I wrote my first song in the final week of U.S. Marine Corps Officer Candidate School 1966 in Quantico, Virginia. The song was The Hill Trail Blues. I sang it in public, accompanied with a full stage of soon to be 2nd Lieutenants at one of our "Un-Official" beer parties preceding graduation. It may have been the first and last time the song was ever played.
Songwriting is the part of Spirit Wind Productions that deals with the unknown and yet exciting creative world of songwriting. It is the pulling of the unknown from the vibrations of the Universe and turning the unknown discovery into lyrics and rhythm, which might have possible exponential value in the Business of Music.
My quote was written one day after I finished writing another song which I had no idea where it came from. It provides an answer to a question I've asked myself hundreds of times in the past, "Where did I find that one?"
Like most songwriters, I've given up trying to figure out "Why" and "How" some people are able to create songs and music out of nowhere.
My personal formula for song writing is pretty simple:
- I find a place where I won't be disturbed, preferably a place like Carmel, California, where I feel the energy and vibrations of the Universe surrounding me.
- Probably the most important part of the formula, is to simply pick up my guitar, pour a little scotch over a glass of ice, turning on one of my digital recorders, getting a rhythm going, and without having to wait too long, out comes a song which has been waiting to be written and sung.
Thank God for guitars and scotch! But for me personally, a song simply happens. I think it's been just sitting there, locked in my brain, waiting to be freed from its' confinement, and for whatever reason, one day, it explodes into being, like the magic of a child's birth.
When the creativity hits, it can get very exciting. Sometimes I’ve started one song only to discover that I have conjured up two songs with the same rhythm and chord progressions. I doubt that is unique.
I’ve always found Song Writing to be fairly easy, but writing a good song requires a little more tweaking sometimes, in order to insure the impact of a story I've chosen to tell, which I didn't even know was waiting patiently to be released.
When I ultimately submit my creative works for Copyright protection, When I copyright my songs I use Bill Sparkman Songwriting on the application form.
I will only copyright a song or script, after the requisites I've created from rules I've learned from successful songwriter friends:
- Does the song tell a story that people can identify with and believe?
- Does the song make someone want to sing along?
- Can people dance to the song?
- Does the song get an emotional response from the person hearing it?
- Do I really believe that the song has commercial value and is worthy or being recorded by an artist?
- Does the song pass the "Friends" test (brutally honest friends)?
- Is this a song I want my name attached to?
If my creative work does fulfill my established requisites, it is time for it to be "Officially" protected it by filling out and submitting Copyright forms to the United States Copyright Office, which will legally support the copyright. After the process is completed, an assigned number is "Officially" associated with the song or creative product.
When I copyright my songs I use Bill Sparkman Songwriting on the application form.
Because Spirit Wind Productions creates both musical products and educational audio products, I adhere to the continual filing of all "New" creative audio products, as they are created.
Once I copyright a song, it's time to get it published and exposed to artists who might find it feasible to exploit my songs profitability.
Next in line is the Publishing of the song, and once again, this imperative part of the music business has also changed significantly.
Once upon a time, every songwriter had to find a music publisher to find an artist to record the song and to collect money on their songwriter clients behalf.
Because Publishers need to have both access to, and ownership of the song, in order to fulfill their fiduciary responsibility to their songwriter client, songwriters would often relinquish ownership of 1/2 of the song and royalties generated, to publishers.
When I started Spirit Wind Productions, it was with the full intent to use it as a resource for "only" the creative products that I personally conjured up, internalizing the business operation for profit, instead of costs to operate.
Spirit Wind Publishing represents only one songwriter, Bill Sparkman, and that will remain in its structured business plan, forever.
I have become a member of ASCAP for my Performing Arts Representation, which includes copyrights and publishing of my creative work.
