I'm currently offering Custom Songs for any budget! Name your price!
I was an indie rock performer during the golden age of the Chapel Hill music scene when a fan asked me to write a song as a birthday gift for their friend—and I’ve been doing it ever since. Believe it or not, my first custom song was delivered on a cassette tape!
For a few years after that, I mailed all my songs on CDr, but things really took off in the early 2000s when I launched my website and started sending songs as MP3s. No postage, no buying tapes or CDs—it was a game changer. For years, I wrote custom songs for people all over the world, recording on one iMac after another. Many became repeat customers. Locally, the business helped me strengthen bonds with fans who came to my performances.
Custom Serenade provided a steady income and was a huge part of a glorious era. (I’m tempted to say “glory days,” but honestly, I still feel like I’m in them.) Other custom song websites came and went, but I stayed steady. And while there’s no way to prove it, I believe I run the longest-standing custom songwriting service on the web.
Some of those other sites relied on crowdsourcing, paying desperate songwriters far less than they were worth. Others were run by people like me, who discovered a great way to connect with people and make money through music—until they realized that maintaining a website and home recording studio eats into profits. Most gave up. I stuck with it because I love it—and, by gosh, I was good at it. I had my writing and recording process down to an art. My lyrics and songs resonated with people, and each new advance in technology made the process even more efficient.
But technology is a double-edged sword. When AI came along, it basically wiped out the custom song industry (if you can even call it an industry—it’s more like a hustle or a gig) overnight. Why pay three hundred bucks for a wedding song when a bot will do it for free?
For some reason, though, I’m not bitter. The world turns, things change, genies come out of bottles, and you can’t put them back. I’m sure someone will eventually come up with an outside-the-box way to use AI for songwriting that blows everyone away. More power to them.
In the meantime, I’m still here, writing and recording custom songs the old-fashioned way. These days, I work with any budget, tailoring each song to what my clients can afford. If you're interested, get in touch!
If you're interested in a custom song, or if you want to reach me for any reason, please email:
billysugarfixATgmailDOTcom
