Brian To/WENN.com

From Essence

Usher has reached another career milestone.

The “Climax” singer will be honored with the ASCAP Golden Note Award at the 26th Annual Rhythm & Soul Music Awards. The honor only goes to artist, musicians and composers who have greatly contributed to the industry through their gifts. Previous honorees include Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones, Pharrell Williams and Alicia Keys.

“I take the art of songwriting and music—making very seriously, so to be given the ASCAP Golden Note Award from an organization of my fellow music creators is a huge honor,” said Usher in a statement.

You can read the rest about Usher’s big honor over on Essence.com.

Wow, that is quite an elite group, isn’t it? Some may have “issues” with Usher’s current style of music but no one can deny that he’s definitely made a mark on the years. I mean, 8701 or Confessions anyone?

Congrats to him!

It’s no secret that many singers are songwriters, which explains why the ASCAP awards is one of the most star-studded events in Hollywood. Madame Noire got the chance to attend the festivities this year and had the chance to chat it up with some of our favorite female artists including Elle Varner, Melody Thornton and Marsha Ambrosius.

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Source: Media Outrage

From now on Nas will have to make music just for the fun of it because he won’t see a dime of his album sales until his debt is paid to the IRS. The rapper’s delinquent tax filings have caused the government to begin garnishing his wages until his tax debt—to the tune of $6 million—is paid off.

Uncle Sam filed court documents in the state of Georgia to have music publishing organizations BMI and ASCAP send royalties earned on any of Nas’ albums directly to the government rather than the rapper’s bank account. Considering people don’t buy music the way they used to, it’s going to be a long time before Nas sees another paycheck—from his albums anyway.

SMH. What is up with celebrities thinking they don’t have to pay taxes like the rest of us?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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Meet Makeba Riddick, a hit songwriter and vocal producer to the top acts in music. Riddick has worked with Beyonce, Rihanna, Mariah Carey, and Mary J. Blige to name a few. The “Déjà vu” writer dishes on her humble Baltimore beginnings, the hustle and the moxy that have taken her to the top of the Billboard charts. Find out why she believes people have a God-given right to be great and why good things come to those who work hard.

Meet Makeba Riddick, a hit songwriter and vocal producer to the top acts in music. Riddick has worked with Beyonce, Rihanna, Mariah Carey, and Mary J. Blige to name a few. The “Déjà vu” writer dishes on her humble Baltimore beginnings, the hustle and the moxy that have taken her to the top of the Billboard charts. Find out why she believes people have a God-given right to be great and why good things come to those who work hard.

Check out this cool 24Wired interview! You’ll be inspired for sure. Good things come to those who work hard!

by Sheryl Nance-Nash

Sean "The Pen" Garrett has penned number 1 hits for the likes of Beyonce and Usher

So you think you can write a song?  Maybe you stand out among the competition, but if you want to make a living this way you’ll need more than the right melody, lyrics and rhythm to keep you afloat.  Your business savvy better equal  your talent. But before you start working the system you must understand a few things about how the system works.

How do royalties work?

Royalties are classed according to the media by which a piece of music is experienced.  Mechanical royalties are paid for physical sales, i.e., CDs, digital downloads, vinyl records and tapes.  Performance royalties accrue as a song is played via the radio, piped in music service or live performance at a music venue.  Synchronization royalties or “sync fees” are earned when a piece of music is “synchronized” with a piece of film as in motion pictures, television programs and advertisements.  There are now also streaming royalties for a number of internet and digital uses,  such as when companies make songs available on their website and telephone service providers sell ringtones.

Radio airplay usually pays the most.  When you have a hit song it’s heard repeatedly all over the country and sometimes the world, making it possible to quickly garner substantial royalties.   Physical sales are way down from where they used to be as many people skip buying albums to purchase singles.  Illegal downloads also hurt profits in this camp.  These days, a performing songwriter may make most of his or her money doing live performances of their songs.

Radio airplay is collected by BMI (Broadcast Music Inc), ASCAP (American Society of Composers Authors and Publishers) and SESAC (originally stood for Society of European Stage Authors & Composers).  Their methods for collecting royalties and paying their songwriters vary, but generally they collect money each quarter, take out operating expenses and distribute the remainder to songwriters based on the amount of airplay they received during the quarter.

Mechanical royalties, funds collected on the sale of a physical product, is set by copyright law at 9.1 cents per song.  According to Bruce Burch, director of the University of Georgia’s Music Business Program and former creative director for EMI Music Publishing, the world’s largest music publisher, synchronization fees are negotiated according to several criteria.  Contracts take into consideration such factors as how much of a song is used by the licensee, how popular the song is (hits and classics generally receive higher payments) and the popularity of the songwriter or artist.  Sync fees can be set as low as zero, such as when a new artist offers their song to a television show that cannot pay but allows exposure to a new audience.  At the other end of the spectrum they can bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars, even millions, for top film composers like John Williams, who has been nominated for 45 Academy Awards, winning five.

What about ownership rights?

It’s all about the deal.  There are two ownership shares of a song: the writer’s share and that of the publisher.  A writer owns both rights until he assigns the publishing rights, usually for a monetary advance against the song’s future earnings.  Starting out novice songwriters must typically sign deals in which they have to give up all publishing rights.  A more established songwriter, who perhaps enters a publishing deal with a song already recorded, will usually be able to negotiate an agreement in which he or she retains 50 percent of the publishing rights.  Sometimes a songwriter can negotiate reversion rights, an arrangement whereby publishing rights revert back to the songwriter after a certain period of time.

What are you waiting for? (OR How do you get started?)

Now that you know the basic economics of songwriting, here’s some advice from folks at the top of their game.

Study up. Do your research.  “This game will eat you up and spit you out. You’re sitting in a lion’s den,” said Sean Garrett, who earned his nickname, “The Pen”, from Jay-Z.  He’s written and produced over 17 number one hits for the likes of Usher, Beyonce and Mary J. Blige, in part because he took the time to learn the business.  There’s a ton of resources from websites, blogs and seminars, to books like Everything You Need to Know About the Music Business by Donald Passman and Music, Money and Success by Todd and Jeff Brabec.