Posts by Marty Dodson

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…

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…

Over the course of my career as a pro songwriter, I’ve learned that most songs boil down to 9 universal songwriting emotions that work in songs. Love No surprise here! Songs like “Eight Days A Week”, “I Honestly Love You” and “Endless Love” are still standards. Unrequited Love “I Can’t Make You Love Me” and…

In a 20+ year music career as a songwriter, I’ve shot myself in the foot so many times that it’s amazing I can walk.  I thought I’d share some of them to help YOU avoid doing the same thing.  Here are some of the worst “shots” I’ve taken in the foot. Getting too excited over…

Hit songwriter Tom Douglas once said, “You can’t write a great song trying to write a great song.” Over the years, we’ve listened to many songs that fail because they try too hard to be brilliant, either lyrically or melodically. Douglas and co-writer Allen Shamblin wrote Miranda Lambert’s “The House That Built Me” – a…

In SongTown, we try to remind everyone often that we rise by lifting each other up. As some of us improve, the bar gets raised and others improve trying to reach for that bar. In some ways, the music business is a cut-throat competition, with some similarities to the hunger games. Some people look at it…

Sometimes, it can be hard to stay motivated as a songwriter… Whether you write books, songs, poetry, plays or any other kind of “word” work. When the progress seems slow (or non-existent) and the rewards seem small, here are things I try to do to keep my head in the game. Write what I like.…

It’s fun writing for others… Much of my time is spent writing songs with mass appeal. I enjoy that. It’s fun to have people record your songs, to hear them on the radio, and to watch audiences singing along. But, at times, the pursuit of commercial success can take away some of the pure joy…

I couldn’t possibly count the number of beginning songwriters when asked, “Who would you pitch this to?”, give answers like: Keith Urban, Katie Perry, Blake Shelton, Garth Brooks, Rhianna, etc. I’ve been writing professionally for 20+ years, I have had multiple #1 songs and over 125 songs recorded, yet I have never had a song…