Songwriting

No Songwriter Excuses!

by Marty Dodson
Feb 26, 2024

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 that are too deep for the market”

“People don’t understand my music”

They may ALL be true. But, the fact remains, if I write an AMAZING song, someone will notice.

Will they notice my average songs? Not unless I have some special connection.

Will I be able to sneak a “decent” song through and get it recorded? Not likely, unless I wrote it with the artist and, even then, that is a longshot.

Every single artist is looking for that next career song that sells a million downloads and catapults them into stardom. Every. Single. One.

Not one artist is going to turn down my undeniable smash to cut their own lame piece of crap. None.

They have too much on the line. Are they going to win EVERY tie? Yes. If my song is only equal to the ones they have written, they will cut their own song every time.

But, If I write something that is SO much better than what they have written, they would be stupid not to record it.

So, the next time you are tempted to make songwriter excuses or complain, stop yourself.

Just write a better song. It’s that simple. Write a better song. That’s your ticket to success. And mine.

Our job is to “outwrite” the artist. When you get to the point where you can do that consistently, you will start getting cuts. I guarantee it.

Don’t make songwriter excuses. Write. Better. Songs.

~MD

Marty Dodson

Marty Dodson

Marty Dodson is a multi #1 songwriter, co-founder of SongTown, and co-author of  The Songwriter’s Guide To Mastering Cowriting and Song Building: Mastering Lyric Writing

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