Songwriting Jumpstarts

Are you in a songwriting rut? In this episode of the SongTown On Songwriting podcast, Marty and Clay share their top songwriting tips for jumpstarting your writing and taking it to the next level. Clay & Marty’s 10-day video series: This video series will help you level-up your songs and finish them faster. CLICK HERE to begin! …

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How We Raise The Tide As Songwriters

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…

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5 Ways To Stay Motivated As A Songwriter

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.…

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Writing A Song For An Audience of One

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…

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The Little Victories

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…

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The 10,000 Hour Theory And Songwriting

The 10,000 hour theory… I was reading a magazine on an airplane the other day and ran across an article about Dan McLaughlin, an Oregon man who quit his job and decided to try to become a golf pro by testing out the 10,000 hour theory made popular by Malcolm Gladwell in his book “Outliers”…

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Songwriters: Where Is The Bar?

How High Is The Bar For Songwriters? When you mention the word “bar” to songwriters, most of them start craving a beer.  But that’s not the bar I’m talking about here.  I’m talking about the “How good does my song have to be to get it recorded by an artist?” bar.  Not every songwriter wants…

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5 Things Music Publishers Look For In A Songwriter

Music Publishers seem to be the “holy grail” for songwriters trying to get that first cut. Somehow, many people have the idea that if they could just “get a publisher,” all of their problems would be solved and the cuts would start rolling in. While having a great publisher can be very beneficial, “getting a…

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How K.I.S.S. Will Transform Your Songwriting Process

Ten-time #1 songwriter Marty Dodson reveals a technique he uses with his students to instantly level-up their songwriting. Keep It Simple Songwriters! Learn to write lyrics that hit your audience hard in their feels. Adding More Heart To Your Songs : Online CrashCourse Change the way the world hears your songs! 🔥 In this 3-week…

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No Songwriter Excuses!

If there is one thing that I have learned in my journey through the music business it’s that songwriter excuses never made anyone a success in the music business. We’ve all heard them… “It’s harder than ever to get a cut” “You have to write with the artist to get a cut” “I write songs…

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