Welcome to 2023
Another year has rolled our way, with all of the magic that a new beginning can bring. Here, in the hills of California, a torrential downpour is falling from the sky. We hope that it will usher us away from drought into a year of abundance. When the past is wiped clean, a future of infinite possibility appears.
I have my own goals for 2023 - a series of fulfilling writing retreats, perhaps the publishing of a new book - but I also have dreams for you dear reader. I know that somewhere on this globe you sit behind the blue light of a computer or a phone with your own dreams. Please know that I am sitting here using my words and wishes to help you manifest the future that you want.
My wishes include but are not limited to the following: co-writers who recognize your strengths and let you shine whenever possible, an unexpected release from your back catalog, a doubling of your streaming count, a publishing meeting that goes exactly how you expected to, and a high paying sync in your favorite reality show.
We are, all of us, working towards different goals in the music industry this year. Some of you are penning songs for others and some of you for yourself. Some of you are writing pop songs that could fit into a tv show and others still are writing instrumental music for trailers.
Each week, roughly 1500 people look to this blog to seek knowledge, guidance, and community. Whenever you feel alone on this dream of ours, remember that there are others just like you in a worldwide community pushing themselves forward. Let that community - known or anonymous - push you to keep going.
You’re not alone. 2023 is the year you win.
Setting Goals for 2023
The New Year is right around the corner once again! It’s wild to look back on the days, weeks, and months that defined the ways we lived, hurt, loved, created and persevered this year. Songs were written and released and each of us made steps forward in our crafts and careers.
As we look ahead, it’s a great idea to write down goals that are S.M.A.R.T. in nature. And yes, if you’ve been reading this blog for awhile you will be intimately familiar with this acronym. S.M.A.R.T. goals are ones that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely. For more information on that definition you can read more here.
My favorite part of this acronym is the word “measurable.” The business of making art so often deals with non-specifics. We try to write “hit” songs or make “great” art. And sure, that’s the dream. But its hard to make that goal extremely clear. For creatives, discovering other ways of measurement can be helpful. That’s why I advocate for applying numbers where’ve possible.
How many songs door you want to writer this year? How often would you like to writer? How many new co-writers would you like to attempt to work with? How many songs would you like to have released? How many shows do you want to play and how many tickets do you want to sell? I find that identifying numbered answered to these questions can help us sharpen our focus.
My wish for you is that you gain a better understanding or S.M.A.R.T. goals and that you set aside some time - in advance of Jan. 1 - to write them down. The hustle begins now!
Writing a Christmas Classic
Whether you’re Christian or not, a Christmas song can be a yearly treasure trove of streams. Such is the case for the classic greats - like Mariah Carey and Nat King Cole - and more recent stars - like Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber. So too is this true for lesser known artists who get upchucked into Spotify users the world over. From a calculated, business perspective, it behooves you as an artist to have a holiday song or two in your repertoire.
So! What makes a Christmas classic? 5 years ago, Vox did a deep dive into this question and discovered that “classic, early 20th century Christmas sound” is defined by an incredibly straightforward 4 cord cord progression: i, i7, iv, ii minor 7 flat 5. It’s a widely applicable cord progressions that explained the success of songs of “All I Want For Christmas is You.”
Production-wise we see certain flourishes make their way into our holiday headspace: slay bells and vocal choruses of oo’s and ah’s. Lyrically, words like Santa, snow, home/family, Christmas are commonly featured. You can take these classic Christmas song tropes and apply them to your own holiday-themed songs.
My challenge to all of you artists and songwriters is to write a Christmas song for network. Take an angle that speaks to you that synthesizers elements that have worked in the past. Of course, make sure to account for you own personal style and pizzaz.
The Sounds of Christmas
Christmas is once again everywhere all at once. No supermarket shopper or television watcher is free from the sound of winter nostalgia and slay bells. Midwestern moms are spinning Nat King Cole vinyl while Mariah Carey is setting twitter aflame with her attempt to copyright the term “Queen of Christmas.” Its December and - even if you wanted to - you can’t escape the power of this season’s “fah lah lah lahs.”
