Songwriter Advisor Blog

If you’re a performing artist, group, or band member with dreams of making it in the music industry, your success starts with songwriting!  Without great songs to showcase your talent you’ll be “dead in the water.”  This is a fact; all success in the music industry starts with a song.  Furthermore, industry execs prefer solo acts and bands who are self-contained songwriters because it translates into more money for their companies (they usually tie an artist into their own music publishing company).

These days the music industry is much more competitive than ever and one of the most effective ways to set yourself apart from the rest of the pack and get noticed is to write great, original songs.  Music industry reps are always looking for “the next big thing” and this could be you if you prepare yourself!  If you prefer to be a self-contained local or regional act and sell your own CD’s through your own independent record label you’ll find it much easier to develop a loyal following if your songs are strong enough.   

If you’re not yet a songwriter, or if you don’t have a songwriter in your band, your second choice would be to find a local songwriter willing to offer you exclusive rights to performing and/or recording their songs through a contract.  Don’t just settle for second best.  Really go out there and find yourself a great songwriter or songwriters who match your style of music.  It won’t be an easy task, but it can be done-there are many excellent undiscovered songwriters out there!

While we’re on the subject; for you undiscovered songwriters out there with big dreams-you’re time is now! Put the word out that you’re a songwriter with much to offer however you can. Take out ads in your local entertainment publication and be specific about your style of music and what your goals are! Launch a website and feature your songs on it! Visit local concerts and shows, whether at clubs or larger venues, and put the word out by networking. Go prepared and look professional by offering business cards. You get the idea!

Finally, songwriters can help non-songwriting musicians by being supportive and helping them achieve their goals by writing songs that eventually fit their style, even if it takes a few songs and much trial and error. By the same token, non-songwriting musicians usually end up influencing songwriters by exposing them to a new dimension in their compositions. Helping and supporting each other is a win- win situation!

An excellent way to expand your songwriting horizons is to dabble in music production.  The new breed of songwriters in the music industry definitely is more geared to writing and recording the songs themselves because of the following reasons:

1.  Good music production equipment has sharply decreased in price to the point where it’s conceivable for a songwriter to learn music production and consistently create hits in their homes in certain genres like Dance music.   Many industry pros believe the price of quality recording equipment will keep falling  as the technology gets better.

2.   It rarely makes sense these days to give away (US)1000.00 on a three-song demo when you can invest that money into creating a pretty darn good little home recording studio and eventually record it yourself.

3.   No one has a better idea of how a song should sound than the actual songwriter, and music production gives you the leeway to experiment and get the most out of your song.

Most independent artists are actually recording their CD’s in their home studios to save on costs and because many swear they love the artistic freedom they have that’s impossible to achieve in a “time-is-money,” constricted major studio.  The result is usually a more dynamic CD in terms of performance even though the sound quality is slightly inferior.   Even then, after a CD is mastered, only a highly-trained sound engineer, music producer, or other industry pro can sometimes tell the difference in the slight quality loss. 

Even major label producers and engineers record some tracks in their home studios and they save the more important tracks such as vocals and other live instruments for the studio work.  This cuts down on costs tremendously when you figure they’re recording at (US)250. to 500. an hour!

So why not give it a shot?

Music production is something you can learn rather quickly but it does take some time to master.  At the very least, you can probably start recording quality vocal/piano or guitar tracks in a few days once you apply the right information.