Probably the hardest things for unsigned songwriters to get is trustworthy, honest, objective opinions on their work. Face it – the worst people to give you honest feedback or help you develop your talent are your friends and family! You will either be a genius or a dreamer: there isn’t much in between.

The next hardest thing to get is time in studios with great musicians and sympathetic producers who don’t watch the clock and who will work with you until the job is done.

The hardest thing of all is usually getting the cash together to pay for all the above.

What if…

What if there was a group of music professionals who could work with you to bring out the very best in you: help you and your songs be all they could be?

What if that help was seen by them as an investment in you and your talent?

What if all that was free?

How Will That Work Then?

Our vision is of a Guild for singers and songwriters.

"guild"

noun

1. A word originally coined in medieval times for an Association of craftsmen or merchants organised for their mutual aid or the pursuit of a common goal and often having considerable power.

Part of the problem with the modern music industry is that the creators make the least amount of money from their work. It doesn’t exist in any other field of content creation (except perhaps in the secondary art market). Everyone else gets their cut first: publishers, record companies, streaming platforms, even telecoms providers…they all get paid and you get the tiny amount that is left…or the tiny amount that was buried in the contract you signed with BigCorp Inc.

The rationale they give you is that it costs so much to develop a songwriter to a level where they are commercially successful and all that upfront risk has to be paid for somehow. And then there is the tech behind it these days. That’s not cheap ... but guess who pays? Yep. You...it comes out of your share, not thiers.

Of course, the blind pursuit of fame and the wealth that it (allegedly) generates often over-rides any of these things and many songwriters still chase that dream and sign those contracts. We at Dancing Shadows have no problem with that. Everyone is entitled to their own dream after all.

The uncomfortable truth is that many sognwriters and musicians in the "traditional" music business make most of their money these days selling merchandise after shows. They have become, as one rock guitarist recently quipped, no more than travelling Tee-shirt salespeople. Ouch...

But what if you want to go a different way? What if you want to keep control of your work? What if “success” in music for you means something different than $s and £ signs?

Still…the upfront investment by songwriters and musicians to create quality music that “succeeds”, however you define that, is a massive barrier to entry for a lot of very talented people.

People like you.

What Makes Us Different?

We work exclusively with singers and songwriters who are talent rich but resource poor.

OK – so you may have GarageBand or whatever running on a computer that you can record into: but that doesn’t necessarily make your work stand out because, however good you are, you can’t be a great producer/engineer/drummer/bass player/keyboard player as well as write great songs…’cos if you already are all of these things, you are on the wrong site!

We have access to a group of world-class musicians for session work; we have experienced producers and engineers; we have a good in-house digital studio for pre-production and we also have access to world-class studio facilities if more punch is needed.

So…you ask again: What makes us different? Well…none of the above will cost you anything.

If you work with us everything is provided pro-bono. Free. Without cost. Zilch. Nada.

Yeah. Right! What’s the catch?

No catch.

This is a Guild: all for one and one for all.

Whatever we do for you is yours at the end and is freely given.

We do operate a retrospective contribution model. If something we do for you gets you a deal, makes you money, is picked up by someone etc…in short if you make money out of what we do for you, then we ask that you put some of that back into the Guild to help other songwriters get their start on the ladder you’ve just climbed. That donation is also capped at what you would have paid under a normal commercial arrangement so that you are not locked in to any royalty or % clause forever. Your work will always be that: yours.

It’s that simple.

No catch. Nobody stealing your work. No lock-ins for life. Just put something back, like we are.

Got A Voice?

Perhaps you are not a strong songwriter but have a great voice. We can help you by including you on our mixes and pairing you up with the right songwriters. Not every songwriter has “the voice” after all: this Guild is open to talent like you as well.

Got Ability?

We want to include other musicians as well in this project, however at this early stage there are no clear pathways as most musicians who don't write or sing are in bands. However...if you have talent and no outlet then get in touch. We are always looking for talented people to do drop-ins and sessions and offer a quid pro quo on doing sessions for them and free production/recording time. It all balances out in the end.

Where Do I Sign?

Let’s start with a conversation about what drives you to write songs and where you see yourself going.

We make no bones that we don’t allow everyone into the Guild: that is nothing to do with your talent or ability, it is just that right now (in our early stages) we only have so much resource and availability to work with and develop Guild members.

So let’s start with a conversation to see if our ideas all align, then we will have a listen to your work and have another conversation. Then we will pick a song of yours and do some work with you on it.

If all of that works, if we all have fun, if we all love what we end up with…you’re in!

So let’s talk…