Category: PART 1 – GETTING STARTED

“Young writers should definitely research the current sounds and styles. It’s so important to know what’s happening around you with records, radio, TV – everything. You’ve got to keep abreast of what’s going on to stay on top of it all.”

—Lamont Dozier 

Songwriting is a living thing that continues to evolve with each new generation of artists and music. So it’s vital to make sure you are creating songs that sound cur- rent and will appeal to today’s audiences. Don’t make the mistake of writing songs that could have been a hit 20 or 30 years ago.

If your songs don’t sound like they belong on today’s radio stations, music TV channels, or online music streaming services, you’ll never be able to achieve any success with them. Remember, you’re competing with today’s top professional writers. 

Wayne Hector—writer of number one hits around the world for artists such as Britney Spears, One Direction, Susan Boyle, The Wanted and Enrique Iglesias—warns new songwriters about the importance of keeping up to date. “If you do a record that’s for a younger crowd,” he says, “the thing that happens as a writer is a lot of the time the sound changes and what’s young is not what was young back in the day so you’re displaced. You no longer recognise what constitutes a hit now.” 

The best way to keep your own writing fresh is to study and analyze what today’s hit songwriters are doing. Listen to what’s being played on the radio. Buy chart CDs or download individual tracks from iTunes or streaming services like Spotify or Deezer. 

Instead of buying the sheet music, try working out the chords by ear. It will help you to understand how the writer felt when he or she was searching for the right chord in crucial parts of the song. Figuring out the chord progressions by yourself will give you a much better idea of how current songs are constructed. You’ll find there are standard forms around which most songs are organized today. 

Take notes on the other components that current hit songs have in common— such as their rhyming structure and the melodic elements that provide a contrast between verse and chorus. Then apply what you learn to your own work … adding something original of your own, of course, to make it stand out from the crowd. 

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“Imitate, assimilate, and innovate.”

—Clark Terry 

Many developing songwriters either simply try to mimic what’s already out there, or they try too hard to be different and end up writing in a form that many listeners just can’t understand. You have to strike a balance between these two extremes. 

To find receptive ears in the music industry (and amongst record buyers), your songs need to sound familiar—but not similar. 

If you’re trying to get a record deal for your band, or for yourself as a singer- songwriter, major labels will tell you they want something distinctive and different that makes you stand out from the pack. 

At the same time, though, your music has to be familiar enough to be commercial and marketable so that it will sell (which, at the end of the day, is all that record companies and publishers are really interested in). A hint of familiarity helps people relate to your songs. 

The same criteria apply if you plan to sell your music direct to fans through your own website or via online music retailers such as iTunes, Amazon and CDBaby. To achieve maximum success, you need to appeal to the many not just the few. So don’t try to sound like someone else … but don’t try too hard not to! 

Music industry executives talk about the need for new artists to create their own style. But what they really mean is they want you to sound original, but your songs should not be completely different from anything they’ve ever heard before. They want something that develops what is already out there—not a sudden leap that leaves a huge gap between you and the audience. ‘Style’ evolves constantly over time; it is rarely revolutionary. 

When asked what steps should be taken to achieve musical success, the great trumpet player Clark Terry famously replied: “Imitate, assimilate, and innovate”. In other words, listen to what’s being played on the radio today, analyze current trends, absorb the key elements of current hit songs, emulate them—then carve your own niche by innovating and adding something new of your own. Hit songwriters are rarely born as great writers. They become great by learning from the great writers who preceded them. 

Imitating successful songwriters that you admire is one of the surest ways of developing your own writing skills. Analyze and dissect your heroes’ songs by picking out the chord progressions by ear. This will give you a much better understanding of the building blocks used to create the songs and how the different sections are joined together. Similarly, analyze the lyrics for these songs and absorb the rhyming patterns and keywords used. Then try writing your own songs based on these proven templates and chord progressions. 

Through your subconscious assimilation of the shape, form and content of the songs that you’re trying to copy, you’ll find that you start adding something original of your own—such as new chord sequences. Your own songwriting style will soon begin to develop by building on what has gone before. 

“When I was first learning songs,” says Alicia Keys, “I’d have a favorite song, and I’d take the chords and twist them around. I’d learn the chords and then play them backward. That was my first experimenting with writing a song.” 