December is interesting to me as a sort of yearly sonic reset. While multi-genre 15 second TikTok snippets from previously unknown artists proved ascendant in the year 2022, we cast them aside for something more familiar. The traditional music industry slows down with release cycles in favor of pushing forth Christmas tunes and holiday fare. Artists with Christmas songs already in their discography see a marked uptick in streams of they old holiday songs. When winter comes, listeners default to the sounds of Christmases past.
Fo me, it’s almost like a palette cleanser. When I return to familiar records, I reground myself in more traditional forms of songwriting. I set aside the popular cord progressions of the current era in favor of those that dominate the Christmas season. In this time of increasingly niche listrening bases, there’s something beautiful about having the songs that transcend individual taste in favor of mass, multi-generational appeal.
So, with that in mind, I guess that I don’t mind the yearly resurgence of holiday songs. For me its a reset. For the masses, it’s a set of songs that we can agree on. For the supermarket shopper and television watcher its background noise. For Nat King Cole, it’s a voice revived and for Mariah Carey it’s a yearly return for an anointed diva. Indeed, the fah lah lah’s are here to stay!!!! And if you hate it, don’t worry, December 26th is right around the corner!
Turkey Day Hits
In the aftermath of America’s great turkey holiday, a songwriter must ask the question: why are there 0 Thanksgiving hits? Surely, mashed potatoes, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, a presidential Turkey day party, and a mytholoized dinner between colonists and Native Americans should provide ample fodder for a holiday soundtrack.
With Christmas around the corner, one might wager that - unlike Christmas which has thousands of years of history that stretches back to pagan times - Thanksgiving is a relatively new holiday. Humans have had far fewer years to build a catalogue of Thanksgiving material. In addition, Thanksgiving is a holiday that is only applicable to a single people group: Americans. Therefore, there is a much smaller people group who would even consider celebrating the holiday through song.
Still, with the American record industry what it is - a machine looking to capitalize at all corners - one would assume that songwriters and artists would be tasked with overcoming this reality. Alas, no. Until today!!!
If you’re reading this blog today, then you have a mission for Thanksgiving 2023: pen the perfect song for Thanksgiving. Channel America’s love of turkey, the campiness of the film Addams Family Values, and imagine yourself as a turkey pardoned presidentially. Give Americans what they want! The perfect turkey day smash!
When A Good Song Comes Around
There are few joys like realizing you’ve written a song that you love. We tinker and toil on little nuggets of inspiration, trying our hardest to twist them into something meaningful and listenable. As artists, we experience success at varying degrees each time we attempt to paint melody onto air. When it finally happens, it’s hard to let go of that fleeting feeling.
Many songwriters report that they know a song is great when they can’t help but listen to a song over and over again. They are almost held captive by their own work - transfixed. They play the demo morning, noon, and night - analyzing all the little tidbits of their work that they have fallen in love with. A heart beat quickens. Cheeks blush. Relief rushes over us each time we truly do it.
Sometimes writing a great song is a double edged sword. You spend so long chasing one that - once you do - you’re immediately paralyzed by the fear that you won’t be able to write another one like it. You may find yourself asking if this is the last time you’ll write a song you love. I encourage you to silence that voice as much as possible. Focus instead on the joy of creation and the realization that YOU are capable of writing something extraordinary.
I could wax poetic about this feeling all day. It’s like a bolt of lighting that bleeds into the days to come. I encourage you to hold onto it when everything that bolt of lightning strikes.
November Writing Challenges
Go outside. Use your phone’s voice memo app to record a sound from the word outside: the hum of a car engine, the whistling of the wind, the crunch of the fall leaves under your foot. Use that sound as the basis for a new track and write over it.
