Hit Producer Daniel Ross Shares His Track Building Philosophy

Daniel Ross is a Songwriter and Producer at Big Machine Music Publishing. His songs have been recorded by Morgan Wallen, Jake Owen, Chase Rice, Eli Young Band, Granger Smith, RaeLynn, Seaforth, Robert Counts, Troy Cartwright and more. Production credits for Joey Hendricks, Lauren Weintraub, Austin Burke and more. In this video Daniel shares his proven…

Read More

Songwriters: Are You Still Writing Mostly Ballads?

  One of the biggest “ailments” I see when I mentor songwriters is that they are writing WAY too many ballads. It seems like many of us default to slow songs. While a well written ballad can be very successful and meaningful, there are also many reasons it is NOT a great idea to write…

Read More

Real Songwriting Is Not Fast And Easy!

 Let’s talk… This morning several ads popped up on my Facebook feed for things like… Learning To Write Great Songs In Just 3 Days, Writing Songs Really Fast, or Earn A Hundred Thousands Dollars In First Year For Writing Movie Songs…oh my… I must be the slowest songwriter on earth…I’ve been a professional writer for 25+ years and still learning everyday to play guitar, write better songs—and…

Read More

Clay and Marty React to Viewer Comments

SongTown co-founders and multi #1 songwriters, Clay Mills & Marty Dodson, give their reactions to viewer comments. Heartfelt, funny, and always real. Clay & Marty’s 10-day video series: This video series will help you level-up your songs and finish them faster. CLICK HERE to begin!  SongTown Press Books: Mastering Melody Writing : Check It Out The Songwriter’s Guide…

Read More

Songwriters: You’ve Got This!

One of the most common questions people ask me is “Do you think I have what it takes to do this?” They are usually referring to their music. In reality, the current quality of their music is not the primary factor in answering that question. When I got my first writing deal, I didn’t have…

Read More

Writing an Explosive Hit Chorus in 3 Steps

writing an explosive hit chorus

Over the course of my career, I’ve had a diverse collection of artists sing my songs, from R&B artist Babyface to rocker Darius Rucker to country’s Reba McEntire. I believe the reason for this lies in my ninja power for writing an explosive hit chorus— songs that leap out of the speaker when they hit…

Read More

Empowered Songwriters Vs. Non-Empowered Songwriters

It struck me recently that there are basically two kinds of writers I work with. There are empowered songwriters and non-empowered songwriters. Empowered songwriters write confidently and take chances. They don’t complain about the state of the music business or whine about someone not getting them cuts. They realize that THEY are in charge of…

Read More

Songwriting Hack #2 – “Lay It Down, Repeat It, And Move On”

If you’re like me, you’ve probably noticed over the last year that there have been quite a few songs popular in both pop and country music that have the same chords in the verse and the chorus. Yet, they still manage to keep the songs interesting. So today I wanted to talk about a technique…

Read More

4 Tips To Help Songwriters Get Better Song Critiques

Sometimes, people get frustrated with the kind of feedback they get on their songs, but when we dig into the issue, we discover that they really didn’t give the feedback giver much to go on. Here are some tips to help you get better song critiques back on your songs: Don’t submit finished demos if…

Read More

How To Get Motivated To Write More & Better Songs

Over the last 10 years at SongTown I have personally responded to thousands of aspiring songwriter emails. Many want to write better songs but can’t seem to find the answer to how to get motivated to write on a regular basis. If this is you, you are not alone. We all feel the pull of emails,…

Read More