Episode 44: Writing Songs for Others Is a Gamble

The royalties didn't arrive until more than six months after the release.

When the first payment actually came in, I was stunned. And for a while after that, I kept receiving amounts every three months that stunned me all over again.

I'll leave the figure to your imagination 😂

That's when I started thinking.
If I could place one song a year with a big artist through songwriting competitions, I'd be set for life. But the flip side is that unless a big artist picks one of my songs every single year, I earn nothing at all. Relying on income that depends entirely on other people felt like way too much of a gamble. (Then again, deciding to live off music in the first place was already a gamble, quite literally.)

And having this song placed didn't mean direct commission requests started pouring in. The world isn't that kind.

A few more of my songs were picked up after that, but my last placement with a big artist was this one:
https://youtu.be/ur9LKqpJyo0?si=ohSgMuqBTscav_6Z

After that, I gradually stopped working as a songwriter who provides songs for others...

To be continued.