Author: Marty Dodson

  Clay and I continually run into people throughout Songtown territories that have songwriter  "write-up-itis". We can spot the affliction immediately because we have both battled this dreadful and potentially fatal disease in the past. The symptoms generally start after you write the first song that you think is really commercially...

There are some simple steps you can take to improve your songwriting instantly.  Try these steps to see a dramatic improvement overnight: Write with someone who is strong where you are weak. Years ago, my mentor told me to identify my strengths (honestly) and to let him know what I thought...

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...

One of the things I discovered when I started mentoring songwriters is that very few of us have a 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...

  Most of us songwriters are happy-go-lucky types... We waltz into a co-write with lofty dreams and aspirations and then we boogie our way home with smiles on our faces because we just wrote another "hit" that could change our lives. That's a fun way to approach life for sure. But,...

              The longer I write songs, the more I realize the importance of keeping your songs fresh and mixing things up from time to time.  Here are some ways that I do that: 1. Booking 2-way co-writes with my regular co-writers. Then, I always look for new 3rds to add to...

  Here are the best ways I know to increase your chances of getting a songwriting staff writing deal with a publisher: Get to know music publishers organically. If there's a publisher you are interested in and you are able, go to writer's nights where they are featuring their writers. Buy them...

If you've been hanging around SongTown for a while, you've heard Clay and I talk about the idea that "The Song Is King". When we say that, we mean that, when we write, we are there to serve the song, NOT to serve our own interests....

At SongTown we deal in real... People often ask Clay and me why two writers who have had multiple #1 songs and are still getting cuts would spend time doing something like SongTown? SongTown is the community we wish we had in the early stages of...

I believe that our writing "muscles" are just like any other muscle group. If we want to be as flexible as possible, we have to stretch those muscles from time to time. So, this morning, I wanted to give your brain and maybe your writing muscles a little "Morning Stretch". It...