Frequently Asked Questions

For any question that is not answered to your satisfaction below, feel free to contact us here.

No. The sheet music (unless you order the Group Bundle) has pay-per-copy pricing. So please don't print any more copies than you have paid for.

You should order the vocal solo. It’s priced on a per copy basis, at $3.99. But if you intend to make 2 copies or more (for example, one for a singer/chorister and one for an accompanist), you may want to order the Group Bundle, which at $9.99, may be a good price point for you, plus it gives you a lot more.

The right to 1) make up to 5 copies of the sheet music and 2) use the recordings (original and accompaniment track) as needed for your group. For example, you can put the recording on a CD for your group, or you can use the accompaniment track to practice and/or perform with. Please do not share the recordings with anyone outside your group. 

I charge .50/copy for extra copies – after you have ordered the group bundle. Go here to order extra copies of any song.

No. The songbook and CD are meant for families, not for groups. There’s a statement at the bottom of every piece of music in the book that says, “Copying this piece is expressly prohibited, whether for personal, nonprofit, educational, church use, or otherwise.”

This is why:

By the time I pay all the associated costs of printing the songbook and CD, I make less than 20 cents per piece of music. You can understand, then, why I don’t want people making extra copies. 20 cents is already a CRAZY low price for something like this.

 And this brings me to the next question…which you probably weren’t going to ask.

Probably not. After we’re sold out of the current printing, I don’t think I’ll print any more. I never even considered that people would use the book to copy music for primary or other groups, but I know they’re doing that because my digital sales are down by quite a bit this year. And though it’s not all about the money for me, it has to keep coming in at a certain level or I can’t keep doing this.

Not at this time.If you order the number of copies you intend to print (and don't make more copies than that) you have my permission to perform the song you have ordered.

Here are the steps to be able to do that: 

1. Do not change the lyrics or the music. Please stay true to the way I wrote it.

2. Obviously, implied in the permission to perform any of my music and post an online video, is the requirement to legally purchase the number of copies you will be making.

3. Please give me attribution in both the video title and embedded at the beginning of the video: "Name of Song," written by Shawna Edwards. Also, if you would link to my website in the description, that would be great - this way: https://shawnaedwardsmusic.com

4. When you have finished creating your video, and before you post it, I request that you send the link to my email: shawna@shawnaedwardsmusic.com for my approval. I approve almost all videos. 

5. You should know that I have no control over YouTube's algorithm for flagging videos for copyright. They occasionally and sporadically flag videos that use my music, whether it's the original or a cover. You should also know that there are no repercussions for that unless I ask YouTube to take it down. I rarely do that, and would only consider doing that if the above policies were not followed, or if the song was used in a degrading or obscene manner.

Yes. Right now, I do not require an extra license to do that. I'm sympathetic to the Covid restrictions that still require many congregations to meet virtually, and consider a livestream, under those circumstances, the same as I would a live performance. 

I would appreciate, if possible, if you or the person who is conducting your worship service, would give me attribution by adding "written by Shawna Edwards" after announcing the name of the song.

Yes, for most videos, I can send you a downloadable link. Then you can play it straight off your computer. I charge $10 to do that. I'm not set up on my website to accept money for that, so if you want a downloadable link for a music video, please contact me using the contact option in the main menu. I will respond to your email with instructions for payment, and as soon as you have paid, I'll email the video link. 

*I trust that you will never send that video link to anyone else, as that would be a  violation of copyright. Anyone else who wants a personal copy can go through the process above to get it. 

It depends on what technology/device you have. I will do my best to give you clear directions, but unfortunately, I can’t predict how your particular technology setup will act. But here are the basic instructions:

First of all, you will have a much better chance of success if you download the music (whether sheet music or recordings) to a computer, not to a mobile device. In general, mobile devices (especially iPhones) are not very download friendly. Next: I have given you multiple download attempts in case you have problems downloading. These multiple attempts don’t give you the right to make more copies than you have paid for, or to share downloads with anyone else.

 Here’s how to download: 

After you have placed your order, a thank you page will appear. Click “Download Now” on that page. Your file(s) should come up immediately. On many computers, the file(s) will automatically be downloaded to your default download directory. If that happens, then you’re done!If that doesn’t happen, the files will just open on your computer. In that case, click on “File” then “Save.” A pop-up box will appear that allows you to choose where to save the file on your computer. Choose a preferred location and click “Save.”Finally, if you’re unable to download successfully, please contact me by clicking on Contact in the main menu. Make sure you tell me what product you ordered. I’ll help you get the downloads an alternate way. I try to respond within 24 hours, and almost always within 48. 

It's a good question. (Haha) The answer is, it was just time. In order to cover my costs, which continue to go up every year, I decided to increase the price of the product I have that is priced the lowest, relative to its value: the group bundle. I've had this website for 8 years, and in that time, this is only my second price increase. 

PS. I appreciate every single person that makes an effort to take care of my copyright, and to be fair with the way they handle my music. I recently had a woman email me who had made an extra copy of one of my songs because she had to change accompanists. She wanted me to know that she had made an extra copy, and why, and she wanted to make sure I knew that she had ordered another copy to pay for it.

Bless her. :)