Category: WHAT’S ON THE SITE

What to Do AFTER You Write Your Song

Your song is finished. You like what you’ve written. You think it has commercial potential. Now what will you do with it? You’ve got options. You can start by pitching it directly to music publishers or, in today’s Internet-driven music business, you might decide to create a buzz around your song on a site like YouTube.

Here are six tips for increasing your chances of finding a home for your song in the music business.

1. Know what GENRE you’re writing in. For the best chance of success, write your songs in a contemporary style that you hear on the radio or on film and TV. Music publishers and music supervisors look for songs that appeal to an established audience. If you fit in to a style with proven appeal, you’ll have a better chance of a successful pitch.

This doesn’t mean you should write a song in a style you don’t like or don’t feel comfortable with. Stay true to your emotions and themes, but you can make small decisions as you go along that will steer your song toward a more marketable sound if you keep a genre in mind as you go along.

For the best result, ask yourself what genre you want to write in BEFORE you write your song. Then you’ll be able to shape your song as you go along. Then, when a music publisher asks you what current style you’re writing in, or what artist do you sound like, you’ll have your answer ready.

Find out how to break down a genre and study it.

2. Aim your song toward a USE. Will you pitch to film & TV music libraries? Or pitch to other artists through a music publisher or personal contact? Or perform it in your own live shows? Each of these songs has to perform a different job. This will suggest, for example, how big and catchy your chorus needs to be. For an artist looking for a hit single, think big, irresistibly hummable chorus. For a film & TV song, you can keep it more low key and intimate.

A great song that works for one type of use may not work well for a different use. Just because a song isn’t a hit single, doesn’t mean it isn’t a great song. Maybe it would be perfect under a scene in a prime time TV series.  Study songs that are successful in the market you want to write for and learn from them.

More about writing songs for movies and TV shows.

3. Know which contemporary artists are similar to you. The first thing the music industry will ask is who do you sound like (if you’re an artist) or what style/artist do your songs sound like. This is standard shorthand for the industry so be ready with an honest, accurate answer. It’s not that they want you to copy or sound exactly like someone else, but they need a ballpark so they can quickly assess whether you fit into their current needs. 

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5 Ways to Rewrite a Melody

Bright idea

Many of us know how to rework a song lyric to make it stronger—add images, action words, tighten the focus, etc.—but melodies are often left out of the rewriting process. Many times, the first melody that pops out is the one we keep just because we don’t know how to make it better.

But what happens when your melodies all start to sound the same, or a music publisher tells you your melody sounds generic or dated? How do you fix those problems? Here are a few tips that will help you reshape and update your melodies. Experiment with these ideas; play around with them. If you don’t like the new melody you come up with, you can always go back to what you had.

1. Break up a series of similar lines into different lengths. 

If you have a melody with a lot of lines that are the same length, your song might might sound monotonous or unstructured to listeners. Rewrite your chorus or verse melody to increase the contrast between sections. Try breaking up a long line into two shorter phrases or run two phrases together by adding extra notes and words. 

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Writing Rap and Hip-Hop Songs

I’ve been asked by a few songwriters for advice on how to create good Hip-Hop and Rap songs. Because this is a little outside of my usual style, I asked a couple of successful Rap producers and label owners to help me out.

HIP-HOP SONG FORM

Hip-Hop relies on a 16-bar verse form followed by a chorus/hook section. Often there are three verse sections with each one followed by a chorus or hook section. Sometimes the third verse is replaced with a bridge, a section with different chords or a change up  in the rap style or content. The hook/chorus provides an anchor for the listener while the verses tell the story, paint a picture, or express the personality of the rapper.

I’ve noticed that some very successful rap songs open with the hook – the catchiest part of the song –  to grab the listener’s attention right at the start.   Use these repeated hook sections to make a statement that sums up the heart of your song. These are the lines your listeners will remember so make them emotional, honest, and unique.

