Waiting on the Mailbox Money Again

Once again, my eye is on the mailbox in my front yard; I'm waiting for that check containing the song royalties collected over the quarter (actually a quarter from several months ago). The till is getting low and the dollars from that check bring great relief. The past couple of years have been rough as consumers have shifted away from buying physical CDs and into the cyber-world of downloading mp3s. If people are still buying music, then where are the royalties?

My grandmother always thought that my music pursuits weren't legitimate until one day I showed her my royalty statement and she about fell over. Needless to say, her idea of writing songs as a "real job" changed that day.

It is a privilege to make a living as a songwriter. I found these statistics online which show that if you start writing songs to make money, you probably should do something else. These numbers are culled from the music business in my backyard--Nashville:

48,000 = number of writers and artists in Nashville trying to "make it."
1,350 = number of songs recorded in a year on major labels.
85% = percentage of songs recorded going to "insider" writers, publishers, producers, etc.
75 = number of songwriters getting 1 or more cuts per year in Nashville.

Even as I am mostly writing praise and worship songs, the percentage of writing songs to getting them recorded are very low. Why keep writing, making demos and pitching the songs, you ask? It is because I am compelled to do it. Writing songs is a joy for me. I am just very blessed to make a living doing it.

I hope the mailman comes with that check today. If he does, I have a chance to get over to the bank with enough time to get together with Gary Sadler to work on some songs that we hope will someday bless people. That is why we do it!