Jimmy Webb admits he also started out by “instinctively” imitating songs he heard on the radio. “How can you write an original song,” he says, “if you haven’t heard and ‘read’ at least a few of the most famous and best examples that have ever been written?” 

That’s how innovators like The Beatles and Hank Williams did it. John Lennon and Paul McCartney imitated and assimilated the songs of Little Richard, Chuck Berry, early Motown, Brill Building writers such as Gerry Goffin and Carole King, and R&B pioneers like Arthur Alexander. They found a way to do it differently and went on to change pop music forever. 

As US Grammy award winner Boz Scaggs once remarked: “My songwriting and my style became more complex as I listened, learned, borrowed and stole and put my music together.” 

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Whether you’re a singer-songwriter, a member of a self-contained band, or writing for other artists, your songs will only attract interest from music publishers, A&R reps, record producers and artist managers if you give them what they’re looking for. 

And what they’re looking for is a single that is commercial enough to be played by mainstream radio. 

The same criteria apply if you plan to sell your music direct to fans through your own website or via online music retailers such as iTunes, Amazon and CDBaby. To achieve maximum success, you need to have the broadest possible appeal. Even in the ‘connected’ digital age of social media, YouTube, Vevo, blogging, online music streaming and mobile entertainment, good old radio airplay is still the key that can open the doorway to a big hit single. 

Radio remains by far the main way consumers discover music, according to a 2012 study by research company Nielsen. The Nielsen consumer survey found that 48% of those questioned discover music most often through radio stations, compared with 10% from friends and relatives and 7% from YouTube. 

That’s why what the music industry wants is the same as what the radio stations want. 

For record labels, getting a single added to a radio station’s weekly playlist is like winning a crucial football game every weekend. 

All of which means you need to be constantly aware of what is currently being played on the radio. It is essential to take the commercial market—and the radio listener—into consideration when writing your songs. Don’t just write for yourself. 

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“I try, to the best of my ability, not to think the song to death” 

—Robbie Robertson  

In attempting to show how clever they are, many new writers try too hard and end up cramming too much into a song—making it way too long and unnecessarily complicated, and leaving the listener feeling confused. 

Avoid over-thinking or over-writing your songs. Sometimes, the chords, melodies and lyrics that come to you instinctively are the right ones, so don’t spend forever searching for the perfect melody or words. 

In other words, know when to quit. 

That’s something Dave Matthews admits he finds hard to do. “I take it too far sometimes,” he told Rolling Stone magazine. “When I listen to my favorite song- writers, they have such simple melodies and chords. I occasionally manage to stop at the right time, but all too often I keep on going until I have way too many notes and words.”

If you try to force too many messages into one song, you could end up overloaded with verses. Stephen Stills has always felt that writers should not be afraid to take a pair of scissors to their songs. “If I’ve got too many verses,” he said, “I’ll cut out two verses and then take the meaning of the song and condense it.” 

A hit song tends to comprise just one story told from one point of view. So stay focused. If you have several unrelated points that you want to get across to listeners, try putting them in separate songs. 

And don’t try to be too tricky with your chord progressions. Just concentrate on creating music and lyrics that can hold the listener’s attention, and write a melody that is easy for them to remember. 

In short, don’t sabotage your songs by being too smart for your own good. 

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“I don’t see anything wrong with being commercial. I think it’s a gift”

—Janis Ian  

It is important to strike a balance between creating a song that is inventive, fresh and original, but still easy for people to listen to and remember. This is true even if you’re using your songs to define a distinctive musical identity for your own band, or for yourself as a singer-songwriter. 

Your songs must be able to reach out and touch people without listeners having to struggle to understand what the song is all about. 

The great Irving Berlin once remarked: “My ambition is to reach the heart of the average American, not the highbrow nor the lowbrow but that vast intermediate crew which is the real soul of the country … My public is the real people.” New writers sometimes try too hard to show how clever and different they are in order to impress “the highbrow”. 

As a result, their songs often end up being over-complicated, meandering and self- indulgent. And therefore easily forgotten. 

If your aim is to earn a living as a songwriter, your songs need to have broad commercial appeal. If they contain elements that are common to a number of musical genres, your songs are likely to appeal to many different types of fans—and your success won’t depend on just one artist or one genre. 