Write in public. Often times we write where we are most comfortable - our rooms or studios. Find your way to a quiet space in a park with an acoustic instrument and start writing. What happens to your process when you are no longer in a space of optimal privacy?
Write to a recycled formula. Listen through a few records. Choose one and figure out the chord structure. Use that structure in a new son.
Write a song to your 7th grade self. What do you have to say to that person? What do you want them to know?
Clap out a rhythm in a 6/8 time signature. Record it and use it as the percussive basis as a new song. Use nothing but the claps as instrumentation.
Set up a completely new co-writing trio. What happens when you write with people you’ve never written with before?
Reconfigure your creative hour. If you tend to write in the morning, write at night. Switch around the hour at which you begin being creative. What happens when the timing of your creativity shifts
Eventually there will only be one person left on this planet - bleak, I know. Still, its a biological reality! Imagine that you are that person. What kind of song would they write? What would they see? What do they want to leave behind?
Time crunch. Set a timer for 30 minutes. You must complete a song within the allotted time frame replete with 2 verses, a chorus, and a bridge.
Choose a single event in your life. Write two songs about it - one in a major key and one in a minor key.
Spooky Season Smashes
Happy halloween. Unlike Christmas, the catalogue of Halloween music is not over inundated with material. There’s the “Monster Mash,” “This is Halloween,” and, of course, Bette Midler’s performance of “I Put a Spell on You” from Hocus Pocus. Still, the smash hits from Halloween are few and far between.
The only artist who has capitalized on this verifiable lack of Halloween-core hits is Kim Petras. Her 2018 release TURN OFF TH LIGHT, VOL. 1 and its 2020 sequel TURN OFF THE LIGHT successfully fill up a gap that the music industry at large as failed to address. Her songs have campy titles (Boo! Bitch! And Party Till I Die) and have an unhinged sexuality (Death by Sex) fit for the campy, costumed holiday. The records have accumulated over 100 mil streams across platforms.
In strictly capitalist language, Petras identified a problem in the market and provided a solution for it. There exists such a lack of Halloween-core hits that I think other artists should continue trying to fill the void until - like Christmas - we can enjoy a huge catalogue of Halloween tunes during Spooky season.
While you’re out there tonight trick-or-treating, partying at the club, or handing out candy to the kids, think deeply about what ideas you could fit into a Halloween song. Use the rest of the week of the pen something that could be next year’s Spooky season smash.
My Favorite Artists of 2022
The year is nearly over (again). I’ve been listening to a lot of new music and wanted to share some of my recent favorites with you. Unsurprisingly, women songwriters are dominating my ear space. Whether it’s Amricana, RnB, rap, or pop songwriter music, women are proving time and time again their mastery over the craft of writing songs.
Muni Long - Née Priscilla Renea, Muni Long has had a storied career as a songwriter penning hits for Rihanna, Fifth Harmony, Kesha, and Mariah Carey. Her pivot to artistry is a welcome change. She incorporates elements of RnB + Trap successfully on her debut album Public Displays of Affection. She fits squarely in the new vein of RnB songstresses like Summer Walker + Jazmine Sullivan who are delivering masterful works with masterful vocals.
Ethel Cain - Fans of Lana Del Rey, gothic Americana, and subverted religious symbolism rejoice! Ethel Cain - producer, writer, and artists - has arrived fully formed. Her album “Preacher’s Daughter” features soaring ballads, yelpy Cranberry’s type vocals, and immaculate lyrics. In a post Kim Petras era, Ethel Cain proves that trans femme artists can operate masterfully in varied genres.
Ice Spice - Drill music has a potential breakthrough star with Ice Spice. Her track “Munch” coins a new term to degrade obsessive men desperate to eat it - if you know what I mean. Her flip of “No Clarity” is proof that Ice Spice can handle big hooks and ascend to the top of the pop ladder.
