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WAYS TO WRITE SMARTER

1/24/2020

Here are some ways you can work smarter. If you work harder AND smarter than most people, you can be a force to be reckoned with. Working smart is pretty easy. Check these tips out:

Write great ideas. The better your foundation, the better your song. A great idea puts you way ahead from the very beginning. When I started writing, I worked on ideas 2 days a week and wrote an expansion of those ideas for 3 days a week. That paid off. I got the reputation for always having great ideas. It got me into co-writes I didn’t deserve to be in. And I wrote better songs because I had solid ideas. Someone recently said to me “You spend a lot of time talking about writing great ideas but most of the songs on the chart aren’t great ideas.” I pulled out the chart and showed them that half of the top ten songs had really creative ideas.

ARE YOU ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS?

1/17/2020

I do a lot of mentoring with writers that are working toward getting their first song recorded. The vast majority of them are holding themselves back because they are asking the wrong questions. So much of the growth we experience in life can be attributed to learning which questions to ask and which ones we shouldn’t be asking or are not ready to ask yet. Simply because these questions portrait who we are how we think and function, in the industry that connections are as important as the actual talent and nothing my be done, said or asked without thinking. Here are the questions I hear most often:

How can I get my songs to a publisher?
Where should I play to get discovered?
How do I get my songs to (insert major star’s name here)?

THE DAY I WAS OFFERED $120,000 (PLUS BENEFITS) TO QUIT WRITING SONGS

1/10/2020

There have been many days in my writing career when I thought about quitting. The voices in my head have frequently tossed out “I’m not sure you’re good enough” or “The odds are stacked against you”. Most of those days have followed some sort of big disappointment. A hold lost. A cut that was a “sure thing” that fell through. A single that didn’t happen. I’ve endured many of those days.

A friend offers to take me to lunch. The big test of my resolve came one day when a friend staged an intervention of sorts. He offered to take me to lunch. That’s like inviting a fox into the hen house. A struggling songwriter is always going to be up for a meal with a good friend and having a discussion, hoping something good comes out of it. So, I went. And lunch began with lots of probing questions regarding my songwriting career.

YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT: WHAT’S YOUR MUSICAL DIET?

12/20/2019

It’s true. If we eat healthier food, we will have healthier bodies! But what about your musical diet? Many of the emails to me each week are asking what they can do to become better writers and have artists to record their songs. When examining the music they love, it becomes apparent that the goal (getting their songs cut) does not match up to their musical diet. Simply put, if you spend ALL your time listening to music that is 5, 10, 15, or 20 years old, then that is what you will write. What goes in must come out.

Your music might be perfect for those albums, but not today’s albums. Now, I’m not suggesting that you listen only to brand new music. But if your goal is to get a cut today, then your writing will thank you for digesting new music! Most of us have a great library of music stored in our heads spinning the songs we grew up on.

SONGWRITING TIPS FOR WRITING A GREAT SECOND VERSE

12/13/2019

Map out an outline of the song as soon as you decide on a hook. Knowing where you are going helps you avoid saying too much before you get to the 2nd verse. Second verses are not that difficult if you have planned out your whole song’s structure and you already know what you are going to say in advance, and you avoid saying those things earlier in the song. A map will help you do that.

Say ONE thing in each verse that supports your hook. Don’t try to say 5 different things in one verse. Say one thing at the time and elaborate on it to develop it well. If you communicate one clear message, you’ve done your job.

PERSPECTIVE AND ENCOURAGEMENT: THE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUES SONGWRITERS FACE

12/6/2019

I write a lot about encouragement and perspective because I believe they are two of the most important issues that songwriters face at any level. For me, I stay in my “happy place” when I see progress every day. It can be the smallest bit of progress, but I need to feel a little momentum or movement in the right direction each day. The days that I get down are the days when I feel like I’m slipping backwards. A big co-write cancels. I lose a hold I counted on. Or a cut doesn’t make the record.

