Seminar @ Belmont

Last week Gordon Kennedy and I spent an hour with Belmont students, singing songs and telling stories. Basically, we had a mini Songbird Camp experience!


 

 Check out more photos from the seminar here.

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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!

Full Potential

After writing full-time for the past few years, I've noticed there are ruts that each of us can fall into periodically. One of these ruts develops when we believe that there's only one grading scale that matters: commercial radio. And if we don't succeed in that arena, then we must have failed in one way or another. But is this true? No.


The conventional music business does not naturally push creators to reach their full potential beyond the boundaries of the traditional radio song. No one else will make you push yourself to meet your full potential. That job belongs to each and every songwriter.

Instead of trying to just write songs that fit into the traditional definition of  a commercial song, explore the way you approach writing your next song. Who knows--maybe you'll discover a creative direction that feels most true to who you are.

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 Driving Force

I've been thinking a lot lately about the state of the industry. The conventional publishing model has developed in such a way that it provides the songwriter the opportunity to get songs pitched to a number of artists. The result of this is that the understanding of possible outlets creeps into the creative process (or is blatantly the goal) and causes the songwriter to create art that is driven by the opportunities at hand.

What would happen if it were the other way around? What if instead of the opportunity driving the art, the art drove the opportunity? Deep down in my soul I desire this to be the case. I want to sit down and write whatever I feel led to create that day, and figure out a way to monetize the art on the back end.

It's becoming increasingly difficult to even get songs into the right hands for them to be recorded by major artists, let alone find their way onto the radio (for more reasons than are worth getting into). In the meantime, I believe it's most important for each songwriter to write the art they feel most led to create. Those will be the songs that have the greatest chance of standing the test of time.

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!

Hunter vs. Farmer

When writing songs, we can either take on the mentality of a hunter or a farmer.

When applied to songwriting, the hunter is the one who finds it best to chase after a moving target (i.e., Keith Urban is recording next month, so you'd better write a song that he might record). The problem with this mentality is that the creative process is practically flipped on its head. What you end up with is a song that only Keith Urban would record, and chances are that he won't record it. Often times the hunter ends up "hungry" at the end of the day.

The farmer is the one who works consistently (though not constantly) planting seeds that have the potential to grow and offer long-term satisfaction. When writing a song, the farmer can focus on creating the kind of art that he believes in rather than creating art that he hopes others will believe in. I would argue that when an artist believes in their work, that belief is contagious and is caught by the listener.

What the music industry needs right now is less hunters and more farmers. The buffalo herd (opportunities to get songs cut by major artists) is getting too small to accommodate every songwriter who's trying to be a hunter. Hunting is okay to do every once and a while, but only when there's food growing in the field.

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!

Byron Hill - On Mistakes

Byron Hill - On Mistakes from Music Starts Here on Vimeo.

John Mullins - On What Not To Do

John Mullins - On What Not To Do from Music Starts Here on Vimeo.

Timeless Art in a Consumer's World

In America, many of our daily decisions are made out of a consumer's mindset. Everywhere we look are persuasive ads about how we should make those choices.

This mindset unfortunately has contaminated how we create art. Instead of creating out of a freedom, we tend to restrict ourselves to the rules of a commercial game. We want to please those who open the doors to financial success. While writing a song, we say things like, "A radio station wouldn't play that kind of song, so maybe we should pursue another direction."

But I believe that when art has true integrity, a by-product is that it will be desired by consumers, and radio will play it. (It may sound naive, but how can I convince myself to create outside of the commercial boundaries without believing that?) So rather than trying to write a song that contains marketable characteristics, we can focus on writing a song that is great art, and as a result, will sell.

A lot of radio stations have played the same safe music for years, mainly because what has worked in the past still "works" today (there are still people listening). Rather than fixing something that arguably/presumably isn’t broken, record label promotion teams have reacted by shaping their product to the mold that radio wants. Like a line of dominoes falling backwards, the songwriters have also felt the pressure to adapt in order to be competitive. The songwriter who writes something outside the box hardly has a shot at their song being heard over the airwaves. The result of this cycle is that each song ends up sounding like a slight version of the one before. If everyone’s aiming at the same bull’s eye, there will only be so much variation. It seems fair to call these songs average, because by default, they are lacking special distinction, rank, and status.

Deep down I want to believe that the best songs make it onto albums and over the airwaves, but that unfortunately isn’t always the case. It often feels like there are more behind-the-scenes politics than a November election. The challenge to the professional songwriter is to be true to his/her own voice while making a living writing songs for an industry that doesn’t treat new voices kindly. It’s the new voices, however, that cause the craft of songwriting to grow.

Keep writing,

Ben

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!

Up Against the Best of Nashville

On the refrigerator at my publisher's office.

When you send your song to a publisher in Nashville, be aware of what you are up against. It's not enough for you to beat out all the other CDs from aspiring songwriters that made it to their desk that day. On any given day, your songs are also up against the work of the best staff songwriters in the world. And somehow your music needs to stand out in a sea of noise.

