Lyric Permissions: The Process of Reprinting Lyrics

A friend of mine who’s writing a book recently asked me how to get permission to reprint lyrics, as both of my novels include quite a few (from groups such as Placebo, The Cure, Tori Amos, Smashing Pumpkins, and many more. See my previous blog post for more about that.)

I thought others might be curious as well. The fact is, it can be quite laborious and expensive (although not always). The first step is to find out who the lyric publisher is – not the label, but the publisher. Sometimes this is listed on the album sleeve, but usually not. The next place to look are the web sites for the two major performing rights organizations: BMI and ASCAP.

Once you find out who the publisher is, you need to contact them to find out their process. Some of them have online forms to fill out. (I actually created my own contract and sent it out in hopes it would be used. This seems to only work with small companies or when artists have their own company with publishing rights.)

These days a vast majority of lyric publishing rights are administered by one particular juggernaut. Be aware: their minimum fee for each excerpt is $100. I have seen a few for less, and a few for more. If you’re really lucky, you might even get something for free. For example, Tori Amos lyric publishing rights are controlled by her own company, Sword and Stone Publishing – they happily signed the contract I created and never asked for money. Thank you!!

Something to watch out for is the phrase “Most Favored Nations” in the contract. This means if the lyric publisher finds out you paid more than what they charged for any other lyrics in your book, they can come back to you and make you pay that higher amount for each of their lyric excerpts. That could be a nasty surprise!

I was able to get permission for at least 90% of the lyrics I wanted to use – although a few I chose not to use due to the cost. But also be aware some artists (such as Stevie Nicks) just don’t allow others to reprint their material, which I totally respect (although it can be disappointing!). Only one company just never got back to me, no matter how often I followed up. Thus I was unable to use “Into Dust” by Mazzy Star as I had hoped, for the heading to Chapter 18 in Afterglow.

While it would be wonderful to deal directly with the artists, this only happened once during my projects (out of a total of 39 lyric excerpts used). While obtaining permission to use “Pepper” by the Butthole Surfers, I ended up talking with Gibby Hayne’s manager on the phone. He said I should probably ask Gibby about that… then gave me his cell phone number! As you can imagine, Gibby Haynes was a bit confused about who I was and why I was calling, but after a few minutes he said that sounded fine – he just wanted to make sure I had the lyrics right.

After we hung up I was jumping up and down, yelling, “I just talked to Gibby Haynes on the phone! I just talked to Gibby Haynes on the phone!” to my empty house. Too bad I don’t have any more stories like that to relate!

Anyway, as you can tell, this can be a very time consuming and expensive process. But not always – and sometimes it can be exciting! And there can be a positive side to not succeeding: sometimes I was “forced” to write more lyrics myself – or rather Brian O’Kelly (the character) wrote them through me… but that’s another story…

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Lyrics used in my novels – The Cure, Placebo, and more

To follow up on my last post – about how Brian Molko of alternative rock group Placebo helped inspire Naked in the Rain and Afterglow – it seems appropriate to talk about lyrics.

Music has always been a huge part of my life – my “first love” so to speak, along with books. Which is probably why the main character in my novels, Brian, is a talented musician, both classically (piano) and in the rock world – playing guitar, singing and forming his own band.

Music is critical to Brian, so lyrics tend to find their way into the text, whether it’s a song he’s listening to (for example, Pixies), playing on the piano (such as Tori Amos), or covering with his band (like the “The Kiss” by the Cure) – as he is a huge Robert Smith (pictured above) / The Cure fan.

I also decided to include lyrics as an epigraph for each chapter in Naked in the Rain, and in Afterglow on chapters of particular significance. For these, I chose lyrics that somehow reflect what happens in the chapter – whether it’s a general mood or something more specific – some characters even have “theme songs.” (I may share more about why I chose specific lyrics in future blogs…)

This resulted in getting permission from 21 different artists to include their lyrics in these books. Even more artists are mentioned within the text, but without using their actual lyrics.

Here’s a partial list of the artists and songs – you can click here to see a full listing of all artists mentioned or quoted in the books.

• The Cure – The Kiss, Lullaby, If Only Tonight We Could Sleep, Faith, and more
• Placebo – Bionic, Nancy Boy, Scared of Girls, Teenage Angst
• Tori Amos – Little Earthquakes, Precious Things, Silent All These Years, and more
• Pixies – Bone Machine
• PJ Harvey – Mystery of Love
• Smashing Pumpkins – Disarm
• Sparklehorse – Cruel Sun, Ghost of His Smile, Junebug
• Throwing Muses – Flood, Teller
• John Lee Hooker – House Rent Boogie

By the way, when Naked in the Rain was named, I had NO idea that the Red Hot Chili Peppers (who are mentioned in it as Stuart’s favorite band) have a song called “Naked in the Rain.” Seems like an odd coincidence! Speaking of coincidences, it has often seemed that Brian Molko and PJ Harvey have been peeking into my brain for their material… More about that later!

And yes, I promise there will also be blog posts that are not all about music! Leave a comment to let me know what you want to read about…

What Inspired Me to Write Naked in the Rain and Afterglow

That is not an easy question to answer. Today I will address one aspect. I’m sure there are many subconscious reasons in addition to what I write about today, and I may address this more in future blogs.

One of the biggest inspirations for Brian O’Kelly, the main character in Naked in the Rain and Afterglow, was Brian Molko (that's him in the photo to the left) of the alternative rock group, Placebo. Giant DISCLAIMER: This is not to imply at all that Mr. Molko’s life mirrors the life of my character.

Back in 1998, I first learned of Placebo when they appeared on MTV’s alternative program as guests. I really enjoyed the music, so I bought their “Without You I’m Nothing” album (quickly followed by buying their debut album, “Placebo”).

I didn’t know anything about Placebo other than their music. The lyrics really caught my attention, because they are openly bisexual – singing about relationships with both men and women. As a bisexual person myself, this certainly piqued my interest.

Those lyrics mulled around in my subconscious for a year or so. I was intrigued by Brian Molko, but still didn’t really know anything about him beyond the music, videos and photos. So – as is my way with my ever-creative mind – I made stuff up. This is when the story of Naked in the Rain and Afterglow started to form.

Again – a disclaimer that by no means do I imply that Brian Molko is in any way Brian O’Kelly from my books. However, this is how the character of Brian O’Kelly ended up with gorgeous blue eyes, dark hair, and musical talent – though I’m not sure I could write a book without a strong musical element, as music has always been so important in my life.

To get an idea of how Brian Molko influenced the story in a physical way, take a look at the video for “Pure Morning” – which was shown that fateful night in 1998 when Placebo were guests on MTV.

The photo at the top of this post is another visual of Mr. Molko that obviously influenced my books when Brian O’Kelly does the “girl thing” – even down to the pose with the cigarette from the opening scene in Naked in the Rain.

You might ask, why did the character Brian O’Kelly end up as a high-class prostitute? That is a good question, one I’m not sure I can answer, but I may try in future blogs…

Do you want to read more about inspirations? About Placebo? Tell me what you want to read about -- leave a comment!