wayne Johnson, I just won Paramount Songs Spring Lyric contest, they did everything they said was going to do.
I'm sending more today, I'm very pleased with them.
Please if you don't really know or you just heard from someone don't pass it along with out facts.
Thank you.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

I would love it if someone could tell me how to reach a human being at ParamountSong? I paid for a demo on 3/21 and can´t get a response. Phone # posted is disconnected.
This is the 4th demo and first time not hearing back from them. I read a blog by someone with a similar experience in the past month. Wondering if something´s going on with them internally.
Thanks
John Heavern

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

those who say that they want to help you promote you song on cd compilation but it may be a trick cause its all about money not music every one likes to prey on small artist

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

We love paramount dying to live for you I did demo can u get someone to record it it's Muriel krischelle Donaldson demo is with paramount songs 8432633065/470-399_3694contact us myrightowrite2250@gmail.com battling cancer now need some help ope on this
demo thanks

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Contact me I have lots of lyrics 4703993694/8432633065

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Very well explained. Im 58 and have an afflutus gift for writing and have been enjoying the challenges with lyrical structure and the perfect verbatim to convey artistical sentiment. But as far as getting my work noticed, well the process was a vague
shot in the dark but your informative post has shed much needed light onto my endeavors. Thank you for taking the time to post vital information.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Tuesday, August 14, 2001 at 7:16:21 PM UTC-5, David Robinson wrote:

I got a big kick out of reading the thread regarding ParamountSong, the notorious SONGSHARKING operation, and how it works. The person who
posted the original question had come across them on the web,
apparently, and wanted to know if they should get involved or not. Smart question.

But then a couple of people, well-stocked in Scare Tactic theory, piped
in with their two-cents on a company they know absolutely nothing about
and proceeded to accuse them of everything short of downright
broad-daylight armed robbery. They don't know anything from first hand experience, because they've never been involved with the company. What
they know is what they've read about 'Song Sharks' in general (no
specific company at all). It's very easy to read horror stories from songwriting books and then regurgitate them as fact from memory. But I digress....

I'm going to tell you how ParamountSong really works. I don't want to
spam the list, so for the purposes of this discussion, I really don't
care if you use their services or not. I just think it's only fair that
if people who don't know anything about it can flame the company, a
person who works for the company on a day to day basis should be able to
tell you how it actually does work. Please don't submit material to me personally through this newsgroup; if you're interested, look up the
website and learn more first hand before you do anything.

Paramount caters to people who live outside the Nashville area and do
not have access to the facilities that a city like Nashville, Los
Angeles or New York would have access to. We don't work with local
writers other than our own writing/demo staff.

First, you send your tape or lyric into Paramount. I open up your letter
or package and read your material. I open virtually all of them; that's
my main job. This also goes for material submitted via e-mail. I am the person who decides if we can work with your material or not. I send out
quite a few rejection letters; some because the work is simply not
enough material to start with. We tell those people to keep writing, and submit more when they have a little more experience.

Some we reject because the material sent in has already been demo'd
elsewhere and it's a good demo. What would be the point for us in
working with it? Our job is to work with writers and develop their
material to a point where it can be pitched; not to pitch material that
has already been developed. We're mainly looking for un-demo'd work;
fair enough to say "that's how we make money."

Other reasons for rejecting material:
We don't work with convicted felons, or anyone incarcerated in a
prison of any kind. Those people may write well, but we cannot seem to
be 'taking advantage' of someone like that, someone who has little
control over their resources to begin with. I wonder the validity of any contract a prison inmate might sign.
I usually send a nice letter to teenagers, anyone under 21, or
anyone who I think is unable to sign a legal contract as an adult, for obvious reasons. I like to encourage young writers, but when money is changing hands things get a little tricky. You can't be seen as 'taking advantage' of children, either.
I trash anything that has objectionable language in it, or any lyric
that I wouldn't personally want to demo myself. You may consider that
art, and I might even agree with you sometimes, but I won't ask my
colleagues to work on something we'd be embarrassed to put on public
display. My Grandmother (if she were alive today) would never be able
to download an MP3 file of a demo made at Paramount that contained the F word. Or was racially biased, gender biased, or homophobic. At least,
not since I've been there.
We also don't work with persons other than the writer; if your
Mother sends in one of your songs and asks me what I think, I will tell
her it's an interesting idea but YOU need to submit it yourself.
Experience has shown that when well-meaning spouses/friends/relatives
submit material, it often just enrages the writer (and legal owner of
the work). Co-writers are the only exception. You or your co-writer(s)
can submit material on each others' behalf.

If the song meets certain criteria (mostly having to do with form,
structure, etc.), we will offer you a 'Songwriter Contract' on it.

Not to toot my own horn too loudly, but I couldn't think of a better
person suited for this job. I have a Bachelors' Degree in Music, with
dual concentrates in Songwriting and Production/Engineering from Berklee College of Music ('96). I've been writing songs since before most of you
were born. When I started recording, a home studio set up consisted of a
1/4 inch mono reel to reel tape deck and a lapel-type clip on microphone...electronic reverbs hadn't been invented yet.

The contract basically stipulates the cost of the demo, the type of demo (guitar/vocal, full band, back-up singers). We do not have a set-price
list of how much we charge for demos; the simple reason is that we
don't know how much it's going to cost until we see your lyric and have
a chance to figure out what your song needs.

People who submit words and music get one version of the contract, those
who write lyrics-only get another. This is not a publishing contract; we
DO NOT take 50 percent of your royalties outright. There is a
ten-percent management fee that applies IF AND WHEN a song gets cut.

