The latest in songwriting competition announcements: International Songwriting Competition(ISC) Launches New Music Competition for Unsigned Artists Completely separate and distinct from ISC, Unsigned Only is a fresh and novel approach to other music competitions. Not only does it offer great prizes, recognition, exposure, and the chance to be heard by a group of judges consisting [...]

Guitar Center has a nice barebones recording set from M-Audio for 65% off retail. (Note: This package is no longer for sale.) M-Audio Fast Track MKII USB audio interface I have one of these and absolutely love it. It includes phantom power so the condenser mic included in the package will work flawlessly. Dual M-Audio [...]

Michael Stipe talks about why R.E.M. called it a day [In] the first interviews he’s given in America since R.E.M. announced its disbanding in September — and it appears that the decision was as much his as anyone else’s. That he’d perhaps wearied of the touring grind, or no longer felt he could give it [...]

The latest in songwriting contests the world over … and some other news. It’s The John Lennon Songwriting Contest, Not The John Lennon Enunciation Contest Yesterday, 16-year-old Eliza Callahan got a nice surprise on Good Day New York when she learned that she took the top prize in this year’s John Lennon Songwriting Contest. (She [...]

Matt Nathanson has a new album out, and speaks briefly with American Songwriter Magazine about his songwriting workflow: Most of the time, melodies and chords come first- then the words. and the words are usually a combination of a few key ones I have in notebooks (I try to write everyday) and ones I make [...]

There are few things I dislike more than reality shows. So, as a writer and owner of a songwriting blog I was torn about the whole idea of a songwriting reality show. The first episode began with an introduction of the hosts, Jewel and Kara DiGuardia, and immediately pushed into the first challenge – coming [...]

‘An ultimate little songwriting machine’ is what Vedder calls ukelele I don’t think I thought in those terms at all. I was just struck by how quickly I was able to establish a relationship with this little instrument. I see it as just kind of an ultimate little songwriting machine. Melodies are produced in a [...]

Recorded Music As A Commodity & The Power Of Artistic Vision The abundance of recorded music now more than satiates the (plentiful) demand, and the market of recorded music is losing differentiation. Sure, different recordings will suit different needs and wants to some extent, but that’s no different from other commodities like coffee or petroleum [...]

There are a lot of sites that claim to get your songs exposure or provide an avenue directly to people in need of songs for placement in movies, TV commercials, and so forth. To help bolster their claims, Broadjam has provided a list of notable artist successes for 2008.

Happy New Year everybody! Musician Birthdays Today Bernard Sumner (New Order, Joy Division) is 53. Country singer Patty Loveless is 52. Rock singer Michael Stipe (R.E.M.) is 49. Country singer Deana Carter is 43. Rock musician Benjamin Darvill (Crash Test Dummies) is 42. Rock Songwriter Delaney Bramlett Dies Singer-songwriter-producer Delaney Bramlett, who penned such classic [...]