Posts by Marty Dodson
5 Things To Do Before You Pitch Your Song
Pitching songs that are not ready or that are not in the ballpark for the artist you are pitching to is one of the fastest ways to burn bridges. In fact, doing either of those things is effectively pouring gasoline on the bridge. Way too many people pitch songs prematurely and significantly hurt their chances…
Read MoreHow To Rewrite Song Lyrics
One of the biggest things most people could do to improve their writing is to master the art of rewriting song lyrics. For my whole career, I’ve heard the saying… “Good songs are written but great songs are rewritten.” I have found that to be true in most cases. Sometimes, a song just falls out…
Read MoreIn The Writer’s Room With John King
Artist and hit songwriter John King joins us in the SongTown Studio to sing his hit song “We Went” sung by Randy Houser and to talk about how songwriters can better understand writing for artists. Clay & Marty’s 10-day video series: This video series will help you level-up your songs and finish them faster. CLICK HERE to…
Read MoreThe Songwriter Business Plan: 5 Steps To Success
One of the things I discovered when I started mentoring writers is that very few of us have a songwriter business plan. That may be the curse of the creative mind – we get so lost in making stuff up that we lose sight of the business side of things that must be tended to…
Read More5 Fun Songwriting Exercises: Improve Your Writing AND Have A Good Time
Here are some writing exercises I do when I want to sharpen my songwriting skills and just have a good time with it, putting no pressure on myself. Ready for some songwriting fun?!? Thumb through a magazine looking for song ideas. Sometimes when I’m on an airplane, I pick up the inflight magazine and challenge…
Read MoreSongwriters: Do You Want Something You’ve Never Had?
The Definition of Songwriting Insanity… I’ve read that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results. I believe there is a lot of truth in that statement. If you want something you’ve never had, then you are going to have to do things you’ve never done. It’s shocks many people…
Read MoreIn The Writer’s Room With Big Kenny
Multi-platinum recording artist and a hit songwriter, Big Kenny joins us in the SongTown Studio to share important tips to remember when dealing in the music business and songwriting! Kickoff 2024 with the SongTown MasterClass for Songwriters. Led by multi-#1/Grammy nominated songwriters… Clay Mills & Marty Dodson. Our students have gone on to write #1…
Read MoreSongwriting Goals 101 – With Hitmaker Marty Dodson
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…
Read MoreAre You Blowing The Most Important Line Of Your Song?
Most songwriters feel their title is the most important words of a song. But, you could be missing the boat if you blow this line… Multi #1 songwriter Marty Dodson & Clay Mills give the inside scoop on how they create songs that matter more. Clay & Marty’s 10-day video series: This video series will…
Read MoreYou’re the Hero, SongTown Is Your Songwriting Sidekick
“In SongTown you are the hero and we are your songwriting sidekick.” ~Marty Dodson So many songwriting sites advertise the amazing things they can do for you. They will “turn you pro”, introduce you to someone who will magically “get” you and get all of your songs cut, or take you up to breathe the…
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