Posts by Clay Mills
Hall of Fame Songwriter Byron Hill
Marty sits down with Hall of Fame Songwriter Byron Hill who has penned hits such as “Fool Hearted Memory” George Strait, “Nothing On But The Radio” Gary Allan, “Born Country” Alabama and many more! Byron shares his journey through the music business as well as tips and advice for aspiring songwriters! If you are looking…
Read MoreRecording At Home: My Demo Process On A #1 Song I Co-wrote With Darius Rucker
People often ask me if they have to do full-production demos to present songs to publishers or major artist? I do a fair amount of full demos, but I also have had about half of my major cuts from pitching home demos done on a very basic set-up on my mac laptop. The Home Studio…
Read MoreMistakes Lyric Writers Make
Can songs sound good AND make sense? Hit Songwriters Marty and Clay sit down to talk about the common mistakes they see lyric writers make and share lyrics hacks that you can apply to your own songs to instantly make your songs better! Write better songs faster! Clay & Marty’s 10-day video series will help…
Read MoreSongTown: Keeping The Craft Of Songwriting Alive
Eight years ago, fellow pro songwriter Marty Dodson and I made a pact to do all we could to keep the craft of songwriting alive. We were chatting at a local coffee shop in Nashville, Tennessee. We discussed how we’d learned early on in our careers from master songwriters who passed their knowledge and torches…
Read MoreMistakes Melody Writers Make
Writing an impactful, memorable melody can be the difference between writing a good song and a GREAT song! Hit Songwriters Marty and Clay sit down to talk about the common mistakes they hear melody writers make and share some melody hacks that you can apply to your own songs to instantly make them better! Write…
Read MoreQuick Song Biz Tip: Songwriting Mechanical Royalties 101
What Are Songwriting Mechanical Royalties? Every time a song you’ve written is manufactured (CD, Vinyl, etc) or downloaded on a digital music retail site, or streamed through services like Spotify; songwriting mechanical royalties are paid to you. Mechanical rates are set by the Copyright Royalty Tribunal as part of the Copyright Act of 1976. The…
Read More9 Ways Pro Songwriters Beat Writer’s Block
One of the top questions I get asked as a pro songwriter is “how do I beat writer’s block. The worst part of the whole writing experience for many writers is just getting started. It’s those times when we sit down to write and nothing comes out that is most frustrating. We feel like we…
Read More10 Songwriting Tips For Co-Writing On Zoom
As a long time professional songwriter, what used to be an occasional tool for co-writing long-distance, has turned into an everyday affair. In these days of social distancing, co-writing on Zoom has become the norm for scores of creatives around the world. And as a result, many SongTown members have asked me to share my…
Read MoreSara Davis : Mega-Hit Pop Songwriter and SongTown Alum
Marty sits down and talks with Mega-Hit Pop Songwriter Sara Davis. Sara’s song “abcdefu” sung by GAYLE is currently #1 on the Spotify World Chart with more than 160 million streams! Sara shares her journey of songwriting, being a member of SongTown and how finding her songwriting tribe has been a big part of her…
Read More#SongwritingHack 1.03 – “Verses Are The New Chorus”
When you think of using repetition in songs, you usually think of it as a device that’s used in choruses, where you’re repeating a title over and over, or you’re repeating the same words to make a song memorable. But today I want to talk about a few ways that you can actually use repetition…
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