If you are trying to write songs to pitch to artists, then you MUST learn to think like an artist. Here are questions that artists ask when they choose songs. They are also questions I ask myself as I’m writing to make sure I’m writing something an artist would want...
1) Diversify – learn to write lots of different kinds of songs. Your goal should be to have a great song that works for every artist. 2) Be honest about your strengths and weaknesses. If you can be honest with yourself, you can find people that are strong where you are...
I’ve had people come up to me and introduce themselves in a setting where I suspected that they were also songwriters. When I ask if they are writers they say, “Not a real writer – I’ve never had anything recorded”. That always breaks my heart. I believe that commercial success does...
Here are the basics that you need to write a great song in any genre: 1) A recognizable structure – people can get confused if a song does not fit one of the common song structure patterns. We are used to songs being in some variation of the Verse, Chorus, Verse,...
One of the biggest mistakes I see rising songwriters make is pitching songs improperly. So, I wanted to give you some guidelines to help YOU pitch songs wisely and to not be that guy/girl that burns bridges by pitching the wrong way. Here are some things to consider when pitching. Follow...
1) Write a better first line. Interesting first lines grab the listener and make them want to hear more. They can be the difference in an artist or A&R person listening all the way through or passing on your song right away. 2) Make your chorus bigger. A chorus that...
We get lots of questions here in “town” that relate to the economics of songwriting. I’m going to try to break down some of the basics and help explain WHY things work the way they do. Let’s start with song splits. In my world, we always split the song equally among...
I’ve had people come up to me and introduce themselves in a setting where I suspected that they were also songwriters. When I ask if they are writers they say, “Not a real writer – I’ve never had anything recorded”. That always breaks my heart. I believe that commercial success does...
Even those who have written thousands of songs could benefit from reviewing the basics of what a beginning writer does when writing their first song. Every now and then, someone joins SongTown who is just trying to learn how to write that first song - to turn their own...
I believe that it’s never too late to be what you might have been. I was in my mid thirties when I started trying to write professionally. A friend of mine just landed a starring role (Her first) in a movie with some HUGE actors at age 49. I...