Carol Ades - A songwriter who has proven herself with cuts with Ava Max + Selena Gomez, Carole Ades (née Caroline Pennel) steps out from behind the curtain with an deeply expressive voice and lyrics concerned with sadness, the complicated nature of sex, and learning to self actualize your desires. Carol Ades, with a limited discography, proves that she is one to watch.
October Songwriting Prompts
Prioritize quantity this month. Write a song everyday when you wake up based on the first thought that crosses your mind.
The name game. Write down a name for each letter of the alphabet. Now, use one of those names as the title of your song. Imagine the character who’s name this belongs to and center them in your narrative.
Repetition is your friend. Choose a single word or phrase and repeat it over and over again throughout your song.
Mix up your time signatures. Most people write songs in 4/4 time. Choose a time signature like 3/4 or 6/8 and see if that helps your creative juices flow.
Its spooky season! Write a song that could potentially come out at the beginning of October next year to celebrate Halloween.
Forego a chorus. Yes everyone loves a strong chorus! But try making an effective song without one.
Pull out a song from your back catalogue. Choose a single line and use it as a jumping off point for a new song. Now that you’ve had distant from the words and ideas of yesteryear, where do your old words take you?
Pick your favorite cartoon supporting character. Imagine that a television studio has green lit a spinoff series with them as the star. What dos that theme song sound like?
Three Songwriting Ideas
I’ve been listening to a lot of new music, especially by artists at the forefront of Gen Z’s rising tide. And, undeniably, it’s great. I’ve been tryin to analyze the way in which songwriting is developing and have pinpointed three ideas that have popped up a few times or generally excited me. Hopefully, you can take some of these ideas back into your own work.
Choose a specific word and write the most literal lyrics possible. Recently I was listening to Corook’s “Snakes,” a song in which the artist details all the reasons she f*cking hates snakes. The song is an absurdist left turn in a world of love songs and autobiographical tell alls. Mentions of anaconda, pythons, and “things without arms and legs” and snare drums that sound like hissing snakes makes for a hilarious and successful endeavor. Talk about committing to the bit.
Write a song based on a name. Gen Z’s resident bedroom funk pop queen is Remi Wolf. Her repertoire includes two songs with names for titles “Liz,” a sex worker with whom Remi finds friendship, and “Michael,” a boy with whom the artist is having a toxic relationship. In both songs, the specificity of the name allows for great character building and serves to anchor the song beyond feeling to a real (or imagined) songs. She pulls from a long tradition of names as song titles: “Come on Eileen” and “Dear John,” just to name a few
Flip a Disney sample (in a way that won’t get you sued). The past two years have seen a lot of Disney flips including Salem Elise’s “Mad at Disney” and PoutyFace’s “Deathwish.” It’s part of a bigger trend of prioritizing sampled melodies over original ones. There’s something to be said for familiarity in the marketplace of ideas. Taking a Disney melody and making enough edits to it to evade copyright law seems to be quite an effective method!
Is that song good?
Art is subjective. Tastes are cultural as well as personal and - with 8 billion people on the planet - there’s not a single song that everyone can definitely say they like. So much of musical discourse concerns whether someone likes this song or that song. We connect with other folks who like the same songs we do and sometimes bond over songs we mutually hate. But, is the idea of likability a good barometer for whether a song is “good.”
As songwriters, I believe that we need to step away from the subjectivity of liking a song when we evaluate whether a song is good. Instead, I believe that we need to understand a song in a different manner. Firstly, we need to evaluate what the goal of the artist is. Then we need to determine if the artist is successful in realizing their vision through song. If they are, then we can say that a song is “good.” If they are not then we can say that the song is “bad.”
Let’s consider an example. There is an artist that you like who is attempting to make an album that mixes the aesthetics of Y2K pop, hyper pop vocal production, and autobiographical songwriting. When we listen through the album, we can listen for these elements and see if they are being synthesized into a record the makes sense. Do the Y2K melodies mesh with the personal subject material? Are the chord progressions invoking nostalgia for the sounds of 2004? Does the vocal production sound similar to something you might hear in an AG Cook or Charli XCX song? Does that vocal production enhance or detract from the personal nature of the song’s content.
