SongTown: Keeping The Craft Of Songwriting Alive
Eight years ago, fellow pro songwriter Marty Dodson and I made a pact to do all we could to keep the craft of songwriting alive. We were chatting at a local coffee shop in Nashville, Tennessee. We discussed how we’d learned early on in our careers from master songwriters who passed their knowledge and torches…
Read More5 Second Verse Lyric Mistakes That Can Destroy Your Song
There are many ways that a song can start to go wrong in the second verse. Don’t let these “song-killers” crop up in YOUR second verses! Here are 5 second verse lyric mistakes than can destroy your songs. 1) Say the same thing as the first verse in different words. You have to give the…
Read MoreShelby Kennedy – Award Winning Songwriter & Industry Executive
Marty talks with award winning songwriter and industry executive, Shelby Kennedy. Shelby talks about his long successful career in the music business as well as where he thinks the music business is headed in the future. He gives advice for up and coming songwriters and talks about his current job managing “Amazing North America”, the…
Read MoreMistakes Melody Writers Make
Writing an impactful, memorable melody can be the difference between writing a good song and a GREAT song! Hit Songwriters Marty and Clay sit down to talk about the common mistakes they hear melody writers make and share some melody hacks that you can apply to your own songs to instantly make them better! Write…
Read MoreHow To Get Artists To Record Your Songs: A Songwriter’s Goal Setting Worksheet
As you set your goals, be sure that each one is something that you can measure. Goals like these can be measured: One of the most important components to reaching any songwriting goal is to know exactly what you’d like to achieve. Here is my How To Get Artists To Record Your Songs goal-setting worksheet…
Read MoreQuick Song Biz Tip: Songwriting Mechanical Royalties 101
What Are Songwriting Mechanical Royalties? Every time a song you’ve written is manufactured (CD, Vinyl, etc) or downloaded on a digital music retail site, or streamed through services like Spotify; songwriting mechanical royalties are paid to you. Mechanical rates are set by the Copyright Royalty Tribunal as part of the Copyright Act of 1976. The…
Read MoreWriting Song Lyrics Vs. Poems
One of the frequent questions we get in SongTown is “How do I write song lyrics?” Many people confuse song lyrics with poetry, but there are some subtle yet important differences. Let’s discuss lyrics vs. poems… So, how are lyrics to a song different from poems? Poems are typically visual pieces and song lyrics are…
Read MoreYour Best Friend in the Music Business
I had a conversation this week with one of my song pluggers. I have worked with this guy for more than 20 years. I consider him my best friend in the music business. Why? He tells me the truth. Always. At one time, I turned in a song I wrote with a young artist. His…
Read More9 Ways Pro Songwriters Beat Writer’s Block
One of the top questions I get asked as a pro songwriter is “how do I beat writer’s block. The worst part of the whole writing experience for many writers is just getting started. It’s those times when we sit down to write and nothing comes out that is most frustrating. We feel like we…
Read MoreSongwriting Is All About Communication
Communication vs. rules… I had a mentoring session with someone recently who was very frustrated. He had read a book by a leading songwriting teacher and had tried to apply all of the songwriting “rules” that the book taught. The end result was that he felt he was writing worse and worse songs the more he…
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