The Songwriters Guild of America (SGA) is an American organization created to "advance, promote, and benefit" the profession of songwriters. It was founded in 1931 as the Songwriters Protective AssociationbyBilly Rose, George W. Meyer and Edgar Leslie. SGA issued the first standard songwriters contract in 1932 and most writers consider it the 'standard' agreement in the industry. in 1982, SGA moved its executive office from New York City to Nashville area (Brentwood, Tennessee). As of February 2012, the Songwriters Guild of America, Inc., has been operating as a Tennessee corporation. Since 1973, SGA has a separate subsidiary, the Songwriters Guild Foundation, which has been organized as a New York corporation.
In 1976, the SGA, along with the RIAA, was one of the driving forces behind the creation of the Copyright Act of 1976. In July 1999, a similar but much smaller organization — National Academy of Songwriters based in Los Angeles — closed and recommended that its 3,000 members join the Songwriters Guild of America. NAS's impetus for closing was a concession of unnecessary redundancies of the two organizations striving for the same goal.[1][2]
Rick Carnes has been the president for the last twenty-two years.
The Songwriters Guild features online and offline classes in songwriting and the music business. Other features include contract review for members, in-depth song evaluations, royalty collection services and music industry resources.
The Songwriters Protective Association was formed in 1931 partly as a counterweight to the Music Publishers Protective Association, which was founded in 1917. It gave creative talent some institutional heft in dealings with increasingly corportized publishers, producers, record companies, and studios.[3]
In May 1958, the organization changed its name from Songwriters Protective Association to the American Guild of Authors and Composers (AGAC).[4] In the 1980s, the organization changed its name to Songwriters Guild of America.
