ABSTRACT
Artists who are also songwriters, or who can become songwriters, add a valuable
income stream to support their careers. When a songwriter writes a song that is
recorded, the writer is entitled to earnings in the form of royalties when a song
is performed live, on the Internet, on radio and television, in a dance club, and each
time it is sold as one of the songs included on a recording. The songwriter also
earns royalties from the printing and publishing of sheet music, karaoke tracks,
ringtones, and from licensing the song for use in advertising, and in video game,
movie, and television soundtracks. Clearly, there is considerable potential income
for the artist who also develops into a good songwriter. And finally, songwriting
can ensure that artists will have material they can perform that was written for
themselves as part of their total creative expression without necessarily relying
on other writers.
