Why Recording Matters

One of the realities of the music industry is that you can't rely on anyone else's imagination to fill in any recording quality deficiencies. As some would say, you almost have to spoon feed your song to the listener.

Consider this scenario: you have written a great song and used GarageBand or your cell phone to record a rough work tape. You march into a publisher's office and tell them you've created the best thing since sliced bread. They turn the speakers up, hit "play", then hit "stop" 30 seconds in. They didn't even make it to the chorus. Instead, they take out your CD and pop in a song from another writer that they're excited about. What comes through the speakers may sound better to the ears, due to the fact that the song was recorded well in ProTools or Logic. But deep down you know that your song was better than the one the publisher enjoys listening to.

How do you avoid a scenario like the one above, where a worse song gets attention because it sounds better? Focus on getting a great, clean home recording. If you track even just a piano/guitar and vocal well, you could even use those recordings as the foundation for a full-band track.

If you're interested in taking the next step in setting up your home studio, I would highly recommend picking up a copy of Mike Senior's Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio. It has helped me take very practical steps in improving my own setup, and I'm sure you would benefit as well.

Keep writing,
Ben


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Would you or someone you know like to go on a songwriting retreat with industry professionals? Visit SongbirdCamp.com for more details!

What's Your Opinion?

The business of songwriting is based on opinions. The life of a song can end as soon as one of these people deems the music not good enough to listen to:


Songwriter
Publisher
Song plugger
Artist's manager
Artist
Artist's label head
Label promotional team
Radio DJ
Distributor
Retailer
Listener

The most significant decisions happen in the creative stage. As a songwriter, if I want to get my music all the way through the process to the listener, I should probably take into account the opinions of everyone along the way. Sounds logical, right? But the more people you try to appease, the less focused and pure the song becomes. You can write a song that plays by all the rules, but lacks uniqueness. When you create art, it is impossible to please everyone.

In the end, we are all better off staying true to our own understanding of what a great song is. If we do that, in the end we can at least believe in the art we create.

Keep writing,

Ben

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Would you or someone you know like to go on a songwriting retreat with industry professionals? Visit SongbirdCamp.com for more details!

Fragile [fraj-uhl]

Let's face it: Songwriters are fragile.

There's a fine balance of pouring your creative soul into a song, but not taking it personally when criticism is given. Songs are fruit from the songwriter tree: some grow, offering shade and beauty to the world around them, while others amount to only a snack to the occasional passer-by.

Keep writing,

Ben

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Would you or someone you know like to go on a songwriting retreat with industry professionals? Visit SongbirdCamp.com for more details!

Playing Music

I had coffee recently with a publisher here in town. One of the things he said to me that stuck was that, in general, we all take the business too seriously.

I believe we create our best art when we are enjoying the process. If we aren't having fun, what's the point?

My challenge to you is this: the next time you sit down to write, throw all your expectations out the window. Have fun. Play.

Keep writing,

Ben

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Would you or someone you know like to go on a songwriting retreat with industry professionals? Visit SongbirdCamp.com for more details!

Work For the Job You Want

Though talent can get you through the door of the music business, hard work is what keeps you in the door. Once you have the chance to meet with a publisher, be intentional about how you continue to pursue that relationship. More important than how often you meet is how hard you work in between meetings. Having a song or two that shows tangible growth is key in impressing a publisher. In the same way that you "dress for the job you want," work for the job you want and prove that you deserve a spot on their roster.

Keep writing,

Ben

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Would you or someone you know like to go on a songwriting retreat with industry professionals? Visit SongbirdCamp.com for more details!

The Life of a Song (Part 3 of 6)

On the business side, there are six steps in the life of a song. I've decided to break it down into six posts.

Here's a basic unfolding of events (with estimated length of time in parentheses):

1. Song is written and turned into publisher
2. Song is demoed (three months after it is written)
3. Publisher pitches song to artists/labels/managers around town (six months)
4. Artist decides to record song (three months)
5. Album gets mixed and label promotes upcoming release (six months)
6. Album is release, and publisher and songwriter look forward to royalties (six-nine months)

Here are some basic general levels of approval that a song has to go through before it could be heard on the radio consistently:

Photo by Fod Tzellos. Used with permission.

           1. The songwriter(s)
2. The publisher(s)
3. The artist’s manager(s)
4. The record label
5. The artist(s)
6. The promotion team
7. The radio DJ(s)
8. The listener(s)

I believe the most important step is the first one. If we don't write something that we believe in, then why should we expect someone else believe it?

Keep writing,

Ben

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Would you or someone you know like to go on a songwriting retreat with industry professionals? Visit SongbirdCamp.com for more details!

8-4-2-1

 

When I joined a P.R.O., my rep there took interest in the music I was writing. He encouraged me to continue bringing him new songs, and was gracious enough to give me constructive feedback. At an unclear stretch of my creative journey, it was important to have someone rooting for me and my art.