We can ask these questions and questions like this to think more deeply the music we’re listening to. As writers and artists, we hope that listeners will the time to ask these questions about our own work. So, why not give the work we listen to the same thought. After thinking deeply about the artists vision and listening through the material, we can evaluate whether the work in question is “good” based on whether its successfully completing its goal.
I think this is a better way to listen to music. This type of analytical listening gives us a better understanding and appreciation of the art which we listen to. This moves us beyond a simple idea of liking a song to understanding artistic intent and whether or not a piece of work is successfully executing its vision.
Planning Your Live Set
So, you want to step out onto the stage and the world what you’ve got. You’re an artist and you’re gonna be on tour in venues small and large singing for the masses. EXCELLENT! As much as its important for you to pen songs people want to sing along to, part of your journey is to figure out how to be compelling figure on stage. So, let’s discuss a few ways that you can make your onstage experience one that an audience walks away from talking about for days.
Your biggest consideration needs to be the way your voice is going to sound throughout your set. Most sets early on in your career are going to be in the 45 minute to 1 hour range. That’s a lot of singing whether you’ve got the vocal stamina or not. That said, there’s a few ways to ensure that your voice can handle the marathon of a performance. Chief among those methods is ensuring that your set list flows in a way that prioritizes vocal health. Start your set with songs that are mid-range so that your voice can warm up. In the middle of your set, place your more vocally challenging pieces sing your voice is sufficiently pliant. End again with easy material so as not to overburden your voice. Another consideration, of course, is how many songs to place in a set of this length. I advise 9-10. Really use time in between songs to drink water and banter with the audience as a volume that does not put strain on your voice. If you can lengthen these down times then your set can reach an appropriate length without vocal strain from singing too many songs.
Most audience members are coming to your show not just to hear you sing but to get the experience of being in a room with the artist. They want to hear your stories about the songs you write. Give the people what they want with planned out banter. Write scripts for what you’re going to say in between songs so that you’re not flying completely off the cuff. Rehearse what you’re going to say when you rehearse your set at home and you will feel more comfortable on stage when it’s time to put the music down and talk.
Diversify your set list. Your set list should never be one note - rhythmically, tempo-wise, or vocally. Choose some songs that are uptempo and some that are down tempo. Mix songs that are vocally challenging and those that are easy as hell. Add in a cover or two at odd junctures when an audience might start tuning out so as to keep them captivated. If you’re doing a set with a full band or tracks, add in a moment in which you play an acoustic song or two. Keep the audience guessing about what’s coming next.
Get the audience singing along if you can. Finding moments to teach the audience a portion of your songs and getting them to sing along is one way to make the audience feel like they’re a part of event that they couldn’t get at home. There’s nothing like singing along to a song with a giant chorus. Its a pleasure for the artist as much as its a joy for the audience.
Putting together a show obviously involves so much more than what was discussed here. But, hopefully this blog has provided you with a few ways to prep your set and make it interesting for your loyal and adoring fans.
Artists You Want to Work With
Especially when you’re is an independent pop songwriter, a core part of your business strategy should be to link up with artists who will release your co-written material. You’ll likely have to work with a multitude of artists before finding those who believe in you as a songwriter and who’s creative vision lines up with your area of expertise and creative expression. That said, do not be deterred by the many ups and downs of this journey. When you finally meet an artist with whom you align it is a reward experience, both financially and spiritually. That said, let’s talk about a few character traits that will make an independent artist a worthwhile investment of your time and talents.