But usually your competition often isn't who you think it is. It's more like golf. For the most part, it's you against the course. You are up against the craft of songwriting. It's better to learn from than to compete with each other. So let's celebrate and enjoy the process together along the way.

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

Byron HIll - Finding & Becoming a Mentor

Byron Hill - Finding & Being A Mentor from Music Starts Here on Vimeo.

Music Sales Dropping

I keep hearing stories lately about how poorly music is selling. Should we be concerned? Yes.

The music business begins with a song. The songwriter is the first person to create, and the last to get paid. If the industry hasn't figured out a way for songwriters to get paid, then the industry will cease to exist as a creative business. As additional money is made from music, more artists have opportunities to create for a living. The result is an increase in great songs being written, and more songwriters strengthening in their understanding of the craft.

How will music continue to generate revenue in the coming years? It is still relatively unclear, but we must have faith that the answer will be found. The traditional music business as we know it is not built to weather the type of storm we have seen in the last few years. It's like we've been caught wearing a bathing suit in a blizzard, and we can either hope that summer is coming back around someday soon or find a way to get warm right now.

NSAI (Nashville Songwriters Association International) is doing some great work lobbying in Washington on behalf of us songwriters. Check out what they've been up to here.

Keep writing (and see some recent statistics from 2010 here),

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

The Song-Poem Business

My publisher forwarded this one on to me. If you have 45 minutes, this is a pretty fascinating video made by PBS about the song-poem business. People send in their original poetry or lyrics, along with some money, and voilah! Between 1900 and 2002, an estimated 200,000 songs were recorded this way. But you've probably never heard a single one of them.

Keep writing,

Ben

Marc-Alan Barnette - The Importance of Re-Writing

Marc-Alan Barnette - The Art of Re-writing from Music Starts Here on Vimeo.

An NFL Perspective on the Music Industry

Here is an interesting article that recently ran on Billboard's website, where Jack Isquith encourages the music industry to look to the NFL for inspiration to reinvent itself. 

My gut says that along the way he ignored a few differences between selling a football game and a musical album. First, football games, as live events, are more comparable to live concerts than sales of songs. As far as I understand, while ticket sales for concerts are not great, they have not yet suffered the same declines as album sales.

Isquith points to video games, specifically the Madden football series, as a way that the NFL has embraced change in a profitable manor (I still haven't seen a copy of "Songwriter, Songwriter Revolution"). It seems probable, however, that as technology progresses, a video game will be shared just as easily as an mp3. When EA Sports' sales decrease in the same way a record label's has, they'll be sitting in this same boat.

Also, I don't believe the answer is only finding more big music stars, as the article states. In the current situation, a more popular artist or band who has more fans will only result in more tracks being downloaded for free. It's becoming the frightening norm for people to expect content to be free.

This is an awkward time for people trying to make money with art that can be copied and pasted. We have to trust that things will get better so that we don't change the heart behind our creativity. 

Maybe this is an opportunity to take another look at why we write songs. Is it to get money? Fame? Respect? Some may decide that the tough current landscape of this industry is too big a mountain to climb, but others will stay. And I believe the ones who stick around, and they art they create, will last because there is a love and passion for music that goes way deeper than money, fame or respect. It may just mean working a side job to pay the bills in the meantime.

Why do you write songs?

Keep writing,

Ben

(Visit NSAI.com for information and ways you can support legislative change to benefit songwriters.)

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."

Ralph Murphy - Developing Your Creative Community

Ralph's instruction reminds me of the English proverb, "a man is known by the company he keeps." As creative individuals, we need to surround ourselves with other creators in order for our gifts to be cultivated. In addition, Murphy just put out an incredibly informative book on common characteristics successful hit songs share. Buy it here:

      
Ralph Murphy - On Becoming A Part of the Community from Music Starts Here on Vimeo.

Rusty Gaston - What a Publisher is Looking For

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

What is a Co-write?

A co-write is a process in which two or more songwriters collaborate on writing a song. Generally, each writer gets an equal amount of credit for their effort (2 people, 50% each; 3 people, 33% each, etc.).

Co-writes usually consist of about 20% talking, 10% creating and 70% editing, often in that order. The 20% talking portion allows the songwriters to catch up on life, effectively getting on the same page. Sometimes an idea for the song will be born out of these conversations. The 10% creating portion is where the writers share from their notebooks of potential song ideas, or they fiddle around on instruments and create something out of nothing.

When the writers get inspired by the same melody, lyric or chord progression, the song has begun, and continues developing in a type of ping-pong-style conversation. This can be the most nerve-wracking and intimidating part of collaborating creatively with someone else, but I find it the most exciting and energizing at the same time.

As mentioned before, editing is 70% of the co-writing process. This is where a song goes from good to great. This is where the music and lyric are married, creating an inseparable bond. For more on the editing process, read my previous post here.

Keep writing,

Ben