Ministry Update
2018 Update
“To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven” –
Ecclesiastes 3:1 NKJV
August 1, 2018
This year I took action in regards to my publishing that always seemed a long way off on the horizon of my songwriting career. My present life and that horizon finally converged just a few weeks ago – I exercised the reversion clause option of my original contract.
In the spring of 1989, I signed an exclusive songwriter contract with a brand new Christian music publisher known then as Integrity’s Hosanna! Music. I was a fledgling worship songwriter, and thrilled at the opportunity to partner with a ministry committed to the work of bringing people into the manifest presence of God through anointed worship music. That was right down my alley! Amazingly, that contract was renewed every three years – seven times altogether – until it expired in 2011. The end of my contractual relationship with my long-time publisher ran out at the same time they were sold to the David C. Cook Company. You could say it marked the end of an era, of sorts, both for me and for Integrity Music.
No songwriter should ever sign a contract without a reversion clause. This simply means that if the publisher does not obtain a recording of a song written and submitted for publication within a specified time period (usually the contract period), then the ownership of the song reverts back to the songwriter. If, that is, the writer formally exercises the option. And I did.
I feel a little strange, truth be told. Songs that once belonged to someone else, though created by me, are now wholly mine. All the “worship hits,” pardon the expression, remain with Integrity Music. That would include songs like “Ancient Words,” “Be Magnified,” and “More Precious Than Silver.” The lesser known ones return to me. There are some real gems there, if you ask me.
Now for some housekeeping: Here’s a partial list of songs that have reverted in ownership to me as of June 30, 2018. If the song was co-written, only my share reverts. The correct copyright is now:
© (year) Lynn DeShazo Music/ASCAP, Admin. by Ready Writer Music, PO Box 43097, Birmingham, AL 35243.
SoundCloud.com – posted song demos
(some these have free chord charts posted on my website)
- All Fall Down (Worthy Are You)
- Amen
- Here On Earth (DeShazo/Sadler)
- King of All the Earth (DeShazo/Sadler)
This song posted on SoundCloud by Carlos Perdomo (artist name: cperdomo, or search on song title) - Let All Mortal Flesh (trad. w/ new verse & bridge)
- Mercy’s Sacrifice (DeShazo/Neale)
- Near the Cross
- Praise Our God (DeShazo/Cook/Cook)
- Prayer for Jerusalem (DeShazo/Sadler)
This song recorded and posted on SoundCloud by Carlos Perdomo (artist: cperdomo, or search on song title) - Ruach of God
This song also posted on SoundCloud by Carlos Perdomo (artist: cperdomo, or search on song title; also a very nice instrumental version). - Shadow of El-Shaddai (DeShazo/Riddle)
- The Ancient Paths (DeShazo/Baroni)
- What Wondrous Love (trad., new verse)
DeShazo “Indie” Project Title (Year Released)
MORE PRECIOUS THAN SILVER: The Songs of Lynn DeShazo (2007)
- Every Morning
- You Are My Refuge
- Fallen on Him (DeShazo/Baloche)
- We Will Remember (DeShazo/Slaughter)
ANCIENT WORDS (2005)
- Come Jesus Come (DeShazo/Sadler)
- It Is Good (DeShazo/Tuttle)
- Hallelujah! Our Passover Lamb
- There’s A Table (DeShazo/Sadler)
- The Gates of Zion
- Learn to Love
- Walking In Your Ways (The Ten Commandments Song)
THE DIAMOND TURNS (2001)
- Love Is Stronger
- A Vessel For Your Glory
- Prophetic Song
A MIGHTY LOVE (1997)
- God’s Gonna Take Good Care of Me
- You’re Worthy of Glory
- A Mighty Love
- There’s A Whole Lot Of Healing
- Fill the Earth With Glory
THE LYNN DESHAZO COLLECTION (1994)
- Shema, Israel! (’84)
- Come Bless the Lord (’89)
- Once More (There Is A River) (’89)
BE MAGNIFIED (1992)
- I Waited Patiently
- Eyes to See Your Kingdom Come
- God Is
OTHERS
- Fixing My Eyes on Jesus
- Radio Brother
- O the Blood
- Wild Rose
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