Lazy Bee Scripts
Guidelines for Submitting Music for Publication

    

"It is quite untrue that the English people don't appreciate music. They may not understand it but they absolutely love the noise it makes."
- Sir Thomas Beecham

A few words about copyright
Lazy Bee Scripts will not publish any material which is copyrighted by anyone other than the person submitting the work. If you have written lyrics to a Beatles tune, we may (possibly) publish the lyrics, but we will certainly not publish the music. If the copyright belongs to someone else, we will not touch it.
On the other hand, we will happily publish original music and original arrangements of music which is out of copyright. (This includes, for example, traditional tunes or the music of Gilbert and Sullivan.)
 
What our customers expect (and therefore what we need from you)
When we publish a musical piece (with original music), we publish sheet music in the form of a piano and vocal score, with chord symbols above the vocal line.  (We use this format because it communicates the musical information to the widest range of musicians.)
We may also publish other material (conductor's score and band parts, backing CDs and vocal CDs) but we do so as optional extras.  The fundamental is the piano and vocal score and it is the responsibility of the composer to deliver that to us in a format we can use.
 
If you wish to submit music for publication with a script
Firstly, make sure you tell us about it!  (Don't start by sending music; start by telling us about it.)
When you send us a query e-mail (see the Guide to Getting Your Script Published) please tell us about the music and tell us the format in which you propose to deliver it to us.
 
Music can be submitted to Lazy Bee Scripts in the following formats (however, see below)
  • Sibelius files
  • MusicXML - this is an export option from recent versions of Finale
  • Enigma Transportable Format (ETF) - this is an export option from older versions of Finale
  • Midi files (with each line of the score played on a separate Midi instrument)
 
For pieces with small musical content, we may also consider
  • Printed scores
  • Handwritten scores
  • Printed or handwritten scores as graphics files or .pdf files
but please ask us first - do not assume that we have the capacity to handle such material.
 
Transcription from Audio
Transcribing a score from an audio format (CD, mp3 file, .wav file, etc.) is a time-consuming process for a skilled (read 'expensive') musician.  Lazy Bee Scripts does not provide a transcription service free-of-charge.  However, we may be able to put the composer in touch with a transcription service used by (but not part of) Lazy Bee Scripts.  The use of this service will be the composer's responsibility in terms of timescale and content, and financially.
 
The Submission Process
When you have told us about your script and about the music, we will decide what to do next.  If we like the idea, we will either ask to see the script first or both the script and the score.  Once again, please don't send us anything until we've agreed that we want to look at it!
The Guide to Getting Your Script Published will explain the submission process.