The only constant in the world of music is rapid change.
There have been many examples of non-performing hit songwriters over the past 5
decades, ranging from Liebler and Stoller to Max Martin, and the reason why
these songwriters are known by face is because the enormous success of their
bodies of work has “forced” them to become stars.
What becomes of the journeyman non-performing song writer in
the modern age of music?
Garry Paige is an established Australian song writer with
over 250 compositions in his catalogue, who has been selling his craft to
artists across the globe for the past 35 years. The apex of his work is “Words
Are Not Enough” [a Top Ten hit in 1978 for Jon English] and “Heading In The Right
Direction” [Renee Geyer’s 1975 signature song]. Both of these songs continue to
receive regular airplay on Australian radio stations to this day, however Paige
has been forced to take a day job due to the advert of mp3 file sharing and
illegal downloading of music via the Internet.
The Internet has forced song writers [both performing and
non-performing] to “give away” their music in order to maintain and/ or build a
public profile AND then entice the greater public to purchase their music. Using the Paige example, he has very little
coverage when conducting a Google search of his name. If Paige improved his
Internet presence, would the frequency and size of his royalty payments
increase?
A message to all non-performing publicity-shy song writers;
take the time to make a presence to the world [just as a performing artist must
do] and watch your income skyrocket…
