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April 5, 2007

American Idol songwriting competition ()

by fluffy at 7:42 PM
new contest — should I try entering? The $10 fee isn't a big deal to me but I'm not sure any of my current songs are suitable, and I'm not really feeling very musically-inspired right now, especially not them wanting something to be sung on the finale which sums up the emotional journey that the contestants went through. (So obviously "tw3rp" is unsuitable, though that's the poppiest song I have.)

I guess I could enter tw3rp and also write something new for it. There doesn't seem to be an entry limit or anything, and it's not like $10 is a huge deal for me.

Comments

#8885 04/05/2007 08:28 pm
Just be careful about submitting anything you plan on attaching your name to in the future. Their terms and conditions are pretty clear on that matter. Anything you submit becomes property of Fox Interactive Media. :\
#8886 04/05/2007 08:45 pm
Eh? The T&C for entries say that they only retain rights to use it in the context of the competition, and only assert further rights (which the entrant would have to specifically consent to) if it makes the top 20.

At least that's what it says on the registration page. Are there other T&Cs you saw? (There's a blanket T&C for the main americanidol.com site but that's for things like blog entries, recaps, forum posts, etc.)
#8900 04/07/2007 09:08 am
I have not read those terms(I never bothered to register), but the link I was referring to is in the upper corner of the page(http://songwriter.americanidol.com/legal/TermsAndConditions.aspx). More specifically under "Proprietary rights in content posted on the site":

You agree that any Content whatsoever posted by you to the public areas of the Site (excluding blogs) becomes the property of FIM and may be used, copied, sublicensed, adapted, transmitted, translated, distributed, publicly performed, displayed or deleted as FIM sees fit.


They don't make any distinction between public areas of the site and any kind of registered member area, so it could be argued that aside from any blogs, the contest is covered under any clauses that have to do with the public areas.

Of course, the T&C under the registration form appears to negate any of that. But you can never be too careful. The T&C I posted a link to is listed on the registration page, to the upper-right of the signup form.
#8901 04/07/2007 10:23 am
See, I think that's still the catch-all for the Idol site, not the specific one for the songwriter contest. Anyway the songwriter T&C say that the songs won't be posted on the site until they make the top 20.
#8902 curious too (unregistered) 04/07/2007 06:36 pm idol songwriting contest
Confused
It is not clear to me in reading their T&C that the artist's ownership is protected once it is submitted. I have e-mailed their lawyers and asked for clarification on copyright, ownership, etc. if it does not make it to the top 20. Also, if it does make it, they describe arranging the song to fit their needs, so to the other poster's point, you have to be willing for the song to be different from what you create-and live with it. It also isn't explicitly clear to me that in assigning them the right to do just about anything with the song it also means that you are foregoing any/all compensation. Best thing to do may be to submit your song for copyright prior to submiting it. But I don't know how Idol would handle this, and it would be separate from any publishing deal.

When in doubt, ask a music lawyer or perhaps even fire off an e-mail to ASCAP or BMI, who might be able to help.

All this being said, you gotta give to get, and unless you are confident you can do it on your own if your song is good enough, this could be your break!
#8903 04/07/2007 07:06 pm
The songwriter T&C specifically talks about royalty payments and exclusivity:

5. If the Song is selected by 19 Entertainment as one of the Top 20 Songs, you (and all Co-Writers) will be required to enter into a further agreement with 19 Entertainment (“the Publishing Agreement”) as a condition of you continuing in the Competition. The Publishing Agreement will grant to 19 Entertainment (or its publishing designee) the exclusive right to publish the Song (but not any other music or lyrics you may have written) for a period of ten (10) years in return for an advance to you of $10,000 against a royalty to you of 75% ‘at source’ worldwide.


So if it's selected in the top 20, they maintain exclusive rights for 10 years BUT they also give you a pretty darn big royalty for it. Not to mention all the publicity this would generate.

Obviously this does mean that anything you submit may no longer be your own if it makes it to the top 20, which is why you really should write a new song for it and not just submit an old song (like what all the people on Song Fight are doing because they apparently can't read, not that any old song would end up being selected anyway since they want something very specific which they spell out).

Writing a song on-spec could be fun, and it's different than what most Internet musicians want to do musically.