If your song works ‘unplugged’ style with just one voice and one acoustic guitar or piano, there’s a good chance it can easily be re-arranged and performed by artists in a number of different genres. Singers or bands can then take the elements of your song that are common to their particular corner of the market and make the song relevant to their own fans. 

That’s how songs become ‘standards’. 

There are countless examples of classic songs that were originally written for a specific musical style, but ended up being re-interpreted and recorded by artists from many different genres. From Ella Fitzgerald’s swing version of Lennon & McCartney’s ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’ and Paul Anka’s take on Van Halen’s ‘Jump’ … to Carrie Underwood’s country version of ‘Fix You’ by Cold play and Vanilla Fudge’s psychedelic reworking of Holland-Dozier-Holland’s ‘You Keep Me Hanging On’ (Brian Holland’s favourite version of the song!). 

The broader the appeal of your song—and the more cover versions that are avail- able in the marketplace—the more money you’ll earn from it! 

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“A great title can inspire a song” 

—Robin Gibb  

Strong and interesting titles lead to stronger and more interesting songs because they inspire you to write better. 

Once you find a great title, a song can almost write itself, or at least give you the direction that the song should take. It can help you to focus your creativity by defining the message of the song in a simple phrase or even just a single word. Good titles are frequently action words, images or phrases that suggest other phrases which subsequently help the song to develop. 

Intriguing and attention-grabbing titles are also essential to make your songs stand out when you submit your demos. A strong title can go a long way toward ensuring that music publishers, A&R reps and record producers remember your song. 

Many publishers expect the majority of songs they receive from new writers to be unusable. They get hundreds of songs each week with uninspiring titles such as ‘I Love You’ and ‘I Miss You’. You’ll never get into the ‘must-listen-to’ pile if your title is just like every other song in the publisher’s morning mail. 

Many experienced writers don’t even start working on a song until they have a great title that inspires them. They know the title is going to be the heart of the song. It will be their chorus and their hook. From that point on, writing the song becomes a process. 

In an interview with Music Week magazine, Robin Gibb said the Bee Gees often focused on one-word song titles like ‘Tragedy’, ‘Emotion’ and ‘Heart breaker’. “They’re titles that say something without saying everything,” he said. 

“We’ve written whole songs from just getting a title like ‘You Win Again’, ‘Islands In The Stream’, ‘Woman In Love’, ‘Chain Reaction’ and ‘Too Much Heaven’.” He added: “We came up with the titles for ‘Too Much Heaven’ and ‘Tragedy’ in an afternoon and wrote the songs the same day.”

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“I don’t do albums any more … I do songs”

— Prince  

Unless you’re simply writing songs as a hobby, don’t waste your time on self- indulgent ‘album tracks’. These days, even established artists are finding it hard to sell albums—so album cuts won’t earn you much in royalties. 

It is vital to make every song you write so distinctive, original and commercial that it is a potential hit single. This applies whether your ambition is to achieve major success as a singer-songwriter, or as a member of a self-contained band, or as a professional song provider for other artists. 

Trying to write an album full of singles doesn’t mean the songs have to be formulaic ‘throwaway’ pop tunes. But they should be interesting, memorable and, most importantly, likely to get played on the radio! That’s what record companies want to hear. 

The growth of digital downloads means the music industry is once again a ‘singles market’ – just as it was between the 1950’s and 1980’s. Throughout the 1990’s, record companies tended to treat singles as ‘samplers’ to help promote their artists’ albums. Today, sales of digital singles are increasing while overall album sales are falling. 

As Lady Gaga’s manager Troy Carter observed in 2012: “It’s not an albums business anymore. It’s a singles business…”. 

So don’t write album tracks, write singles. They’ll also earn you more in performance income if they get played on radio! 

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“You can be the best artist in the world, have the best production, but if you cut a bad song it’s just a bad song with an incredible production”

—Don Williams  

As a music publisher, I have often received songs from writers (even experienced writers) with a note saying: “I wrote this song especially for so and so”. Quite often, this is a complete waste of time if the artist concerned writes all of his or her own material. 

I’ve also received songs where the melody line not only exceeded the vocal range of the intended artist, but also that of most other singers. This immediately limits the number of people who might conceivably be able to cover the song (one and a half octaves seems to be the maximum range for most singers). 

