Before you email us, you may find the answer to your query here, or you can find our mailing address at the bottom of this page:


Commission Fee Guidelines

In 2004, the Office of Fair Trading asked us to stop providing the fee guidelines as, according to them, this is an anti-competitive practice.  As such, we have been obliged to remove the details from our website and are no longer allowed to offer this advice.  We are still fighting this ruling, but until this matter is resolved we can only advise you to negotiate directly with the commissioner or composer, or contact another composer for specific details.  Please check out the Campaigns section of our website for further in-depth information regarding this matter.  


Eurovision

The Eurovision Song Contest and potential song entries are now exclusively administered by the BBC Entertainment Department in London.  Please contact Kevin Bishop on 020 8576 1770 or write to BBC Eurovision, Room 4139, Television Centre, Wood Lane, London W12 7RJ directly.


Copyright & Contracts

If you need general advice about contracts or copyright please check out www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/onemusic/legal.  This website is great and explains producer agreements, production agreements, record contracts, publishing agreements, copyright and everything to do with samples.  We have also produced the following document which may answer your queries: 20 Questions Regarding Copyright.  

The Academy has the following sample contracts for members which can all be downloaded via the members section of the website:
Single Song Assignment (songwriter)
(N.B. This can be purchased by non-members for £15 - once payment has been received (cheque or credit card), we can send either a hard copy via the post or email over a PDF.)
Co-writing Agreement (songwriter)
Commissioning Agreement (concert)
Model Synchronisation Licence (media)
BBC Commissioning Guidelines (media)


Legal Service

The legal service is intended for members who have a contract/agreement which they would like to have checked or have a query which is above the knowledge of Academy staff.   If you are a member who would like to make use of the service, please email the Membership Manager who will send you a legal questionnaire, which you should use to outline the issue.  This service can take up to 10 working days.

Please note that our legal service can only comment on UK contracts - if someone has a US contract we can not offer advice as a UK Lawyer must be registered in the US to comment on US Law.  We suggest that you contact ASCAP who may be able to suggest a UK Lawyer who is US registered.


General Advice on How to Get Started in Songwriting

If you are looking for performers to cover the songs that you have written, then you will need to produce a demo recording to be sent to music publishers.  Ideally this should be well recorded, with clear vocals.  The demo will need to be re-recorded periodically to stop the recording sounding dated.  We are not able to recommend any one studio or service over another.  Please visit The Association of Professional Recording Services - www.aprs.co.uk - who are the industry association for studios and give out details of their members.                  

You would then need to target a publisher or act with your material. The Music Publishers Association - www.mpaonline.org.uk - produce a list of their members which is available on their website.  All main libraries should contain a book called the Music Week Directory; this gives contact details of all major UK acts and record labels.  If you cannot find it there, you are able to purchase a copy - please contact 01858 438893, or access a restricted amount of information for free at www.musicweekdirectory.co.uk.

There are a couple of publications that you may find useful, namely:

Musicians' & Songwriters Yearbook 2008
Edited by Jonathan Little & Katie Chatburn
A&C Black London ISBN 978-0-7136-8472-8

Heart & Soul: Revealing the Craft of Songwriting
By Chris Bradford
Sanctuary Publishing ISBN 1-86074-641-1

If you are a singer-songwriter then we would recommend that you play as many gigs as possible, since many people in the industry visit showcases around the country.  


Songwriting Courses

If you wish to have information on courses run by music colleges or universities, although we can make no recommendations, we suggest you either purchase or visit your local library and look at:

Musicians' & Songwriters Yearbook 2008
Edited by Jonathan Little & Katie Chatburn
A&C Black London ISBN 978-0-7136-8472-8

If you want a short term specific songwriting course we can only recommend those that are run by professional members of the Academy.  As such we can suggest the following:

Tom Robinson runs an annual residential songwriting course in April called Stand and Deliver - www.tomrobinson.com/stand

Bath Spa University hosts the UK Songwriting Festival every August - this is also a residential course - www.uksongwritingfestival.com


Contacting Members

If you wish to personally contact a member, please check to see whether they have chosen to be listed in the members directory.  If they have not and you know they are a member, we can pass on an email or forward on a letter - however, we cannot give out contact details for our members.  

If you wish to contact our entire membership you can advertise in our publications with a display advert at a very reasonable cost - email our Publications Manager to discuss this.  We also welcome discounts for appropriate products and services which can be offered to our members and we can advertise such offers via our members only e-bulletin.  Please email our Membership Manager regarding this.


New Member Queries

If you have recently joined but have not heard from us, please be aware applications are only processed 2 days a week.  If you still think there has genuinely been too long a delay, please email the Membership Manager.  


Problems logging into Website

If you are having problems logging into the website - first check your membership has not lapsed.  Then check whether you are using the AOL browser; you will NOT be able to log in through AOL; the protocols in their software conflict with our security measures.  Use Internet Explorer 6 and above, Firefox 1.5 and above, or Safari – these are all compatible browsers.  

If for some reason you still cannot get in and are using the correct username and password but they are blocked or you have changed your password and forgotten it, we can reset your details for you - please email the Membership Manager if you need us to do this.  


Booking to Attend a Seminar or Workshop

Please email the Membership Manager.   Certain seminars are now open to non-members at a fee of £25, refundable if you then join the Academy - please email for details of upcoming events.  


To Register with the Collaborators Service

Open to members only.  Please email the Membership Manager who will send you a registration form.


If you have a New Address

Please email the Membership Manager or go onto the Members' area of the website, enter the 'Your Profile' section and update your details there.  


Paying Subscriptions

You can pay your subscription via the Members' area of the website using WorldPay in the 'Your Profile' section.  If you wish to pay via credit card over the phone, please email us and we will call you back to take payment.  Or if you wish to pay by direct debit, again please email us and we will post you the necessary form.  

 
If you wish to write to us our mailing address is:

26 Berners Street
London
W1T 3LR