I wanted to talk to all of you who have ambitions of becoming a “songwriter”, i.e. a professional. What is your job as a songwriter? A. “To entertain people” B. “To let out my creativity” C. “To sell records” D. “To speak about the things important to me” All of these answers could be correct [...]
How do you know if you’re writing songs that the public wants to buy? It’s a question I’m sure you asked yourself after reading my previous article on the ‘job’ of a songwriter. The most obvious way is to study what has worked in the past – those songs that have sold a ton of [...]
Can I be totally honest? This will most likely get me into that never found but often heard of “banned list” – but I’ve just have to say it. I hate workshops. There. I said it. I grew up in Nashville (you can find out more about me here) and as a songwriter I’ve attended [...]
Our sister site NashvilleHype! has an excellent and Exclusive Interview with John Barlow Jarvis – back to back Grammy Song of the Year Award winner. John offers some excellent advice on songwriting and pitching (and if there’s anyone able to give great advice on the subject, it’s John): As for pitching songs, let me say [...]
Sure he can! The following account is taken from one of my favorite websites – Story Behind the Song.net (my only problem is I wish there were more stories!) The Story Behind “That Summer” written by Pat Alger, Garth Brooks. performed by: Garth Brooks |Interview with Pat Alger conducted by Adam Olson | “That Summer,” [...]
Toby is a great songwriter. I remember sitting in the Bluebird in Nashville and him coming in to play a writers night, just like anyone else. No one knew who he was, had ever seen him, or even knew that in a few short weeks he’d release his first Major label record… before he sang. [...]
Throughout history there have been some terrific ‘Hypers’. These are people who know how to spread a message to a huge number of people. Donald Trump, Don King, and Madonna come to mind. Each brings a set of different talents to the table, but they do share one common thread – a thread shared by [...]
And what many people would say, is a terrible singer. Bob Dylan has affected more songwriters (dare I say, music fans) than most Songwriters in the history of recorded music. And yet, so often I hear that people won’t even give him a listen because he “just can’t sing!” It makes me wonder…
We’ve all heard the story of a songwriter who had the perfect idea, wrote the perfect song, pitched the song to the perfect artist, only to hear an extremely similar song by that artist on the radio. That’s one thing we’ll discuss soon, but right now I want to talk about music sampling. “Sampling” is [...]
Nothing is worse than hearing great lines in a song that doesn’t “sing”. This happens a lot to lyricist-only songwriters who rely on others to provide the music. What does it mean to have the song “sing”? Here’s the best definition: For the words to come easy to the melody of the song. All songs [...]
