Editing Songwriter (section)

== Staff writers ==

Songwriters who sign an exclusive songwriting agreement with a publisher are called ''staff writers''. Being a staff writer effectively means that, during the term of the songwriter's contract with the publisher, all their songs are automatically published by that company and cannot be published elsewhere.<ref name="emusician"/>

In the Nashville country music scene, there is a strong staff writer culture where contracted writers work normal "9-to-5" hours at the publishing office and are paid a regular salary, says staff writer Gary Growden. This salary is in effect the writer's "draw", an advance on future earnings, which is paid monthly and enables them to live within a fixed budget.<ref name="hindquarters">{{cite web|url=http://www.hitquarters.com/index.php3?page=intrview/opar/intrview_Roger_Murrah_Interview.html |title=Interview with Roger Murrah |publisher=[[HitQuarters]]|date=22 June 2009 |access-date=25 August 2010}}</ref> The publisher owns the copyright of songs written during the term of the agreement for a designated period, after which the songwriter can reclaim the copyright.<ref name="hindquarters"/> In an interview with [[HitQuarters]], songwriter [[Dave Berg (songwriter)|Dave Berg]] extolled the benefits of the set-up: "I was able to concentrate on writing the whole time and have always had enough money to live on."<ref name="hitquarters.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.hitquarters.com/index.php3?page=intrview/opar/intrview_Dave_Berg_Interview.html |title=Interview with Dave Berg |publisher=[[HitQuarters]]|date=4 January 2010 |access-date=25 August 2010}}</ref>

Unlike contracted writers, some staff writers operate as employees for their respective publishers. Under the terms of these
[[work for hire]] agreements, the compositions created are fully owned by the publisher. Because the recapture provision of the [[United States]] [[Copyright Act of 1976]] does not apply to "works made for hire", the rights to a song created under an employment contract cannot be "recaptured" by the writer after 35 years. In Nashville, young writers are often strongly encouraged to avoid these types of contracts.

Staff writers are common across the whole industry, but without the more office-like working arrangements favoured in Nashville. All the major publishers employ writers under contract.<ref name="hitquarters.com"/> Obtaining a staff writer contract with a publisher can be the first step for any professional songwriting career, with some writers with a desire for greater independence outgrowing this set-up once they achieve a degree of success.<ref name="hitquarters.com"/> Songwriter [[Allan Eshuijs]] described his staff writer contract at [[Universal Music Publishing]] as a starter deal. His success under the arrangement eventually allowed him to found his own publishing company so that he could "keep as much [publishing income] as possible and say how it's going to be done."<ref name="Allan Eshuijs">{{cite web |url=http://www.hitquarters.com/index.php3?page=intrview/opar/intrview_Allan_Eshuijs_Interview.html |title=Interview with Allan Eshuijs |publisher=[[HitQuarters]]|date=6 September 2010 |access-date=7 September 2010}}</ref>