New Year's Resolutions for Songwriters

Here is a list of New Year's Resolutions you might wanna consider in connection with songwriting:


1. Read all songwriting books (that are worth reading) on the market (There are about 40 of them in my opinion)
2. Learn to play an instrument (especially piano or guitar)
3. Learn to record demos of your songs
4. Enrich your vocabulary to be able to write even better lyrics
5. Learn music theory
6. Listen to a couple of songs by an artist you didn't know before every day
7. Read an article in connection with songwriting and songwriters every day
8. Socialize more with songwriters on songwriting forums, Facebook, Twitter
9. Enter songwriting contests
10. Learn everything you can about the music business


These are just some of the things you can do to take your songwriting to a higher level.

What's your New Year's Resolution?

What Does Writing Music A Cappella Mean?

Question by Holly:

Answer:

Hello Holly,

Sometimes songwriters start songs with a title or lyrics. Other times they write music first.

You can write music one of two main ways:

1. By using some kind of instrument and come up with some chords or melody by playing it.

2. By writing music a cappella.

Writing music a cappella means that you compose melodies in your head or by singing some melodies without the help of a musical instrument. There are a lot of songwriters who think this is absolutely the best way to write music. If you don't rely on an instrument, you might be more creative, free and flexible.

Great songwriters write in several ways and writing music a cappella is one of them. It's definitely worth trying!

How Do I Find Ideas For Songs?

Question by Pierce:

I've read about songwriters who have the ability to come up with songwriting ideas anywhere and everywhere. Is this a talent that your either have or you don't?


Answer:

Hello Pierce,

Finding songwriting ideas is a piece of cake. Just look around a little.

• Are there any books near you? Check their titles or even their contents and see if you can come up with a good song title.
• Or check your DVD collection and film titles.
• Go and see a movie and pay attention to phrases you might use.
• Check magazine titles and articles.
• Or a website, especially one about celebrities and their love life :)
• Or just open a dictionary and look for some interesting phrases.
• Or you can "accidentally" overhear strangers talking and saying something that could be a great title.

There are unlimited sources of songwriting ideas around us. Songwriters you read about have LEARNED the condition that they find ideas for hits everywhere. If you do it consciously for a couple of days or a week, and you think about songwriting a lot (because you love it), soon you'll see song ideas everywhere you go. Just remember to bring a notebook to put them down right away.

You might also visit the Songwriting Ideas page for instant inspiration :)

What Is the Right Way of Networking in The Music Business?

Question by Patrick:

I've just read your article "Is Networking Important In the Music Business?". I get that it's really important. And I wanna do it. But think I'd feel like I'm trying to take advantage of people if I started going out and networking intentionally.


Answer:

Hi Patrick,

I understand your concern. When people hear the word "networking" they usually think of trying to get close to important people and exploiting them in some way. Some people do that. But it's not the smartest way to go about it. In fact, you'll probably fail if you do networking that way.

Successful networkers have one thing in common. They all understand the main principle: "Make other people more successful, give more than you get and be generous". It doesn't mean that you have to do grand gestures to everybody all the time. Helping someone succeed can be a little thing such as sharing your expertise about proper mike placement in the studio or an efficient workout routine. And this way it's not "taking advantage of people" because you give AND get valuable things. It's good for you but good for them too!

If you follow the above mentioned principle, sooner or later, in some way, it will all come back to you tenfold. Maybe not today. But if you help a lot of people, after a while, when you are in need, you'll have plenty of people who'll be happy to return the favor. When the time comes, however, don't hesitate to pick up the phone and ask for help.

For more music industry specific networking advice I recommend Dan Kimpel's book Networking Strategies for the New Music Business.

Songwriting Scams

Avoiding songwriting scams can save a lot of time, money and spare you from unnecessary disappointments. Most publishing companies are legitimate but not all of them. Here is how to recognize the ones that want to rip you off (i.e. the song sharks):


• You receive an email or letter from a "publishing company" or a "record label".

• In the letter they claim that they are looking for songs for major recording artists.

• It's okay for them if you have lyrics only or send them unfinished songs.

• They promise to review your song(s) for free.

• Soon you receive another letter or email from them saying that they found your songs to be exceptional and they would like to pitch it to major record companies or recording artists.

• Of course, to cover their administrative, demo or some other kinds of costs, you need to pay $250 or thousands more. And this little money is the only thing that's between you and fame right now so you shouldn't think twice about it.

• Or they might tell you that your song is going to be on a compilation CD which they will send to stars, their managers or other industry professionals so your songs can get chosen and recorded. Demo and administrative fees apply here too, of course. However, even if this alleged CD is compiled and sent to the proper people (anybody's free to send anything to them by post), the CD ends up in the trash.

Some of these letters are utter songwriting scams, others come from desperate demo services.

How To Recognize Songwriting Scams

▪ They say it's okay if you have lyrics only, they can set it to original music for free. Don't pay for someone to write music to your lyrics, it'll be a basic melody written in a couple of minutes. In addition, they'll own the copyright to the music, which means even if the song makes any money, they take half the royalties.

▪ They say they'll review your song for free or for a small fee. There are legitimate songwriters and professionals who offer this service for a reasonable fee. Check their credentials and exactly what they give you for your money in advance.

▪ They want you to pay for your song to be published. Legitimate publishers don't ask for money. You get paid if your songs gets recorded and used in some way. Then the publishing company makes money and pays you too. Also, publishers don't ask you to cover demo costs, they will recoup it from your royalties. However, you might have pay for demo costs if your goal is to pitch your songs to publishers. But only if you cannot make a good quality home recording.

▪ They don't care if your songs are not finished, they claim they'll make it sound like master-quality recordings. Well, if you're told such things, a red flag should come up. People in the music business are not charitable. They want a demo of finished, potential hit songs, ready to be pitched or released.

▪ They ask for money to include your song on a CD. It's not money that will decide such a thing. It's the quality of the song. Money doesn't change the quality of a song.


What To Check To Avoid Songwriting Scams


You might get the following information from the internet, friends or you can even get in touch with the publishing or recording company and ask them directly. If they are legitimate, they'll be happy to brag about the following things to you:


⁃ if the company has had any success with other artists and songs
⁃ how much money they've paid to songwriters/artists
⁃ how many albums they have sold
⁃ if these were quality albums
⁃ where songs coming from the artists/songwriters of that company have been played
⁃ look for any references on the internet, ask music industry professionals and/or musician friends.


So make sure you avoid songwriting scams, there are plenty of them. It's partly because the music business is so competitive that even professional songwriters have a hard time getting their songs recorded and released. It doesn't mean that you should stop pursuing this profession but be aware that miracles and overnight successes don't happen. Paying some money won't get you there. Just like in any other field, you'll need to work hard to make it. So beware, if something sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't.

How Do You Avoid Regretting Your Decisions?

Question by Bobby:

I've made some stupid quick decisions in connection with songwriting this year. I missed some great opportunities because of this. How can I prevent this from happening again in the future?


Answer:

You've probably heard the saying "I'd rather regret the things I've done than regret the things I haven't done" (a Lucille Ball quote).

So I usually rather take opportunities because I don't want to miss anything. And I can think of several things I HAVE done and I regret doing. (Is it really a better feeling? I don't know.)

Your question was if there's something you can do to prevent this situation. I guess I've found a way. It's not revolutionary but it helps me make better, and more mature decisions.

What I usually do now is sleep on a decision. Sometimes I'm totally convinced of something being right in the heat of the moment. But next morning, when my head is clear(er), I often see things 100% differently. And so far, I've been making much better decisions in that state of mind.