Songwriters: Relax and Create Better Songs

Last month was a busy month of mentoring. I believe I mentored 6 people in just one week. One theme that kept coming up is that people are really stressed out over getting their songs to “the right people“. So my message today is to relax and create. To begin with, I’m still not sure…

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Write A Great Song Every Time

Clay and Marty share their best tips on leveling up your songs- every time you sit down to write! Let’s get your A-Game bangin’! 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!  SongTown Press Books: Mastering Melody Writing : Check It Out The…

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Songwriters: Why You’re Not Getting Songs Cut

The biggest question most aspiring songwriters have is “Why am I not getting songs recorded by artists?”  In my experience, there are several primary reasons people don’t experience the success they want with their songs.  Here they are: Your songs aren’t good enough yet. In more than 90% of the cases I’ve encountered, this is…

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Writing with Artists vs. Writing to Pitch

Marty & Clay drop some bomb tips on writing a song with a recording artist vs. writing to pitch a song to many artists. Pros have two different approaches and here’s how you can be successful at both. Clay & Marty’s 10-day video series: This video series will help you level-up your songs and finish…

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Top Ways To Complicate Your Songs and Confuse Your Audience

There’s a number of common songwriting errors that complicate the lyric and confuse the listener. If you want to leave your audience scratching their heads (not recommended), try these techniques for songwriting confusion. Switch your pronouns around. Include several female characters in your song and then use the pronouns “she” or “her”. This gets them…

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Taking Lyrics from Good to Great: 4 Pro Tips

Multi #1 songwriters Clay Mills & Marty Dodson share their top 4 tips for taking your song lyrics from good to great. Whether you’re wanting to know how to write a song or you are a more experienced writer. The SongTown On SongTown Podcast will help you level up your songwriting skills. Clay & Marty’s…

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Pros Reveal Top Secrets To Songwriting Success

Pay no attention to the cheesy AI driven title 😂. Clay and Marty have a little fun and drop real pro tips on creating songwriting Success. 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!  SongTown Press Books: Mastering Melody Writing : Check It…

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What Do Publishers Look For In Songs?

For many songwriters and artists, trying to figure out what publishers look for in songs can often feel like stumbling through an endless maze. Often this search for what someone else is looking for leaves an artists or writer losing touch with their own talent and uniqueness. Throughout my career I’ve managed to navigate this…

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Songwriting: The Starting Is The Hardest Part

That first awkward creative step… I’ve always heard that the first step is the hardest. That is particularly true in creative endeavors such as songwriting. Getting over the hurdle of “I can’t do this!” or “What if I fail?” is sometimes so daunting that we give up before we have tried. The paralysis brought on by our fears…

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The “Instant Melancholy” Chord Substitution

The Melancholy Chord Substitution. I’ve been blessed to get away with some interesting chord changes over the course of my songwriting career. Those songs found their way onto pop and country mainstream radio—two formats that, right or wrong, have a rap for simple chords.   Whether it was sneaking in a 2 Major Sus chord…

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