Perhaps most importantly, you’ll want to work with artists who have a clear vision. Do they want to work on ballads or hyper pop internet music? Do they want to release an album, an EP, or a set of singles? Does that catalogue of work have a coherent sonic or thematic focus. Is this perform focused and steering the session? The more clear-eyed the artist the more likely they’ll be able to communicate what they need from you. In turn, you’ll know what to bring to a session and be more likely to land a cut.
Beyond your sessions, you’ll want to seek out artists who have a reputation of putting out music regularly. Of course, you’re bound to want to work with nubile artists who have yet to put out work as well. If this is the case, try and sus out whether this type of artist has plans for release or whether they are merely exploring creatively at the moment. Depending on the type of songwriter you are, you may or may not find this type of work rewarding since you’ll have to do a bit more development. When an artist has a history of release, you can be better assured that your music might find a place out in the world.
Ethics and respect for you the songwriter are also of the utmost important. Songwriters are perhaps the least compensated member of the music industry community - its incredibly upsetting. That said, work with an artist who will sign split sheets and stick to agreements without bemoaning the fact that you are contributing. Those artists who are willing to pay writer’s fees or give you a slice of the master are those that you should keep close as well.
I worry for songwriters. I have heard some horror stories of those who get involved with certain types of artists who end up sucking up their valuable time and provide nothing in return. Of course, this is par for the course in an industry that requires we do quite a bit of spec work. Seek out those with vision, plans, and an ethical business mind in order to set yourself up for success.
Communicating Artistic Vision in a Co-Write
If you’re choosing the artist’s path, you will frequently employ songwriters and producers to help you flesh out you vision in song. Ideally, your co-writes will be places where you can bring your vision to life in an efficient and timely manner. In order to do this, you - the artist - need to have the tools to direct your collaborators during the co-write.
One easy way to do this is to come to co-writes equipped with reference material. Playlists of songs that are currently inspiring you and/or demos that indicate where your music is headed can help direct the sounds that a producer chooses for you or words that a co-writer seeks to place in the song. I cannot stress this enough: bring a few songs for reference. If you only bring one song, then you risk creating a copy of the original as opposed to a truly original song. Bringing multiple songs will allow everyone in the room to draw from multiple places of influence in order to create something unique and authentic.
Some artists should choose to a step further. I know artists who pen three page word documents that they share with collaborators in order to direct their energies. These documents indicate their likes (autobiographical songs, acoustic production, and heavy background vocals) and address their dislikes (trap snares, generic language, etc). Fleshing out your ideas in a systematic way like this can help direct your collaborators in the right direction. If they know what sounds and words to avoid and what ideas to go toward, you’ll be more than likely to pen a song you actually want to cut.
It behooves the artist to learn basic production terminology as well. If you understand EQ, Reverb, Delay, and comping, you can help the producer make sure that your vocal sits correctly in the track. If you can use production jargon to describe the sounds you want, your tracks are - again - more likely to fit into your artistic vision. Communication is key in collaboration.
What all this boils down to is you having the ability to define your vision in a way that is easily understood for your collaborators. If you walk into a session with the goal to “write a good song", your collaborators might do just that in a way that pushes you in a place you don’t want to go. But if you walk into a session with a goal to write a hyperpop ballad with crunchy vocal harmonies and irreverent lyrical content about dogs, you’re going to get the song you actually dreamed of.
Be specific. Be straightforward. That’s the best thing you can do to help your collaborators help you.
Sync Writing Basics
Not every songwriter needs to pen songs for pop stars in order to have a successful and fulfilling career. Many professional songwriters exclusively write songs for advertisement and televison. Rather than earn money from high streaming numbers, these writers obtain “synchronization licenses,” which is essentially a fee for the use of a song in a piece of media. This style of writing is called sync and those who pen this type of music are called sync writers. This genre of music has its own set of guiding principles that should inform how a writer goes about their business. Let’s review a few today.
