How To Keep Your Song Ideas Organized (Like Pro Songwriters)

Hey SongTown! Marty Dodson here, and today, we’re diving deep into a topic that can make or break your songwriting career—organizing your song ideas, titles, and melodies.

If you’ve ever found yourself fumbling through endless voice memos, scrolling through a jumbled mess of notes, or forgetting that one golden idea you had last month, you’re not alone. I’ve been there. But I also learned early on that having an organized system for your ideas is the difference between landing a hit song or letting a great idea slip away forever.

Marty Dodson and I have written songs that changed our lives, and many of those started as a well-organized title, melody, or lyrical idea. So today, I’m going to share how pro songwriters keep track of their ideas—and how you can do the same to write better songs, book better co-writes, and make sure your ideas actually see the light of day.

---

Why Organizing Your Ideas is a Game Changer

Song ideas are currency in this business. They can be the golden ticket that gets you into writing rooms you wouldn’t otherwise be in. Early in my career, I was lucky enough to co-write with Jim Collins. One day, we sat down and he said, “Let’s write something with a reggae feel, maybe for Kenny Chesney.” Immediately, I thought, I have the perfect idea! But I couldn’t quite remember it.

Thankfully, I had a system. I opened my song idea database and searched “reggae.” Boom—there it was:

“Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven, Nobody Wants to Go Now.”

That song went on to be a #1 hit for Kenny Chesney. And it never would have happened if I hadn’t organized my ideas.

If you can’t find your ideas, they don’t exist. That’s the cold, hard truth.

---

How to Organize Song Titles & Lyric Ideas

Step 1: Use a Searchable Database

There are plenty of tools out there, but I personally use Airtable. It’s simple, searchable, and lets me organize my ideas in a way that makes sense for songwriting.

Here’s how I structure it:

• Title – The actual song idea.
• Notes – A few lines about what I was thinking when I wrote it down.
• Tags – Keywords like “love,” “breakup,” “life,” or even a genre like “reggae” or “pop ballad.”
• Target Artist – If I think it would be a great idea for an artist like Kenny Chesney, I tag it.

This means that when I walk into a co-write and someone says, “Let’s write a life song,” I just type “life” into my database and instantly have 50+ ideas ready to go.

Compare that to someone scrolling through endless iPhone notes going, “I know I had a great idea somewhere…” You never want to be that person in a co-write.

---

How to Organize Melodies & Musical Ideas

Step 2: Label Your Voice Memos

We’ve all seen this disaster play out:

A young artist in a co-write says, “I had this great melody last month, let me find it.”

Cue five minutes of them scrolling through their phone, listening to random snippets. By the time they finally find it, the energy in the room is gone.

Here’s what pro songwriters do instead:

1. Every time you record a melody, label it immediately.
   • Example: “Upbeat Pop Melody – Great for Female Artist”
   • Or: “Western Guitar Groove – Midtempo”
2. Tag it with keywords so you can find it later.

When I need an idea, I search my voice memos by tags like:

• “Female Pop Ballad”
• “Guitar-driven Western Groove”
• “Danceable Funk Vibe”

This saves so much time and keeps the creative flow alive in the writing room.

---

Be Intentional: Tag Your Ideas for the Right Co-Writers

Step 3: Target Your Ideas to Specific Writers or Artists

Great songwriters don’t just throw ideas at the wall. They curate their best ideas for the right people.

In my database, I tag my ideas with co-writing ideas like this:

• Ideas for Paul Overstreet – He’s great at classic country storytelling.
• Ideas for Sync Licensing – I save up modern, cinematic ideas for my pop producer co-writes.
• Ideas for Specific Artists – Even if I’m not writing with Kenny Chesney, I know the kind of song he’d cut.

That way, when I walk into a session, I instantly pull up ideas tailored for that co-writer.

This is a step that separates pros from amateurs.

---

Industry-Standard Tools for Song Organization

Step 4: Use Professional Tools to Store & Share Demos

Once you have a song idea recorded, where do you keep it?

I use Session Studio and Disco—both industry-standard platforms that every serious songwriter should know about.

• Session Studio:
  • Stores all my co-write info, including publishing data.
  • Tracks when I send a demo to an artist or publisher.
  • Session Studio notifies me when they listen to it. (No more guessing if they heard it!)
• Disco:
  • Lets me store songs with lyrics attached.
  • Sync music supervisors expect Disco links—if you’re pitching for film/TV, you need this.

These tools keep your songs from getting lost in the void.

---

Why This Matters: The Difference Between Success and Missed Opportunities

Songwriting is a business. Every idea is an asset.

The pros don’t just write great songs. They stay organized so they can actually finish and pitch them.

Think about it:

• If I had lost the idea for “Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven”, that #1 hit wouldn’t exist.
• If I had to waste time scrolling through random notes, I might have lost the energy in a writing session.
• If I didn’t tag ideas for specific artists, I might have missed my shot at writing something perfect for them.

This is why having a system matters.

---

Final Thoughts: Take Action Now

If you take one thing from this article, let it be this:

📌 Start organizing your song ideas today.

✅ Create a searchable database for your lyrics & titles.
✅ Label your voice memos with searchable tags.
✅ Be intentional about who you write each idea with.
✅ Use industry tools to store and share your demos.

The difference between hit songwriters and struggling ones isn’t just talent. It’s how well they manage their ideas.

If you do this, you’ll write better songs, book better co-writes, and be ready when the right opportunity comes along.

Now get out there, get organized, and start writing your next hit.

Cheers, y’all!

— Marty Dodson