I will update chapters of The Craft and Business of Songwriting here as new information is available. This will include up-to-date examples of song forms, chorus construction, types of songs etc. It will also recommend books and articles for supplemental reading on various topics discussed in the book. Business practices, new laws, and increases in the mechanical royalty rates will also be updated in this section or referred to other links from here.

MECHANICAL ROYALTY RATE GOES UP...

Songwriters get a half-cent mechanical rate increase for each song per unit sold. This applies regardless of whether it's an album, single, remix etc.

This is from The National Music Publishers Assn. (www.nmpa.org/nmpa.html):

For the period January 1, 2002 to December 31, 2003 the statutory mechanical royalty rate is as follows:

8.00 Cents for songs 5 minutes or less - or -
1.55 Cents per minute or fraction thereof for all songs over 5 minutes.*

* For example:

5:01 to 6:00 = $.093 (6 X $.0155 = $.093)
6:01 to 7:00 = $.1085 (7 X $.0155 = $.1085)
7:01 to 8:00 = $.124 (8 X $.0155 = $.124)

Back in 1998, when these rate increments were negotiated and set, the NMPA issued a "thank you" as follows.

"NMPA (National Music Publishers Assn.) President & CEO Edward Murphy expressed sincere thanks to George David Weiss, President of SGA (Songwriters Guild of America), Hilary Rosen, President & CEO of RIAA, Randy Sharp, President of NAS (the late great National Academy of Songwriters) , Bart Herbison, Executive Director of NSAI (Nashville Songwriters Assn. Intnl.) and Lisa Alter, Director of AmSong for their tireless efforts in working toward the successful conclusion of the negotiations and adoption of the new rates."

Note that songwriting organizations played an important role in negotiating these rates. The strength of these organizations depends on their membership. Lend your voice by joining.