To avoid making these mistakes—and wasting valuable songwriting ideas—you’ve got to spend time doing your homework. Tailoring songs for a specific artist re- quires a methodical approach and thorough research. 

It is important to get all the information you can about the artist you’re targeting. Most importantly, check the writing credits on their records to make sure they don’t write all their own songs. If they don’t, there’s a chance they may be open to high-quality outside material. 

No matter how much you can hear the artist performing your song in your head, a publisher is unlikely to sign the song if they know the intended artist won’t even consider anything by other writers. And if the song is too closely identifiable with that artist’s style, a publisher might not be able to get anyone else to record it either.

If your target is an established artist, study the structure of their most successful records. Analyze the artist’s vocal range. If you’re pitching to a vocal group with several lead singers, take the sound of each singer into account. Also make sure the pacing of your lyrics gives artists plenty of room to style the song in their own unique way.   

‘Song casting’ not only involves getting to know the artist’s style, genre, vocal range and favoured keys, but also the artist’s audience. Your music and lyrics (and the sound and ‘feel’ on your demo) must be consistent with the artist’s style … and what the artist’s audience expects. 

Swedish hit machine Max Martin—who has written hits for artists such as Taylor Swift, Britney Spears, Kelly Clarkson, Pink and Katy Perry—always conducts thorough research before writing tailor-made songs for artists. He goes to their live shows and also finds out what kind of music they listen to at home. “I want the input because that makes the chemistry of the song,” he says. 

It’s important to be aware that there are fewer song casting opportunities these days. If artists don’t write their own songs, it’s likely that their producers do. But there are always potential openings for great songs with exceptional melodies and lyrics that can reach out and touch people. You just have to come up with songs that fill the repertoire gaps that artists and producers are unable to fill themselves. Collaborations with artists are increasingly common these days as a way of getting songs covered. If an artist or a producer likes your song, they may want to make a few changes to suit the artist’s style … and thus become your ‘co-writer’.

If the artist concerned sells millions of records, it may be worth giving up a share of your song for the money and the prestige – but don’t sign anything before taking professional legal advice on how the copyright ownership and royalties should be split.

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“I can take criticisms but not compliments”

—James Taylor 

Contestants on TV talent shows like American Idol and The X-Factor only have to face a panel of three or four judges, but your song will have to go through at least a dozen different judging panels on its way to being a chart hit.

Here are the 12 ‘jurors’ who will ultimately decide your fate as a hit songwriter: 

1. Your fellow band members, or the musicians who will play on your demo. They must decide whether the song is worthy of their best efforts in the studio or on stage.

2. A music publisher must judge the commercial viability of your song and decide whether they can make money by (a) helping you or your band secure a recording contract or (b) pitching your song to an artist who might want to cover it.

3. A record company A&R rep must be convinced that your songs have the originality and commercial potential they’re looking for before they’ll consider offering you or your band a recording contract. Similarly, an A&R gatekeeper will judge whether your song is good enough to be offered to one of the other artists on their label.

4. A record producer must decide whether your song is outstanding enough for them to want to cut it (whether with you, your band or one of the producer’s other acts). In the case of a potential cover version, the producer must also judge whether the song will blend in with the other tracks that he or she is working on with the artist.

5. An artist manager—the person responsible for guiding an artist’s career—must judge whether your song fits the style and musical direction that the artist plans to take on their next record.

6. A recording artist must be moved by the song both personally and professionally to want to record it and perform it—and put their career on the line as a result.

7. A record company label manager must decide whether the artist’s version of your song is strong enough to be one of the 10 or 12 tracks that will be included on the artist’s next album. The label manager will also consider whether the track should be a single. 

8. The record company’s promotions team must judge whether the track will get played on key radio stations. They have to believe in the song in order to really get behind it, take it to the media, and promote it like crazy to secure airplay.

9. Radio programmers must be convinced the song is what their listeners want to hear before deciding whether to add it to their playlists.

10. Television producers must be so impressed by the song that they’ll want to put you, your band, or the artist who covered the song, on their shows. 

11. Trade music buyers for online retailers and bricks and mortar record stores will judge whether the track is commercial enough for them to stock it and promote the record in-store or on their website.

12. The public, of course, will pass final judgment. They must hear the song on radio or TV or online and love it enough to go out and buy the record … and perhaps recommend it to their friends via social media.

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