Posts by Marty Dodson
What Should A Song Demo Cost? A Songwriter’s Guide
WAY too often, I run into people that have been taken advantage of in regard to paying for a song demo. So, I wanted to give you all the info you need to answer the question of what should a song demo cost. Here are several demo scenarios you might find yourself in… You write…
Read MoreSongwriting Economics 101 – Song Splits
We get lots of questions here in “town” that relate to the economics of songwriting. I’m going to break down some of the basics of song splits and help explain WHY things work the way they do. Song splits in my pro writing world work like this… We always split the song equally among every…
Read MoreWhy Did You Start Songwriting?
I believe that it is good for all songwriters to stay in touch with what made them want to write a song in the first place. For me, here were some reasons that I put pen to paper and created melodies: I had a crush on the girl down the street and wanted to write…
Read MorePivotal Moments: Can Change Everything For A Songwriter
Looking back on my career, there have been a number of pivotal songwriting moments that really changed everything. There was the day when, after trying to get the songwriting thing going for 2 years with no success, a friend of mine offered me a job. Actually it was a career. Great salary, benefits. Writing instruction manuals for companies.…
Read MoreWhy Do You Write Songs?
Almost all of the people I write with are trying to get their songs recorded and make a living by doing so. It is easy to get so caught up in the pursuit of something commercial that I lose sight of the reasons I started writing songs in the first place. Those reasons, if lost…
Read More6 Errors That Kill A Song Lyric
Verb tenses changing, or going back and forth in a weird way. This is one of the mistakes I see most often when critiquing song lyrics. Switching between past, present and future can really mess your lyric up if you are not super clear about what is going on. Let someone else read your lyric…
Read MoreLetting Go: 5 Music Business Life Lessons
Today’s music business life lessons are about letting go. Last week when we were trying to go to Spain, my wife and I got to the airport at 9:45 AM. Our flight was supposed to leave at 12:20. We got a little snack and waited at our gate. As luck would have it, the trouble…
Read MoreLittle Steps Along The Way
A couple of weeks ago in New York City, I found myself doing some things I never dreamed of doing. In fact, I never set out to do them. They just needed to be done and I was the only one in the room who had the skill set to pull them off. The play…
Read MoreMy Song Is On “Hold”… Help!!!!
Now that a number of SongTownians are getting songs pitched and some of them are being put on ‘hold’, I wanted to talk about what a hold means and how to act when you get one. First of all – what is a hold? A hold is when an artist or an artist’s representative asks…
Read MoreIf I Can Become A Pro Songwriter, YOU Can Too!
In many ways, I am the least likely person to become a hit songwriter. I grew up with serious self-esteem issues. I’ve always been short and was self-conscious about it most of my life. I was never popular in school. I am painfully shy and introverted. I grew up believing that you should ALWAYS…
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