SONGWRITING AT OASIS

At Oasis we have a strong culture of worship and encourage people to discover, refine and pursue their musical gifts. For musicians, songwriting is a natural part of our Christian walk, allowing them to express their heart for God through song. There is nothing more powerful than a new, Holy Spirit inspired song, written “in season” for the church. We are very conscious of maintaining unity in our church and one of the best ways to do this is by having great communication around processes, expectations, responsibilities and ownership. In order to address this, we have put together the following information that will help you understand our approach right from the get-go.

SUMMARY OF OUR APPROACH

At Oasis New Life Centre (ONLC), we believe we have a healthy approach to copyright & song ownership that protects the church, and allows the Writer(s) the opportunity to contribute to the body of Christ, and if a song really takes off, to receive financial renumeration according to a songs reach within the larger church community. We are primarily interested in glorifying Jesus, not elevating the musical career of any individual person. Although, we recognise and support those that God may elevate in the process. To be clear, ONLC is a not-for-profit, ministry focussed organisation that exists to see people function in their giftings, serve others and reach people for Jesus. Our heart is to see Jesus glorified in all we do, including in our songwriting.

This is achieved by the following:

  1. At various stages in the year the Oasis Worship Pastor will call for people wishing to put their songs forward for inclusion on Oasis Worship releases. If selected, the Writer(s) completes a COPYRIGHT AGREEMENT, handing over ownership of their song to ONLC. In exchange, Oasis will release the song under the Oasis Worship banner, cover the associated production costs, including recording, mixing and mastering processes, CD production, printed materials, as well as costs associated with maintaining a digital media presence. As all the financial risk is taken on by the church, ONLC will receive 100% of the funds generated by related sales. This provides a mechanism for recuperating the money outlaid. It is worth noting that in this process the Writer(s) of the song will be acknowledged as the Writer(s) in all material produced by the church.

  2. We require all ONLC volunteers involved in the production of Oasis Worship releases, musicians, graphic artists, technical people, to complete a COPYRIGHT AGREEMENT. This agreement acknowledges their involvement in any project we undertake as being on a volunteer basis.

  3. The Writer(S) will also complete a SINGLE SONG PUBLISHING AGREEMENT, which details the royalty arrangements for the song. CCLI has suggested that is not worth registering a song with them until it is being played by 4-5 churches outside our own. At this point, and not before, ONLC will register the song with CCLI. For royalties received from CCLI, ONLC will pay the Writer the “share” percentage of 90% of the “Net Receipts” for each song or production-divided-by-the-number-of-songs in the production (see the Single Song Publishing Agreement for specific details) and the church will receive the remaining 10%. While ongoing, the Writer has the opportunity to renegotiate the terms of this contract after a 3yr period. The Single Song Publishing Agreement provides opportunity for songwriters to receive appropriate financial renumeration according to a songs reach and success within the larger church community.

Our approach to songwriting is based on information provided by other churches that have a strong culture of songwriting and on advice received from CCLI. We believe it to be more than adequate for a church of our size, positioning us well to see this ministry area flourish well into the future.

SONG SPLIT AGREEMENT

If you are engaging in songwriting with another person, it highly recommend that you discuss your level of contribution with your co-writer early in the songwriting process and complete a SONG SPLIT AGREEMENT. This will be required if your song is selected for inclusion on Oasis Worship releases, before you are able to sign the COPYRIGHT AGREEMENT and/or the SINGLE SONG PUBLISHING AGREEMENT. The Song Split Agreement really helps to keep communication high at the beginning of the songwriting process and is a great thing to do, even if the song doesn’t make it to the recording and/or production, release stage.

QUESTIONS

If you have any questions about this process please contact the Oasis Worship Pastor.