Crossover Urban hits like Keyshia Cole and Missy Elliott’s “Let It Go” or Kanye West and T-Pains’s “Good Life” have big melodic choruses that break up the rap verses. You can use these songs to help you frame a solid song structure in this style. Just make your rap is the same length as theirs and drop your hook where they do.

Producers’ advice: Whether you sing or rap your chorus hook, use plenty of contrast. Try jumping to a high note to start a melodic hook and smoothing or stretching out the delivery. For a rap hook, change up the pace or rhythm pattern – slow it down or shorten/lengthen your phrases. Start on an unexpected beat or emphasize an unusual beat. Your goal is to change up the rhythm of the words or melody enough to catch the listener’s attention.

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365 Sparks: The Songs of Daveit Ferris

Daveit Ferris

Songwriter Daveit Ferris has taken on the challenge of writing, performing, and recording a song a day for a year. He calls his project 365 Sparks. While he’s not the only brave or crazy artist to undertake the Everest of songwriting, he’s the best and most consistently good I’ve ever come across. Every song I’ve heard has its own quirky, emotional, fun, dark, sweet, thoughtful, or just-plain-catchy appeal.

I’ve had to write fast in my life – I once had a  three-year gig that required me to write three to four songs a week for a TV series. But I got paid for it and I didn’t have to perform it and record it myself, so I feel like a loafer compared to this guy.  In any case, I can’t help asking: How does anyone do this? WHY does anyone do this? And what happens after the first 100 or so days?

Instead of just wondering, I decided to ask. And he answered. How he found the time to answer, I don’t know. He’s got songs to write. You can hear a lot of his songs on Spotify and on his website.

What did you set out to do with your 365 Sparks project?

Daveit Ferris: My goal with 365 Sparks was to try and do something extraordinary that would truly test my skills as a songwriter, musician and producer; in that order. The project itself was inspired by a near-death experience that I went through in October 2013 that made me realise I could have left this earth with hard drives full of hundreds of half-finished projects (songs, poetry books, albums, novel ideas, scripts etc.). I decided on that hospital bed that my next project was going to be A) grand and B) completed.

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Study the Hits eBook on Amazon & iBooks

I’ve been working hard to bring you a brand new book and it’s finally out. Study the Hits is DONE! There are 30 new songwriting shortcuts and 21 song guides to recent hits in the Pop, Country, Singer-songwriter, and Folk genres. If you’re looking for something to spark your Pop hits, inspire your Film & TV songs, spur your Country creativity, check it out. It’s 278 pages of songwriter LOVE for just $9.99. Click here to buy it on Amazon.com. Or click on the Study the Hits book image.

You don’t even need a Kindle or e-reader to read the book. Just download the free Kindle app to your PC or Mac computer and open the book.  There’s a link to the app right on my eBook page at Amazon. You can listen to the songs, read the lyrics, and study the Shortcuts all right there on your computer or tablet.

This book will show you how to get your hands on the latest songwriting tools and techniques straight from today’s biggest hit songs. Read about a technique, listen to hit songs that use it, then try these cutting-edge songwriting tools in your own songs.

You’ll find Songwriting Shortcuts that take you inside today’s hottest markets and latest song craft skills:
• 6 Hit Songwriting Shortcuts
• 6 Lyric Shortcuts
• 6 Film & TV Songwriting Shortcuts
• 5 Music Shortcuts
• 7 “Ears-On” Kickstarter Shortcuts show you how to study any hit song and learn from it.

PLUS “Ears-On” song guides to 21 of today’s top hits. We’ll explore…
• 5 Pop and Pop/Rock Hits
• 6 Contemporary Country Hits
• 5 Singer-Songwriter Hits
• 5 Folk & Folk/Rock Hits
… to see what makes each one so successful.

You’ll find “Try It Now” exercises in every Shortcut and Song Guide so you’ll hear and apply contemporary hit songwriting techniques right away.

NOTE: This eBook contains active links to online videos and lyrics. An Internet connection and audio output are recommended.

Available soon for Apple iBooks.