Chapman on What's Killing Songwriters

No, no, no, not THAT Chapman, the one who actually killed a songwriter.

I'm referring to Beth Nielsen Chapman.

I was just listening to a song called "Shadows," which was pretty elegant, and had a winking reference to Joni Mitchell's "Clouds" in it. She wrote "World of Hurt," which was pretty darn good.

Naturally I thought, "what's up with her..." and visited her website. There, I noticed a blog entry that pretty much said, look, you are NOT making money as a songwriter, but write anyway.

Before somebody shoots you in the back.

I abridge the rest of it:

"Beyond disheartening...music has never generated more wealth than it does today. That’s right. Don’t ever think just because it’s “free” that it isn’t generating energy and wealth to the gatekeepers (but) fair compensation to songwriters has never been more blocked, usurped, withheld or hijacked.

Attention, eyeballs, clicks, data mining, massive use of ads and other stuff, is syphoned off, consumed and controlled by huge billion dollar companies with little connection with or concern for the damage that has been done to this creative community. The “old gatekeepers” meaning the major labels and publishers have done their best to land grab what they can, in some cases making under the table arrangements with the “new gatekeepers” from their position of power of ownership of large catalogs....The working songwriter working through a publisher (which is the majority) has been trampled.

I do not have the answer. In spite of anger and frustration about this, I still preach the gospel of “Write Anyway.” If you were born to be a songwriter this is no time to be practical. We need to hear your voice more than ever before.

Think about how certain songs inform our lives. In one of my favorite Joni Mitchell lines she describes time as “marked by lovers and styles of clothes.” She could have just as easily said that about songs, too. The way songs enrich our lives cannot be measured. Those with the gift to write the most brilliant songs have provided our culture and humanity with something that is priceless. Once a great song is sent out into the world it carries it’s own replenishment as it’s shared from heart to heart...

You are the only one with your voice who can tell your story from your spot.

It’s wonderful to feel respected and fairly compensated for your work. But the irony is, in order to truly tap into creativity you have to let go of worrying about that and open fully into the flow. You are the CEO of your one-and-only unique point in all time and space, that one unique perspective—looking out from behind your eyes, through the filter of your heart and history. The sharing of your story and your life’s experience through creative expression is the most important work you can do as a human. Well, that and raising children with love...

I keep a picture of Van Gogh near my piano. I know no matter what insanity is happening in the professional world of songwriting I must “write anyway.”

Yeah. Fine. She teaches songwriting. She tries to have a "day job" obviously. And you can find her CDs pretty easily in bargain bins and for little more than postage via eBay or Amazon. Tis better to have written and lost, than to never have written at all. Uh, except for YOU, Saskia.