[CaliaMoko]

My membership is coming due and I haven't done anything with it in the past year. Of course, the past year wasn't a typical year due to medical upheaval in the family, but still I wonder. What should I be getting out of membership in the Guild of International Songwriters and Composers? Or should I be letting my membership lapse? Any opinions??

[cowparsleyman]

@CaliaMoko - Depends how much it is, it might lend some heft to your profile on a web site for example, abit like letters after your name, adds some gavity to some people, for others they don't care.

[Sing4me88]

I was in GISC a number of years ago but let it expire. I wasn't sure what the beenfit was really, apart from their copyright service I suppose. Most of the other stuff re networking, collabing, showcasing etc can all be done online and through social media thee days...

[Boydie]

I haven’t been a member for a good few years now but from memory the main benefits were:

Copyright service
Song critiquing - they would give advice on whether a song was “commercial”
Legal advice on contracts, licensing etc.

Unfortunately they do not market themselves very well to song writers and just don’t seem “sexy” or modern - they came across as a bit “old fashioned”

I always found their services really good when I used them - and much better value than appointing legal representation

If you are writing commercially and actively pitching then I would say it is still worth the membership fee for the services they offer

[CaliaMoko]

Thanks! Very helpful!

@cowparsleyman : That was one thing I used it for--adding another professional membership to my resume when applying for grants. I probably won't be applying for grants for a while, so I wondered if there was any other reason for continuing.

@Sing4me88 : I think I did use the copyright service for a couple of songs--can't remember for sure right now--but that's a definite consideration because I don't usually register my copyrights with the Library of Congress. It has gotten kind of expensive.

@Boydie : I have used the legal advice for a contract or two. I don't think I realized they provided song critique. That's good to know and maybe worthwhile enough by itself to keep it up.

Thank you all; that definitely helped.