Avoid certain words or ideas. Unlike an artist’s music - which is a rule free space guided by artistic intention - sync music has an objective: obtain sync licenses. In order to do so, writers need to avoid certain words and ideas. Words like “baby” or “darling” are automatic no’s generally. Hard specifics like location (New York City, Wyoming) or timestamps (autumn, 2014) should be substituted for generalities (anywhere, everywhere, all the time). Names (Michael, Julie) need not appear when you can substitute them for pronouns (her, her, they, you, we, etc).
Include multiple musical sections. Sync music is fun to write because it demands that you include very different sections in your songs. A rapped verse, a gospel-ish pre-chorus, a chanted chorus, a musical into and outro motif, and a drum + bass post-chorus can all be fit into a sync song. Music supervisors are looking for options when they hear a song. So, give them what they want.
Thematically, sync songs deal in different topics than artist songs. When penning songs for an artist project, you can write autobiographical material about whatever you want! When penning a sync song, you need to start from a place of addressing a theme you might hear in an advertisement. Easy sync themes include togetherness, community, winning, family, travel, self-love, empowerment, power, and happiness. If you build a catalogue that addresses themes like this, you’ll be more likely to secure a sync.
Ultimately, these guiding principles are not hard and fast rules. You’ll hear songs in advertisements and television that break these rules. That said, these are a good place to start when penning a sync song. If you’d like to go the extra mile, pull up some of your favorite advertisements on YouTube and dissect the way that music is working in these pieces of media. Then, take what you’ve learned and apply is back into your own songs.
Happy sync writing everybody!
E-Mail List
Since the advent of the e-mail, the e-mail list has been an essential tool for artists. E-mail lists provide a means for artists to directly speak with fans the world over. In an attention economy in which folks are inundated with content and ads all throughout the day, e-mail lists continue to be a powerful tool for direct access to your fans.
Many artists believe that large social media followings will help them stay connected with fans. And, for the time that is true. Large followings on Instagram and TikTok in the year 2022 are powerful tools for getting your music to fans. However, recent history indicates that social media companies falter and, when they do, artists who rely too heavily on these tools can suffer the consequences. We can look at MySpace as a case study. When the tides of social media shifted and Facebook ascended as the dominant social media company, large MySpace fanbases did not shift over and artists who built their following on MySpace suffered the consequences. The same might happen in the future with Instagram or TikTok.
Therefore, it behooves artists to begin compiling their e-mail lists as soon as possible. Doing so will give you a tool that you are in total control of. You can bypass shifting algorithms and shifting trends in social media usage to speak directly with your fans. You can use the e-mail list to announce shows, new merch, and new songs. Make this a priority.
You can begin building your lists by doing the following: pass around an e-mail list at your shows, have an e-mail collecting widget on your website, utilize pre-save campaigns for new songs that report e-mails to you, leverage your following on other social media sites to collect e-mails, and create compelling newsletter content or sales based incentives that draw your fan base toward e-mail.
TikTok Strategies for Beginners
TikTok, for better or worse, is now an essential part of the songwriter and artist’s toolkit. If you’re new to the social media site, then I’ve got 5 few suggestions for how to start making content effectively.
Lip sync your own songs in your room. There are a greater number of people discovering music via TikTok every day. Your own original songs can be a vehicle to garner an audience on the platform. One effective strategy that a lot of artists employ is recording themselves lip syncing to their own songs and posting the video online. They tend to overlay the videos with captioned lyrics as well. Don’t be afraid to post multiple videos of the same song! Here’s an example.
Perform your songs acoustically and live. This can be a very effective strategy if you’re an artist whose music is based around guitar or piano. You can use TikTok’s sound editing tools to put some reverb on your voice if you record directly into your phone. For this video format, you should overlay the footage with captioned lyrics, which you can do in app. Here’s an example.
Record a lip sync in your car. For whatever reasons, car-based lip sync videos tend to blow up. In these videos, experiment by saying something quippy at the video’s onset and then launching into a lip sync of your song. Here’s an example.