I feel myself slipping back into the abyss and I get scared. The “voices” start telling me that I’ve had my last cut. They start making me wonder if I’m cut out for songwriting. They tell me I should have found a stable job to work at.
I fight the voices with my daily progress. I prove that I’m moving toward success and away from failure by taking at least one step forward each day.

ARE YOU A NAUGHTY OR NICE CO-WRITER?

11/29/2019

We usually get a lot of questions in Flipside's website in regard to co-writing etiquette. There is a lot of factors in creating a reputation in the industry and make people want to write with you or simply making them to avoid you. It’s important to know whether you are on the “naughty” or “nice” co-writer list. Here are some real-life experiences I (or friends of mine) have experienced.

Naughty Co-Writer #1. This guy takes a phone call during the co-write and stays on the phone for more than 5 minutes without explaining what is going on. Usually, he leaves the room, so you don’t know where he is and if/when he is coming back.
Nice Co-Writer #1. Apologizes for his phone ringing, explains that it is urgent and comes back to let you know if he is going to be a while. Communication keeps him in the “nice” category.

WRITING YOUR LIFE IN SONG

11/22/2019

I believe that to be successful as a songwriter, you have to be very versatile. I have had songs recorded by a very wide variety of artists. But, the area in which I have had the most success is writing my life. When I have written the experiences that have shaped and melded me, I have had success. In my former life, I was a youth “wise guy”. So, I saw the good, bad and ugly of street life. Those experiences creep into my writing often.

There is a spiritual thread that runs through much of my writing. In many ways, I process and “work through” that time in my life through my writing. I am a very passionate person, so that part of me runs through my music as well. I believe that your unique life experiences give you the BEST shot at crafting a song that stands out. Nobody has lived YOUR life. So, write it. Don’t try to shine it up or make it sound better than it has been. Just write it. Be raw and real.

DON’T JUDGE A PRO SONGWRITER BY HIS COVER

11/15/2019

The other day, a friend and I were talking about a songwriter that is on fire. He’s getting an amazing number of cuts. We were talking (with a little envy) about his success and wishing for something even close to what he is experiencing. Someone else came in the room and heard us mention his name. They said, “Do you know his story?” Both of us admitted that we did not. So, he told us the story. This writer came to town and was living in his car. After several months of living that way, he met a song plugger who really liked his music. The plugger discovered that he was living in his car and invited him to live in the spare room in his house until he could afford a place to stay. The writer said that he didn’t want to impose.
Instead, he asked if he could just live in a tent in the song plugger’s yard. He would not change his mind, even though the plugger begged him to stay in the house. He cooked his food outside and only went inside to wash clothes or to use the restroom.

IS SONGWRITING A DREAM OR A PLAN?

11/8/2019

In a mentoring session the other day, I was helping a young songwriter who felt like she was really floundering around in pursuit of her dream. She talked about how frustrating it was to tell whether or not she was making progress and how difficult it is to tell what she should be doing differently to get ahead. I told her that 99% of the people I mentor have the same questions. Since it’s such a common ailment, I have spent a good amount of time applying my psychology degree to figure out why so many people feel this way and how I got out of that mentality earlier in my career.

A dream is not a goal. The big issue I discovered is that a dream is really a goal. It’s a destination that you would like to arrive at someday. That’s not measurable. Neither does it provide any instruction on how you get to this beautiful destination. It’s simply a wish. Saying “I want to be a professional songwriter” is like saying “I want to go to Madagascar”. Except that, if I say I want to go to Antarctica, it’s easier to see what I need to do to get there.

CONNECTION: A SONGWRITER’S LIFEBLOOD

11/1/2019

Songwriting is all about connection. Whether you write for yourself, or you are writing for commercial purposes, the goal is still the same. It’s all about connection. Even people who aren’t trying to get their songs recorded are generally interested in playing their songs for people and moving those people with their music. I don’t know anyone who truly writes ONLY for themselves. So, if you write songs and only play them for yourself in your home, this article may not be for you. But, if you EVER play your music for other people, I’m talking to you.

One of the worst feelings as a writer is playing your song for someone and seeing that glassy stare that says, “this isn’t doing anything for me”. When I’m playing my songs for people, I love to see a smile break out on their face, a tear roll down their cheek, or their foot tapping.

