So… I received my very first CCLI (Christian Copyright Licensing International) royalty check yesterday… wasn’t very much money, but I was super excited. CCLI is basically an administrator of copyright licenses for churches… the church pays a fee based upon a scale of attendance to be able to use lyrics by projection or printing or whatever else… then CCLI takes a sampling of churches to find out what songs are being used and then disperses the church fee monies to the songwriters based on this sampling (same concept as ASCAP, BMI, & SESAC… just for churches). However, CCLI functions a bit like any government organization (imagine one of your least favorite experiences with an incredibly slow process… DMV, perhaps?) in that nothing is done quickly or efficiently… or at least not to the “non-label” & “non-publisher” songwriters out there like myself. It literally took me a whole year from the time I requested a contract to sign with them to the point when I was actually included in their system. CCLI has a great service that I use weekly as a worship leader called SongSelect… it basically includes a ton of songs and their respective lyric sheets, sometimes chord charts, and lead sheets. If your name is Chris Tomlin or Matt Redman or any of the “bigger name” worship songwriters, you automatically get to include all of these things with your songs… making them much easier to attain and learn for your typical worship band and praise team. BUT if you are not a “big name” you don’t get to include these materials (lyrics, chord charts, lead sheets) unless you have been paid in 2 consecutive pay periods. The pay periods work in six month increments (last one ended at the end of March… yes, it took 4 1/2 months to receive payment) and you only get paid if other churches are using your music in their services and are reporting the use… even then, the church would have to be in a reporting period (my church hasn’t been in one for the past two years)… so you can see that everything has to line up just right for a new songwriter that has little opportunity for sharing outside of his/her own church to even have his/her materials made available in SongSelect. So, I currently have 55 songs listed with CCLI(and 4 being processed… remember that nothing is done quickly 
, but no lyrics or charts available… Thus, I am excited because I could potentially receive payment in a second consecutive pay period and I believe that would change things pretty dramatically. Just so you know. :)
