Last Christmas I wrote (and subsequently recorded) a comedy song called Christmas Cacophony. The lyrics, melody and harmonies were all mine, but I deliberately wrote the lyrics so that they could be sung to the tune of Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas Is You (apart from a change in the bridge section). I didn't let on at the time.
This Christmas I decided to let the cat out of the bag and performed the parody version at an open mic. It went down well, so I got the audience to sing along with it at another event the following week. On Christmas Day I performed it spontaneously in the pub and got a big round of applause. I think it could be a huge hit with the right singer.
How would I go about getting permission to use Mariah Carey's and Walter Afanasieff's music? The song was issued by Columbia Records, though Mariah Carey is no longer signed with them. I have next to no money and wouldn't be able to pay any upfront fees. Would I be able to negotiate a deal where they got a cut of the royalties? It's all extremely daunting but I really think I might be able to market this for next Christmas.
