Rewritable Song Lyrics

JimCricket writes "A new kind of record company, Tailored Music Group, is selling user-customizable songs. Each song is distributed in its 'default' (generic) form, and the customer can change any (or all) of the lyrics. For a few hundred bucks, the original indie musician will re-work the song with the custom lyrics. Neat idea."

I can see it now

[BKX (5066)]

New gems like, "Pownt, I owned your ass loser. You suck, I rock"
and "I love gay sex"

Re:I can see it now

[dgatwood (11270)]

Nope. Sweet Home Alabama becomes "Sweet Safeway Bananas."

At least that's how I predict this sort of thing will go....

Re:

[GizmoToy (450886)]

I wouldn't be all that surprised if changes like that were requested, though I'm sure there's an approval process for the custom lyrics. I doubt they're going to perform just any old stuff.

Like your other reply said, another major group that would be interested is advertisers, but I wouldn't be surprised if changes that advertised products would be denied as well to keep the song at least semi-legitimate.

Re:I can see it now

[PopeRatzo (965947)]

Hey, it's musicians making money, and I'm all for that. At least they're not recording an album of their lives' work for some label that gives them a 5000 dollar advance against future earnings and then touring for a year all so that they can end up owing the record company money and not even owning their own songs. Oh, and I've forgotten, even if they've sold 150,000 records, the label tells them they've lost a bundle and now they have to sell their instruments so they can give the 5k advance back.

No, I give these guys credit for at least being a little creative about making a living as musicians. It's really not all about fame.

Re:

[Redlazer (786403)]

Im pretty sure there are already numerous rap songs containing those lyrics.

Or, just as likely, covering up for either of those two situations.

-Red

Now hold on there....

[StressGuy (472374)]

New gems like, "Pownt, I owned your ass loser. You suck, I rock"

It's not all going to be heavy metal

"I love gay sex"

Or country music, ya know.

And So....haveing thusly offended a significant portion of the Slashdot demographic...exit our hero through the front door...STAGE LEFT

Re:

[thc69 (98798)]

And So....haveing thusly offended a significant portion of the Slashdot demographic

You must mean you've offended people with the metal thing, because I'm pretty sure I'm the only slashdot user who likes country [hank3.com].

Re:

[brotherscrim (617899)]

Hank doesn't count, 'cause he's cool ;)

Call my cynical, but...

[adona1 (1078711)]

Neat idea, or more proof that the music industry has jumped the shark?

Re:

[Redlazer (786403)]

You must be new here.

Everyone is close minded. Especially when it comes to *-bashing.

And no, thats not asterisk bashing. One thing can all agree on - the asterisk rocks, and I absolutely refuse to accept any other input on the subject, as my opinion is final, and anyone who disagrees is an idiot.

-Red

Re:

[somersault (912633)]

(damn HTML formatting) This is a little song I wrote about an ex: My baby done left me and my heart ain't gonna never gonna be the same. Oh dearest customers, it ain't been the same since you went away. You stole my music, and my monopoly is broken. Yours, RIAA

Re:

[somersault (912633)]

Aaaaand that's what happens when you try to reply again and the settings are still on default. I'll just get me coat.

(This is a little song I wrote about an ex:

My baby done left me and my heart ain't gonna never gonna be the same.
Oh dearest customers, it ain't been the same since you went away.
You stole my music, and my monopoly is broken.

Yours,
RIAA)

Re:

[somersault (912633)]

My baby done left me and my heart ain't gonna never gonna be the same. Oh dearest bagina, it ain't been the same since you went away. You stole my karma, and my formatting is broken. :(

There's a market for this ?

[Joebert (946227)]

I can't imagine anyone paying someone a few hundred dollars to do somthing most people do for fun at work or at parties.

Re:There's a market for this ?

[PhrostyMcByte (589271)]

At least they're trying to innovate. It's a lot better than sueing their fanbase or shutting down internet radio like mainstream music has been doing.

Don't knock them for trying, I say. It's about time a music group tried to use the internet for something new.

Re:

[Alterion (925335)]

I can imagine a big market, there Britney spears for one... No better way to improve her album sales than remove her from even having to pretend to sing :)

Re:

[Joebert (946227)]

Having read that, I can't help but wonder if this is just a ploy to get her some new material.

