"Song shark" is the trade name for any individual, or firm who, with the deliberate intention to defraud, solicits business from amateur songwriters, advising them that by having music written to their lyrics, or vice versa, they will have a finished composition which will immediately be "snatched up" by a music publisher. Often, the song shark will himself claim to be a publisher, and will tell the songwriter that his only expense will be in "defraying half the costs of publication."

External links

• What is this "song-poem"? (American Song-Poem Music Archives)

See also

• Vanity press

References

• {{Cite web| last= Zimmerman | first=Kevin | title=Beware the Song Shark | url = http://www.songwriter101.com/articles/entry/Beware_the_Song_Shark_ | year=n.d. | publisher=Songwriter 101 }}
• {{Cite web| title = Fleecing The Indie Community: The Song Shark Controversy Part I | first=John | last=Foxworthy | date=12 August 2003 | publisher=Music Dish | url=http://www.musicdish.com/mag/index.php3?id=8569}}