HOW TO WRITE A NEW SONG EVERY DAY

10/25/2019

I can’t count the number of times I’ve been asked “How in the world do you come up with a new song every day?” Here’s the short answer on how I pull that off.

Ideas. I have a database that includes over 600 titles. I can always find something interesting there to write. It saves time, so I rarely sit around for an extended time trying to figure out what to write. I come in prepared and that makes getting started easier.

Map. As soon as we choose an idea to pursue, we map out where we want to go with the idea. We try to come up with every angle we can think of and then choose the best, more interesting one to chase. Then, we map out what we are going to say in each separate part of the song. Coming up with a one sentence summary of each verse, the chorus and the bridge (if needed) makes writing the song easy. This is sometimes the most time-consuming part of the process. The map serves as our outline as we write and keeps us focused.

SLAYING YOUR CREATIVE DRAGONS

10/18/2019

For centuries tales of Monster Dragons have been told in folklore, art, and in the last century, motion pictures. As kids, we believe Dragons are REAL! They seem like giant fire spitting creatures with bulging eyes — unbeatable. But as we grow older, we realize they aren’t real. Monster Dragons are made up, and they lose their magical power of us.

When I turned 15, dreaming of pursuing a career of songwriting and rapping, I moved to out of my family house and rented a little apartment upstairs of Tehran’s one of most famous studios, The Pop Studio. After a few years, I found myself fortunate to be programming tracks in that recording studio and making a good living doing demos and recordings of OTHER PEOPLE’S music. I told myself I’d get to my own music one day.

QUESTIONS TO ASK WHEN YOU WRITE WITH AN ARTIST

10/11/2019

What kind of song are you looking for? Hopefully, they will answer with something more than just “a hit”, but unfortunately that’s the most common answer I get from the artists. Their response to this question can tell you a lot about the song you should write if they are willing to share. Best case scenario is when they say something like “I need an up-tempo song like blah blah that talks about blah blah”. If they give you a precise answer, then you have a much better chance of writing specifically what they need.

Are there any slots on your album that you haven’t filled yet? Sometimes, I ask this question and discover that they have 8 ballads that they love and 10 up tempos, but really nothing in the mid-tempo range. That kind of info is GOLD. I don’t want to be in the pile with 8 other ballads or 10 other up tempos. I want to be in the pile with little or no competition.

IF YOU ARE A WRITER, YOUR TIME IS BETTER SPENT ON A CLEVER LYRICS THAN A CLEVER TWEET

10/4/2019

Last year a publisher friend asked me to write with a new singer/songwriter who had recently moved to town. The first thing out of the publisher’s mouth was “this guy has over 80,000 Instagram followers.” Not that that the artist was a great writer or singer or guitar player. The publisher was blown away with all the Instagram and Twitter followers. So, we set a date for the writing appointment, I remember it because it happened to fall on Valentine’s day. Not that it particularly matters to this account. The artist arrived before me and when I walked into the writing room he was on his computer and couldn’t wait to show me how many comments he just got on a recent Facebook post.

WAYS TO FIND AND ATTRACT CO-WRITERS

10/1/2019

Be the kind of co-writer you hope to find. If you are organized and professional, then you will be more likely to attract that kind of person. If you listen more than you talk, you will find co-writers who listen to YOU. The more respect you give the more you will receive.

Be open to lots of different things. People who are willing to try new things get more opportunities. I am on a writing retreat with an artist that I just found out about the day before the event. I was a last-minute call because someone dropped out and they knew that I would be open to being a last minute replacement.

TECHNIQUES TO GET YOU WRITING SONGS AGAIN

9/27/2019

At least twice a week I get an email seeking advice on how to overcome writer’s block. For many songwriters the worst part of the whole writing experience is just getting started. Those times when we sit down to write, and nothing comes out. We feel like we have nothing to say. Well here are 5 techniques I’ve used to permanently eliminate writers block and free up creativity.

