If your aim is to have your songs recorded by established artists, don’t make the mistake of submitting a song that you know has weak lyrics—even if the song has an irresistible melody and a hook that is infectious and memorable.
Artists and their producers are naturally attracted to catchy songs that stand out as potential hit singles. But the subject matter is equally important.
What really motivates a singer to want to record a song—and perform it live—is an outstanding lyric that moves him or her in some way. It also has to fit with the artist’s on-stage image (whether that image is ‘sexy’, ‘cool’, ‘romantic’ or ‘rebellious’).
Remember, there aren’t many successful artists who don’t write their own material these days. As a result, they are constantly being bombarded with demos from songwriters. Your offering will have to compete with the latest songs by some of today’s best professional writers. So the bar is set extremely high.
As a song provider, your primary role will be to create distinctive songs that will help to build or sustain an artist’s career. You also have to enhance the artist’s appeal by coming up with fresh-sounding song themes and lyrics that will keep fans buying their records.
That’s why you need imaginative lyrics that avoid clichés, but are still written in conversational contemporary language. You need an interesting story line about situations, struggles and hardships that the artist can relate to, and which he or she can use to evoke an emotional response within their fans.
So you should never pitch a song that is just ‘okay’ lyrically. A song with a dynamic melody and trite lyrics is unlikely to be picked up.
If you’re a solo writer, and you feel you’ve written a hit tune but just can’t come up with a lyric that does the melody justice, maybe it’s time to consider partnering with a skilled lyricist?
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