Re:There's a market for this ?

[suv4x4 (956391)]

I can't imagine anyone paying someone a few hundred dollars to do somthing most people do for fun at work or at parties.

I can't imagine someone paying someone a few hundred dollars to draw a picture of my kid based on a photo I already have either.

But I did it.

Re:

[Joebert (946227)]

That's a good point.

Wait, you regularly draw pictures of your kid from photos for fun at work & parties ?
Do you put little mustaches & devil horns on them ?

Re:

[suv4x4 (956391)]

That's a good point.

Wait, you regularly draw pictures of your kid from photos for fun at work & parties ?

Wait, you do parties in a sound studio and then master professionally the recordings into a song?

Re:

[Joebert (946227)]

I had to backup to the original post, I still have no clue where you got that idea from.

Re:

[suv4x4 (956391)]

I had to backup to the original post, I still have no clue where you got that idea from.

work on it, you'll figure it out eventually...

Re:

[Joebert (946227)]

Work on what ?

This has been done

[vell0cet (1055494)]

Only, the artist will write a completely original song based on your instructions/lyrics.

www.songstowearpantsto.com

Some of the stuff he writes is hilarious. I don't think anyone here would doubt his talent.

Re:

[GizmoToy (450886)]

Thanks for the link. I was cracking up listening to "Sad Sad Toaster Made of Glass." The guy will even make the song free if he likes your idea. Pretty cool site.

Re:

[LordKronos (470910)]

Thanks for the link. That website is great. So many funny songs there.

SONG #0257: THIS GIRL - I have to image the song didn't quite turn out the way the requester imagined.

Wookin Pa Nub

[jomama717 (779243)]

Just in case there's anyone out there that thinks this will get them laid, be warned - she'll likely laugh you out of the room and reject you with extreme prejudice. If she doesn't, be warned again - she's too desperate to get involved with.

Seriously though, this has to be one of the lamest ideas I've ever heard of. I know as little about women as the next guy (and I'm married), but I do know they can smell assembly line romance from a mile away - and they hate it.

Re:

[TheDugong (701481)]

"I do know they can smell assembly line romance from a mile away" Too true, but I dare you to do nothing on the conveyor belt that is valentines day. Soon it may well be, roses, chocolate, dinner AND a song.

Re:

[jomama717 (779243)]

Touché. I once strayed from the Valentine's day best practices and paid dearly for it. That's the time I learned "hockey tickets" don't exactly do it for them either...

A boon to mediocraty

[Smight (1099639)]

Hey there indie rockers!
Can't wait to sell out, but you don't have the talent to get a record company interested in mutilating your songs?
Well you're in luck!!

This is how it's always worked....

[syousef (465911)]

...at least in the world of Pop music. Have you listened to any pop lately? It's mostly interchangable shite.

But hey it all started with rock - 3 chords and an infinite variety of combinations and words...sometimes the whole is more than the sum of it's parts (and sometimes it's just pure garbage).

Kinda reminds me of the "choose your own adventure" books I read in primary school.

Re:

[ross.w (87751)]

But hey it all started with rock - 3 chords and an infinite variety of combinations and words...sometimes the whole is more than the sum of it's parts (and sometimes it's just pure garbage).

"All I want is a red guitar, three chords and the truth"

Bono

Re:

[syousef (465911)]

Pity most settle for the red guitar, 3 chords and incoherent drug induced crapola. (Not saying that about Bono. He actually comes across as an intelligent guy in interviews and seems to have some kind of grip on issues like the envrionment...who knows if it's all part of the act or not though).

I've got a billion pop song tool

[fantomas (94850)]

Ultimately configurable, you can get a billion pop songs from it. The world's top hits have been made using it. It's called AlphaBet (TM) and I'll sell you it for only 19.99, send to the address below...

Re:

[Gzip Christ (683175)]

It's called AlphaBet (TM) and I'll sell you it for only 19.99

No thanks, I'll wait for the beta.