Use a hooky + absurd caption at your video’s onset. There’s a TikTok feature where you can have a Siri-type voice read aloud anything you write. These tend to hook audiences now who are primed to hear that voice. You can follow with - yet again - a lip sync of your song. Here’s an example.
Include a friend reacting to your song. Invite your friend to make a TikTok with you and have them play a character who has never heard your song before. Your friend’s reaction will help keep viewers intrigued and might just pique the algorithm’s interest. Here’s an example.
August Songwriting Prompts
We as creatives are known to hit creative blocks every now and then. When you’re feeling out of ideas, taking a turn toward prompts can help you unlock the block. Here’s ten songwriting prompts that you can tackle in the month of August.
Write an odd hour of the day. You can wake up and immediately start penning a song or write in the few hours prior to bed. Challenge yourself, by changing the time of day that you typically write a song.
Write about a dream. Dreams often have a surrealist edge to them. They’re spaces where your subconscious unlocks and takes you on a journey that you wouldn’t necessarily be able to access in your day to day. Use your dreams as inspiration for the lyrical content of your songs.
Write a song using strictly melody. We don’t always need words to communicate feelings. What happens to your songwriting when you eliminate the need for language?
Write over percussion. Cords can be inspiring but they can also be limiting. Discover what happens when you put down the guitar or the piano and simply write to a drum beat or rhythmic pattern.
Write one portion of a song at a time. Pen a verse and put the song down. Come back to it the following day and write the chorus. Put it down again and write the second verse on the following day. Sometimes our creativity comes in shorter spurts and downtime in between creative periods can help us figure out what we actually want to say.
Rewrite a song you never finished. We don’t always need to start from scratch. We all have songs in our catalogue that need to be reworked and refined. Find a song you think can be improved and do that work.
Write a 1 minute song. Tierra Whack’s 2018 effort “Whack World” proved the power of a concise musical moment. How much can you pack into a song that can’t be more than 60 seconds?
Pen a song in a retro style. What would a song from an earlier era sound like in your voice? Pen a song that might have been on the radio in the 50’s or 60’s.
Write from an animal’s perspective. Sometimes we need to get out of our head and into the head of someone or something else. What would a dog or cat write about if they could make music?
Write with a non-writer. Creativity is not limited to those of us pursuing songwriting as a career. Get out of your typical creative circle and write with someone who’s experience is limited. Maybe they’ll be able to help get you out of your rut!
Scheduling Creativity
Full Time creatives are not typically 9-to-5 type people. In fact they’re usually working from 12am to noon and then from noon to 12am. It’s hectic to be a working creative in an era of rising housing costs, inflation, and exploitation by streaming giants. But I digress! Let’s focus on the thing that brings us the most joy: the act of creation. More specifically, let’s address the question of how to schedule your creative time properly.
The question of scheduling needs to address a more personal question: “How often should I write?” Some folks are built for a 9-to-5 creative beat in which they take on two sessions a day. Others of us, are more inclined to write once or twice a week. The key is to find a rhythm that works for you without getting burnt out. The business of music wants songwriters penning day-in and day-out with a religious conviction for workaholism. That does not always align with the creative spirit. Your goal is to optimize the time you spend creating by ensuring that you show up with your whole self to the write.
Experimenting with writing schedule is one way to figure this out. Try a few weeks where you write every day. Try a few weeks where your writes are Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday with a four day weekend. Try a few weeks with a more spread out schedule where you’re writing Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Through the process of trial and error, you’ll discover what works best for you. Honor your creative spirits capacity without overextending yourself.
Being a songwriter is not just about showing up for an initial write, but ensuring that you finish songs and put them out. This is especially true if you’re also pursuing an artist career. Setting deadlines and sticking to them needs to be a part of your schedule. Release dates, dates to send out songs to mastering, dates to finish unfinished songs are all important dates! Practice the art of finishing your art as often as you practice your art.
Master your craft.
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