by Marty Dodson
Dec 11, 2023
Songwriters have all kinds of goals…
Clay and I do a lot of mentoring sessions. One of the big discoveries we have made in those sessions is that people have all kinds of different goals for their music. And we have discovered that almost every answer to every question people ask us depends on THEIR answer to the question “What are you shooting for?”
Some are just writing for themselves and want to get better for their own satisfaction. Others want to hear just ONE of their songs on the radio someday. Many are hoping to make a living writing songs. Your end goal, your target determines so much about what you need to do to improve.
If you are just writing for your own satisfaction…
You don’t have to worry about whether or not your lyrics or melodies are commercial. You don’t have to worry about what is working on the radio. You don’t have to stick to topics that are commercial. You can paint the singer in whatever light you choose. To improve, you mainly concentrate on matching melody to lyric and on making your lyric make sense.
If you hope to get a song on the radio someday…
Then you need to pay more attention to what is happening on the radio. In addition to writing what YOU want to write, you look for titles that lend themselves to broader commercial appeal. You write those ideas in song forms that are commercial and have wide appeal (big choruses, catchy melodies, etc). You mix in writing for yourself and writing for contemporary artists.
If you hope to make a living writing songs…
Then you need to treat writing like a job. You show up and do it whether you feel like it or not. You learn the market. You study the artists and you become a student of what is working on the radio. You work hard on hooks and you hold your writing to the highest standards. You paint the singer in a good light. You are continually working to make your songs more commercial.
What is your goal?
So, take a little time this week and ask yourself, “What AM I shooting for?” The answer to that question determines that NEXT big step.
Marty Dodson
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