After about a year of meeting every month or two, he said, "I think it's time for you to meet with some publishers." I was thrilled. And nervous. Here's the breakdown of what happened after I walked out of his office that afternoon:

1. He gave me a list of 8 different publishers (including phone numbers) who he thought would have interest in the songs I was writing. He also gave me permission to use his name, which definitely helped legitimize my reason for calling.

2. I got meetings with 4 of the publishers. They either listened with interest, asked me to just leave the CD and told me they'd call me (which they didn't), consistently skipped to the next song every 30 seconds (I think I played a song that only had gibberish words instead of lyrics, so I can't blame her), or just wanted to chat.

3. I got multiple meetings with 2 of the publishers, getting feedback and constructive criticism on my songs. I would consistently drop by the two publishers' offices every couple of weeks, and would write songs specifically with the intention of taking them to the meetings.

4. Ultimately, I only continued meeting consistently with one publisher. Thankfully, that was the one publisher that I ended up signing with, over a year after this process began.

The actual process of meeting consistently with a publisher is called "courting," and it's fairly similar to dating someone until the proposal. It looked and felt a lot like an internship of sorts, where I had many of the same opportunities that the publisher's signed writers had.

Though I felt like I was ready the day I walked out of the P.R.O.'s office with a list of eight publishers, I knew the day I signed my publishing deal that it was worth going through the year-long process. I was a better writer because of it. For more on what a publisher does, read my previous post here.

Keep writing,

Ben

What Does a P.R.O. Do?

When I came to town to perform and write, I had someone ask me which P.R.O. I belonged to. I had no answer, because, not only was I not affiliated with any of them, I didn't even know what one was.

When you hear people talk about a "P.R.O.," they are referring to a Performing Rights Organization. The three major P.R.O.s in the United States are:

ASCAP
BMI
SESAC

And in Canada:

SOCAN

The job of a P.R.O. is to track, collect and distribute performance royalties from radio, television and live performances. They all accomplish the same work, and are one of the songwriter's best friends and biggest advocates. They write the big checks we all dream of finding in our mailbox one day.

The decision of which P.R.O. to join is based less on hard facts than it is a gut feeling. I've heard of two co-writers initially getting paid different amounts by their different P.R.O.s for writing the same song, but the amounts evened out over the long term. The best advice I ever heard when making my decision was to go wherever I felt the most welcome and had the strongest relationships. You need to go where they know your name and are familiar with what you do. I know songwriters at all three American P.R.O.s who are equally happy where they are (you can only join one at a time, but are able to switch over time if so desired).

I actually ended up meeting my publisher and signing my deal directly through my P.R.O. and the people I knew there. But more on that later...

Keep writing (and contact a P.R.O. if you haven't already),

Ben

Guest Post on MakeItInMusic.com!

Click picture to read post. In the spirit of combining words, what you see in this post is a "clickture."

Rusty Gaston - What a Publisher is Looking For

Rusty Gaston - On What I Look For from Music Starts Here on Vimeo.

The Elevator Pitch

The doors open and you walk onto the elevator. As you press the button for your floor, you notice the only other person you'll be riding with: a clean-cut, older gentleman wearing a designer suit. You introduce yourself as a budding entrepreneur, to which he responds, "What's your idea?" Realizing you've just stumbled into a potential investment opportunity, you jump right into the 60-second summary of your business plan. There's only one chance to make a great first impression.

So it is with a song and its listener. The song finds its way to the ears of a producer, publisher, record label executive, radio DJ, audience or potential buyer with the intention of convincing the listener that it is well worth their emotional investment.  Often if the listener isn't sold in the first 30-60 seconds of a song, it's on to the next one.

The next time you write a song, put yourself in the shoes (or ears) of the listener. Ask yourself, "If I were hearing this song for the first time, would I believe enough in the music and message to invest my time and emotions?"

Keep writing,

Ben

The Journey of a Song (Part 1 of 6)

Recently I introduced the business steps that a song must take once it leaves the songwriter's desk. Today I want to focus on the first of those six steps: turning in a song to the publisher.

1. Song is turned into publisher
2. Song is demoed (three months later)
3. Publisher pitches song to artists/labels/managers around town (six months)
4. Artist decides to record song (three months)
5. Album gets mixed and label promotes upcoming release (six months)
6. Album is release, and publisher and songwriter look forward to royalties (six-nine months)

After I write a song, my publisher usually gives me feedback on which lines could be improved. A lot of times songs are turned in without really garnering much attention at all. But that's not a bad thing, because not every song is created equal.

The benefit of writing 3-5 times each week is that you learn that it's OK to write a song and move on to the next song the next day. That's not always easy to do, especially when you pour yourself into each tune.

I won't lie. Sitting in the same room as a publisher while they listen through your song is one of the most nerve-wracking experiences I've ever had (I remember a couple years ago leaving a meeting with bite marks on the inside of my cheek where I had nervously been clinching my teeth). The weak points in a song tend to rise to the surface and sound obvious when you're hearing the song through the publisher's ears. As rough as these meetings can sometimes feel, I've found that they've been helpful in learning how to catch and fix some of the song's weak points before letting the publisher hear my work.