WAYS TO WRITE SONGS OUTSIDE THE BOX

9/24/2019

Most of us tend to gravitate toward the same kinds of things when we write. We write grooves and we make it the way it feels that we like it to feel. And we tend to write topics we like as well. But there is one thing to remember, what we want isn’t necessarily what it is supposed to be. When we are writing music to be released, basically we are making a craft for a market. We can’t just say “this is what I like, and people must like it”. Use these exercises to stretch your writing boundaries.

TIPS TO HELP YOU WRITE BETTER SONG LYRICS

9/20/2019

Write a one sentence summary of your song. Let’s say my hook is “Must Be Doin’ Somethin’ Right”. My statement of purpose would be “I must be doing something right because I don’t deserve a woman as amazing as you.” When you write the song, be sure that EVERY line in the song supports that one idea. This helps especially if you tend to wander with your lyrics. Make sure you are writing about ONE thing.

Map your song before you start. If you determine what you want to say in each verse and the chorus BEFORE you start writing, it makes the writing part much easier. In “Must Be Doin’ Somethin’ Right”, the map would look like this:

THE EXCUSE MAKERS AND THE OTHER PEOPLE

9/17/2019

In the music business, I see two general categories of people – the excuse makers and the other people. The excuse makers always seem to have a lot going on. So much, in fact, that they can’t ever seem to get around to doing the things that would cause them to succeed as a songwriter. They are doing LOTS of things and appear to be busy, but somehow there’s always a reason why they don’t have time to do the things that would help them get ahead.

QUANTITY LEADS TO QUALITY SONGWRITING

9/13/2019

When I got my first songwriting deal, my publisher and our other songwriter, would write 2-3 times a day. Every day. The volume of out put from our office was crazy. We were cranking out between 30 and 45 songs per week between the three of us. I had nothing to compare it to, so I didn’t think much of it. I thought every writer in town was working that hard and writing that many songs. As time went by, I discovered that most writers were NOT writing that much. I asked the other writers from our team why they wrote so much. They told me that they wrote a lot because they wanted to increase their chances of getting a cut AND because they wanted to have songs to pitch to every artist. And, they believed that writing more improved your writing exponentially.

REACHABLE GOALS FOR SONGWRITERS

9/10/2019

I was talking to someone recently about their songwriting goals. He expressed frustration over their lack of success in achieving any of them. So, I asked for more details. He laid out a list of goals that would be ambitious even for a seasoned pro. In fact, I had only achieved one of his goals. His list read something like this:

THE LITTLE VICTORIES

9/6/2019

I couldn’t possibly count the number of beginning songwriters, when asked “Who would you pitch this to?”, give answers like Keith Urban, Katy Perry, Blake Shelton, Garth Brooks, Rhianna, etc.
I’ve been writing professionally for almost 15 years, I have had multiple #1 songs and over 3000 songs recorded, yet I have never had a song recorded by any of those artists. What does that tell you about the realistic (or not) nature of those goals?

EXERCISES TO STRENGTHEN YOUR SONGWRITING MUSCLES

9/2/2019

I have to agree 10,000 percent with this quote. I have often read, mostly in interviews with recording artist, things like “I only write when I’m inspired”. I believe this is a myth that some writers and recording artists perpetuate that great songs simply fall from the heavens and only a few chosen ones, like them, are given these gifts. But the real truth is that songwriting is no different than any other skills in life. The more we do it, the more we exercise the muscle, the better we get at creating. Songwriting to me is not really that much of “talent” it’s more of “hard work”. What you need to become a great writer is to practice constantly. The more we play with words and notes, looking at all the possible meanings and emotions, the deeper we understand the possibilities.

THE REASONS I WRITE SONGS

8/30/2019

I once had a friend who told me he was going to write a book. Here is how our conversation went:
Him: “I’m going to write a book”
Me: “What will it be about?”
Him: “I don’t know. Anything.”
Me: “What do you feel like you have to say?”
Him: “Nothing. I just want a boat.”
Me: “You’re going to write a book about nothing so you can buy a boat?”
Him: “Don’t you think that will work?”
Me: “Not sure that’s the best plan to get a boat.”

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