Sync Licensing Secrets: Tucker Scott on Writing Songs That Land in TV & Film

By Clay Mills, SongTown Co-Founder This past month, our SongTown crew had a special guest: Tucker Scott, Creative Manager at The Bus Music Publishing. If you’re dreaming of hearing your song in a TV show, commercial, or movie trailer, Tucker dropped a goldmine of advice on how to craft sync-friendly music that actually gets placed.…

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What a Hit Publisher Wants: Lessons from Elizabeth Brahan

By Clay Mills, SongTown Co-Founder I had the pleasure of sitting in on a Zoom meeting led by hit publisher Elizabeth Brahan, and wow—there was so much wisdom dropped, I just had to share it with you. Elizabeth works every day with rising artists, A&R teams, and major labels, and she’s in the trenches pitching…

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The Secret to Writing Songs That Artists Want to Record

Publisher Ronna Reeves shares the real keys to writing songs that get noticed—and get cut—in today’s music world. When it comes to writing songs that actually get cut, there’s a secret many writers miss: it’s not about being the cleverest or the flashiest—it’s about being the most real! In today’s music world, artists (and their…

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How Do I Submit Songs As A Songwriter To The Music Business? (Updated- 2024)

There seems to be a lot of confusion out there over the question “As a songwriter, how do I submit songs to the music business?” The truth of the matter is that there is no one way to “submit” songs to the music business. When you simplify the “song submission” idea, there are basically three…

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Songwriters: How To Increase Your Chances If You Live Outside A Music Center

As a mentor and coach, I am often helping many songwriters that don’t live in a music town. Here are my ideas for increasing your chances of success as a songwriter if you live outside a music center: 1) Visit as often as you can. Even if it’s just once a year. Some wisely planned…

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Is Songwriting A Dream or A Plan?

In a mentoring session the other day I was helping a young songwriter who felt like she was really floundering around in pursuit of her dream.  She talked about how frustrating it was to tell whether or not she was making progress and how difficult it is to tell what she should be doing differently…

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How To Weather The Ups and Downs of The Music Business

“The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There’s also a negative side.”  ~Hunter S. Thompson There is no doubt that the music business is tough. But so is the “Medical” business, the “law” business, the “teaching business”,…

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Did He Steal My Song Title?

A few years ago, I was searching for song titles by reading through quotes on the internet.   I found what I thought was an amazing quote.  It said something like “How can you be old and wise if you were never young and crazy”.  The next day, I threw that title out and my…

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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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Songwriters: Learn To Speak Music Business

Lots of songwriters in SongTown just want to become better writers for their own pleasure – and that’s awesome!  We love helping people get more out of their writing just because it makes them feel good.  Another significant group in “Town” is trying to write commercially and break into the music business.  If that’s your…

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