As more songs are written, certain ones rise to the surface. When the time comes book a demo session, a list of potential songs is poured over until the cream of the crop is set in stone. Then the fun part begins, but more on that later.

The publisher also takes care of all the copyright paperwork, allowing the songwriter to focus on their creativity. (Read more about what a publisher does here.) 

Keep writing,

Ben

What Does a Publisher Do?

From my experience, here are some aspects of what a publisher does:

1. Pays a salary in the form of an advance, allowing me to not have to work another job
2. Provides valuable feedback on songs
3. Sets up co-writes
4. Takes care of legal copyright registration
5. Fronts the money for demo sessions
6. Acts as a communication buffer
7. Validates a songwriter as a professional
8. Provides a space for co-writing

As a songwriter, you aren’t necessarily trying to prove to a publisher that you have written the best song in the world, rather that you have all the potential to write the best song in the world. It’s as if the beginning songwriter is a young apple tree and, though it may not provide the best fruit quite yet, with the proper care and growth it can soon produce bountifully.

It's important to remember, however, that you don't need to have a songwriting deal with a publisher to be a great songwriter. It just allows you to write songs from nine to five, rather than before or after your nine to five.

For more information on publishers, check out All You Need to Know About the Music Business (see Reading tab above).

Keep writing,

Ben

The Journey of a Song

Between the songwriter’s pen to the listener’s ear, there are a handful of steps that the song must take along the business path. Here is a basic estimated unfolding of events in the journey of a song once it is written (with estimated length of time in parentheses):

1. Song is turned into publisher
2. Song is demoed (three months later)
3. Publisher pitches song to artists/labels/managers around town (six months)
4. Artist decides to record song (three months)
5. Album gets mixed and label promotes upcoming release (six months)
6. Album is release, and publisher and songwriter look forward to royalties (six-nine months)

Yesterday my publisher said to me and my co-writer, "You can kick off 2011 by writing something that will make you money in 2012 or 2013!" He was jokingly serious. Or seriously joking. Sort of. If you add up the months in parentheses, you get about two years.

For example, I co-wrote songs over two years ago that are just now on the Mosaic album (leaving me at step 6). Making money in song publishing is a long-term investment for both the publisher and the songwriter. Both are players in the waiting game, and expecting things to happen too quickly can only bring disappointment.

But this should not be a daunting reality to the songwriter. The long period of time can serve as a reminder that it doesn't necessarily pay off to try to simulate what is currently on the radio. A good song written today will certainly stand two years from now, regardless of what the top 40 landscape may look like. 

Keep writing,

Ben

Stepping-Stone Songs

Why end every post with the sign off, "Keep writing,"?

The best education we can get when it comes to writing songs comes by writing more songs. We learn from taking chances and failing. We learn from trying all over again. Songs are stepping stones.

For my parents the hardest aspect of what I do is the reality that most of the songs that I write will never be heard by the public. The reason this is difficult is because each song any writer creates has a value worth pointing to that shows it is in some way special and unique.

I had a good friend in college who was intent on perfecting his songs. Rather than calling a song finished and moving on, he believed that the original idea that spurred his song was worth spending multitudes of time on. He spent a couple years focusing on the same eight songs, and has since told me that he wished that he had written more.

A publisher told me once that there was a writer who showed potential, but just didn’t quite yet have the right caliber of songs to get any cut. The advice given to that writer was, not to go listen to a certain song or to specifically work on his rhyming or music, but, to come back after they had written 200 more songs. 200!

As crazy as it sounds, I think the publisher’s advice holds water. Over the past few years (after writing 200 more songs myself) I’ve realized that I've grown more from just writing more and more songs than I have from anything else. Only by writing more songs will I grow out of my mistakes. Rather than over-analyzing each and every song I write, I along with my publisher leave room for mistakes, which in turn spurs my growth.
 
On a side-note, I am more than excited that my alma mater is now offering a major in songwriting. My only concern is that students could enter and exit the program with a false assumption that earning a degree with the word “Songwriter” or "Songwriting" printed on it will translate into a publishing deal and a long career. If you go to school to become an accountant, you can go into a financial management company or a bank with somewhat of an expectation that you are qualified for a position. However, when it comes to songwriting, there is no conventional path to becoming a professional. I know plenty of writers who never went to college. In songwriting, every writer earns their degree from experience.

In addition to writing songs, however, I’ve found it incredibly valuable to be reading different books on the craft of songwriting. Here are some of my favorites, some of which I believe you would find valuable (there are links to purchasing these books by clicking on the "Reading" tab above):

          Modern Rhyming Dictionary - worth it for the 60-page introduction on how to rhyme.

          The Artist's Way - most effective way to get in touch with your creativity.

          Songwriters on Songwriting - a great compilation from great writers on great writing.

          Writing Better Lyrics - good, applicable exercises.

          The Future of Music - a speculation of what to expect as music hits new waves of technology in the coming decades.

          All You Need to Know About the Music Business - exactly what it claims to be.

I believe passion paired with enjoyment of music will be the cause of growth. So keep reading, and keep writing!

Ben