Listen To and Analyze Songs Currently On The Charts
There are people who are worried that if they write songs that have a potential to be commercially successful, they might lose their artistic freedom. Or something like that. But the reality is that if you don't use song structures and styles that the current market likes, you have very little chance of succeeding. Just think of Shakespeare. In his time, everybody wrote sonnets. And we never think of Shakespeare as somebody who sold out or lost his artistic integrity because of this. He stuck to the popular format and followed his creativity through that. And he got better and better, then became the best at that…
Stick To A Genre
If you want to make your songs marketable, you'll want to stick to a genre. What I mean is that you can write pop, country, rock, or whatever you like. But don't write a song that is pop/country/rock at the same time. It's easier for people (and music executives) to digest and categorize your songs if it's clear what genre they belong to. There have been musicians who managed to pull off the mixed genre stuff but most of them don't.
Use A ChecklistIf you want to make your songs marketable, you'll want to stick to a genre. What I mean is that you can write pop, country, rock, or whatever you like. But don't write a song that is pop/country/rock at the same time. It's easier for people (and music executives) to digest and categorize your songs if it's clear what genre they belong to. There have been musicians who managed to pull off the mixed genre stuff but most of them don't.
After you finish writing a song, it's useful if you have some kind of a checklist. You song doesn't have to fulfill everything on your list but the more it does, the better its chances to become a hit. It's one of the most powerful things you can do to improve your songwriting.
Here is the checklist I use:• Are you using proper song structure?
• Is your song dynamic, interesting?
• Are there a lot of contrasts in your lyrics and melody?
• Is it clear which genre the song belongs to?
• Is your title strong? (Would it make your listeners ask the question: "what is this song about?"
• Is it about ONE single idea? (If there are 2 ideas in it, write two songs…)
• Will the audience understand what it's about? (E.g. what he/she refers to…)
• Is your lyric developing throughout the song? (Do your listeners find out more and more about the story?)
• Is there a hook in your song? (melodic or lyric or both)
• Is the content of your song fresh, inventive?
• Are you using some unusual expressions and action verbs to make it more interesting?
• Is there enough repetition in your song? (Check some hit songs to see how much there should be.)
You might have shown you music to your friends and relatives. They were amazed by your talent. They may be right! But to make sure your song really has potential, you should have it reviewed by a professional. You can do it online, or if you know someone in the industry, that's fine too.
What the point is that your friends and relatives love you. They don't want to hurt you with negative criticism. But even if they truly like your song, they can't tell you if it's marketable, dynamic enough, etc. or how to improve your songwriting. So get your songs reviewed by professionals.
Read Songwriting Books
I heard somewhere, that if you read 3 books about a topic, you know more about it than 99% of the people on earth. And it's probably true. But that remaining 1% is still a lot of people. If you want to be the best or just great at what you do, you should read all the songwriting books available on the market. Some of the most successful people admittedly read more than 300 or even a 1000 books in their field. Not in one year of course. :) And reading IS fun. It's relaxing. It inspires you. It gives you ideas. It makes your vocabulary richer. There is really no reason why you shouldn't improve your songwriting this easy way.
Go To Songwriting Seminars
Songwriting conferences and seminars are really fun. They are usually held once a year, most often in big cities. Some of them are even free. They give you a great chance to network with songwriters, producers, A&R people and music executives. You could never meet most of them otherwise. You can also have your songs reviewed and take part in workshops at these events. They can be life-changing!Join Songwriting Forums
There are some very popular songwriting forums on the internet. It's worth joining one or two. Why? It's free. You can "meet" other songwriters you can potentially co-write with. You can ask for advice. You can give others advice. Other songwriters may be kind enough to review your songs. And it's fun!
Some of the most popular forums:
TAXI Forum
Just Plain Folks Forum
Muse's Muse Forum
Try Something New Every Now And Then
If you write songs every day or every week, you will start forming some habits. There will be some things you will do the same way every time you write a song. Soon it will get boring for you, and your songs will not be as strong as they used to be. What can you do to improve your songwriting if this happens?
You can always try something new. It can be a new song structure, a new instrument, a new topic, a new tempo, a new key, new chords, a new place to write, new tools for writing, etc. Anything that changes the way you work will improve your songwriting.
Some films and TV shows have some amazing music. And this music is usually there to emphasize the emotions that actresses and actors feel. To improve your songwriting skills, study how the songs do this. What makes them heighten the emotional level? You can apply the techniques you notice - in you own songs too. The best songs are the ones that are unique but still universal in the sense that they move masses of people. And music directors are really good at choosing songs that do this.
These are just some of the things you can do to improve your songwriting abilities. Every now and then I will add more tips, when I come across new ones. And I will, because I write songs and read songwriting books every day :)
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