Music Career Talk #Twenty

So last week we talked about songwriting. This week, "what to do with all these songs you're writing." One thing I always recommend to songwriters is to have other people listen to the songs. Sometimes you write something and think it sounds great, and don't realize you have written a song that already exists. Sometimes a song will stick in your head and part of that song will end up in yours by accident. Not your fault until the lawsuit. It's also good to have other writers hear your music (as long as you have everything protected by copyright) and ask them to be honest with you. So many people come to me with what they think is the best music ever, and it rarely is. Okay so there are several avenues of possibility to explore. Writing for yourself as an artist, writing for others, looking for a publishing deal,and songs for film and T.V. Pick your songwriting career du jour. Before I start, remember songwriting is so competitive and now with the internet your competition is world wide. So if your writing for yourself as the artist figure out who you're writing for (mentioned last weeks blog), who will buy (or download) your music. Once you know your audience you are at least one step in the right direction, but that's just one step. The good thing (if there is any) about this generation of music is you can be independent and still be successful it's an open field today. With record companies being so restrictive and unwilling to develop new artists, the hell with them might as well do it yourself. Just do it right because the majority of artists are spinning their wheels with effort and little substance. The really bad news is there are lots of talented people out there who will never be heard for a multitude of reasons, please don't be one of them. Writing songs for others keeps you as the artist out of the picture which is one thing less to worry about. Writing for other artists lets you write in any direction you want for who ever you want. If you feel you have a song for a particular artist you can contact their manager, publisher, or record company and pitch your songs. There are also people who will do that for you, lawyers, agents, me who ever, just get out there and try. Remember writing for film or T.V. is another story. In a perfect world knowing music supervisors is a home run few of us get to hit. When you record, make sure you always take a T.V. mix (without vocals) of your songs, sometimes the music is perfect for a scene, but not the lyrics. Don't ever be discouraged by getting turned down, most of the people who listen to your music are completely clueless and only have there jobs because of who knows what. Keep writing no matter what, it just takes one song to make it happen, just ask all the one hit wonders who are driving around in their Ferrari's. You can't hide a good song regardless of a poor performance or bad recording, and a bad song is a bad song no matter how you sing it. Good luck.
This blog is dedicated to 9/11 and all the brave souls who went through it.