A writer who submits words and music still owns 90 percent of the
property. Anyone who has actually been in the music business will tell
you they're doing pretty good; if you ever hope to do anything with your songs, you can expect to give up at least 50 percent of it to someone.
But I really don't feel as though this needs a defense; it's a simple business proposition, and is stated clearly as such in the contract.

For a lyrics-only writer, we match the lyric up with a
music-writer/composer. That isn't done haphazardly; it's not a matter of "I'll take the first ten, you take the next ten." The Creative Director actually sits at his desk all day going over the lyrics and assigning
them to the various writers. He's been in the business 17 years, he
hired all the writers (including me), so he is in the best position to determine which composer can do the best job. I have to agree with his choices since I hear all the finished demos, even though I wish he would
just assign the first ten to me sometimes--I need the money.

There is no charge for matching your lyric up to a composer. There is no charge for the composer setting your lyrics to music. The money you pay
for the demo covers the cost of recording the demo, and nothing else.
The composer retains his or her rights to the music. So far the split
is: 10 percent management (if the song gets cut), 25 percent for the
composer (who owns the music half), 25 percent for the composers'
publishing, and 40 percent for the original writer. Check that against
any other deal in the world.

At this point, the original writer and Paramount are even. Paramount
insists that writers actively pitch their own material; it's a smart strategy--that keeps you as a writer in the loop. In addition to the
demo, you get a list of publishers and a newsletter with tips, etc. We
offer copies at cost (what they cost us) plus a little for postage. So:
No, this is not a service where you can simply sit at home and expect
someone else to 'publish' your work and send you royalty checks.

Do we pitch your songs? Here's the trick: if we like it and really
believe in it, we will. If you believe in the material yourself and
pitch your own song to the publishing company, there is a good chance we
will anyway. Included in that list of publishers, of course, is the name
and address of 'the publishing company' associated with Paramount, which itself is a 'Songwriter Management' company.

Who do we pitch to? I pitched one to Lee Ann Womack about a month ago. I
just happened to have access for that pitch, and we felt the song was
right. I don't normally pitch songs; Norm Daniels, the Creative
Director, does. He has his contacts, I have mine. If your song is right
for James Ingram, Hank III, Sammy Kershaw or that new Shelton guy ("PS,
If This Is Austin...."), and they are looking, I might. We don't
guarantee we're going to pitch any particular song, because we can't guarantee the pitch opportunities are going to be available when your
song is; we have to have your song in hand when the opportunity opens
up. But we certainly don't sign publishing contracts on songs we have no intention of pitching; we don't have to. I also have little postcards
that read 'Thanks, but no thanks' which I can send out at any time.
Those are even cheaper to send out than rejection letters.

Are our pitches successful? We have a filing cabinet full of
testimonials. We have a lot of independent artists sending in requests
for material, I get about 2 or 3 a week. One of the songs we demo'd was recently placed in a film soundtrack; I can't remember all the details,
but I do remember it was being handled by a 'name' publisher, a
publisher with a very successful catalog (she inherited it from her
father, but it's a viable catalog nonetheless).

The people who write music and cut demos for us are all working
Nashville musicians and writers with their own studios. I have two
studios, a home studio and a full-production studio (I don't own it, I'm
on the staff). My full production studio has cut records with John
Hiatt, Lee Ann Womack, James Ingram, Hank III, Kenny Rogers, Clint Black...you want me to go on?

A lot of the people who flamed Paramount in the original thread will
tell you that companies like this prey on the gullible amateur writer,
the writers who wouldn't stand a chance with 'REAL' 'LEGITIMATE'
publishing companies. Grandmas and hopeless wanna-be's. They are about
half right, but we don't prey on anybody. Most of our writer-clients are amateurs that major publishers won't talk to, much less 'develop' or
work with in any way. The kind of people that Best Built in Nashville
won't even accept a phone call from much less return a phone call to.

How well do they write? I've been on this NG and involved with other web based songwriting groups for a couple of years now. The material I see
coming into Paramount is comparable to anything I've seen on here;
certainly comparable to anything I've seen Danny Taddei post (sorry,
Danny). And I've seen a lot of good work on here, too; Dolores and Irene
are some of my favorite writer-friends, as well as the others. The
point--for me, anyway--isn't how good they are when they submit their
work, it's how good the work sounds when the demo leaves the office.

So if you want to call this a song-sharking operation, that's your
privilege, you have a right to speak your peace no matter how
ill-informed you are, no matter how irrational and false your
assumptions and perceptions can be. Of course, the same people who call
us a Song Shark operation won't offer to do anything for you at all;
they don't have anything to offer (try them sometime and see for
yourself). We offer the earnest, eager writers with no other contacts
and resources a way to have professional demos cut. Work with us and
we'll set you up with a professional looking package that you can shop around. You can go to another demo house and pay about the same money
for just the demo (and a copy of the demo at that). I have been in the
music business as a songwriter, singer-songwriter, musician, producer
and engineer (along with quite a few less glamorous jobs) for going on
30 years, and have yet to see any business quite like this. If it was
truly dishonest I wouldn't have anything to do with it; ask around on
this NG, people will tell you I'd rather starve (and have). As it is, I
am trying to Figgie out how to establish my own version of it.

just to set the record straight,

that's how ParamountSong.com works.

David

the robbed me of all my royaltys by releasing my song as there own ofter i paid them to put my lyrics to song

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They robbed me of thousands of dollars by releasing my song as there own after i paid them to put my lyrics to song and collecting all my royalties

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