I have received several emails this week asking about the best approach to recording song demos. There are many things that have changed over the last year since I first blogged about this. Here are a few questions to consider when demoing your songs. 1. Who will be listening? If you are playing your demo for an experienced...

  The Songwriter's Code From the Brill Building in New York, to Music Row in Nashville, songwriters have been operating under this "code" for many years. If you hope to join the professional ranks, you MUST learn the code and go by it. If you are just wanting to co-write in general, it's good to know how it works. Not knowing...

Want to become a Master "Songwriting" Yoda? Here are my top 5 tips!   1.Believe As creative people, we tend to be self-doubters. It's what drives us to look inward, to constantly question life around us, and, if channeled properly, will drive us to write great songs. It's perfectly natural to struggle with believing in ourselves and our art, but ultimately, we...

Several people have asked about the different ways songwriters get paid. So, here's the 5 minute overview: Publishing Draws for songwriters. This is a monthly amount a publisher pays to a writer that is on a staff publishing deal. These are really advances on royalties that have to be repaid out of incoming royalties. Once your catalog is recouped, the publisher pays you semi-annual royalty...

As a long time professional songwriter, what used to be an occasional tool for co-writing long-distance, has turned into an everyday affair. In these days of social distancing, co-writing on Zoom has become the norm for scores of creatives around the world. And as a result, many SongTown members have asked me to share...

Years ago, I had a big write scheduled and it got cancelled the morning of the write. One of the biggest writers I had ever written with traded me for a co-write with Cher. I couldn't blame him, but I was very let down. My publisher said "Turn time on your hands into better songs." Say What? I...