Title of the Post

[WobindWonderdog (1049538)]

Naive expression of hope...
Reluctance to accept that this is wrong
I'm reminded of The Title Of The Song: http://www.neimeyer.org/schooling/Music/TitleSong. mp3 [neimeyer.org]

Not new.

[julesh (229690)]

This is simply the music industry's response to the vanity press. I first saw it commented on here [nielsenhayden.com].

Music as a service

[teebob21 (947095)]

For once, TFA has nothing to do with the "piracy" of music or the RIAA or any of the news that we associate with digital music lately.

It's some musicians with a few mediocre tracks providing a service to those sentimental enough for a customized song. Admit it, most people (read: women) are suckers for sweet songs with their names in it. They've realized that their product isn't going to bring in the cash, so they have taken what they've got and are reselling it as a personalized service. If they'd had a few more buzzword-loving execs, they'd be calling it Music 2.0.

Been done for ages in ...

[rasjani (97395)]

This is nothing new. Since 50-60s, jamaican soundsystems aka dj's have been recording customized versions of hit tunes that are unique to them in one way or the other. Either the lyrics have been changed, tune is recorded to different background or both. Since then, this type of recorded custom music has moved to different genres and is very typical also in electronic music like drumnbass and such types which have influences from caribbean music. Dj's use to outshine other because they can play tunes that other dj's dont have.

There's a also a sort of a "sport" revolving around this phenomenon and its called soundclash. 2 different dj's or dj groups "battle" against each other with custom tunes..

Old

[clickclickdrone (964164)]

Back in the 80's, so many people were starting bands and had their own 4-track cassette that record companies started releasing singles in the single sided 4 track cassette format. You could just play it as was or you could remix it to your hearts content.

Has already existed and thrived for a long time !

[BigJim.fr (40893)]

Those of you who listen to African, and particularly Congolese music are familiar with that scheme. Songs are peppered with praise for individuals who paid for it. Actually it is so big that some artists pre-finance their albums production that way ! It is like embedding advertising in the songs. In a country where piracy makes album sales almost irrelevant, live performance and embedded advertising are important ways to make money.

Re:Has already existed and thrived for a long time

[Jah-Wren Ryel (80510)]

Exactly. It's one manifestation of the patronage economic model.

Look at the extended editions of lord of the rings movies - people paid to get their names in the credits. Personally, not my thing, but considering just how long those credit rolls go for, obviously A LOT of people thought it was valuable to them.

Re:

[jb.hl.com (782137)]

So basically, if Slashdot gets its wet dream of a new kind of recording industry business model based around P2P, this is what they'll have to look forward to in the future: adverts in music, as it's the only real way to make money.

Lovely.

Re:Has already existed and thrived for a long time

[pimpimpim (811140)]

mind you that you should take care to choose the right artist to do this [mwscomp.com].

I'm amazed

[bobetov (448774)]

I'm amazed at all the negative comments on this. The idea is a clever one, it's directly innovative, and for the right occasion, a very good product.

Think about weddings, anniversaries and the like. What a cool gift for that special someone?

This is another step down the road to the infinitely personalized marketplace, which is a BIG trend with vast potential impact. In this particular case, it doesn't scale particularly well, but just like customized Nikes, this is a way for you as a "consumer" to be mor

Que the RIAA Legal Engine....

[StressGuy (472374)]

Who will now find a way to copywright a song's framework thus making all derivitives under copyright. Then, they will look for a way to retro-actively go after Janet Jackson for putting her own lyrics to the music of "Ventura Highway".

Soon to be followed by M.C. Hammer, Vanilla Ice, et. al....and especially Wierd Al...

Shoddy marketing, though...

[famebait (450028)]

Anyone else notice how they quite transparently used their own tech for generating the testimonial quotes?

Finally!

[edmicman (830206)]

Now, I can finally have *real* songs with lyrics such as "Hold me closer, Tony Danza...", "Wrapped up like a douche..." and all the other misheard lyrics that are much better than the originals. Maybe I could have them actually transcribe Pearl Jam's song lyrics as mumbles, the way they are sung!

Nickelback?

[edmicman (830206)]

Doesn't Nickelback already do this?

Brave

[Sir Holo (531007)]

Oh what a brave new world it will be when they get computers to do this!