FLIPSIDE - BLOG

QUESTIONS ABOUT CO-WRITING ETIQUETTE

1/25/2022

Once in one of our sessions a songwriter asked me, “If I don’t like the way a song turns out with a co-writer, am I free to take the idea and write it with someone else?”. It was very easy to answer her question as it’s pretty obvious and I was kind of surprised seeing that she didn’t know the answer, but on the other had the answer to such question is not written anywhere as a rule or anything. Maybe because it’s just simply too obvious, and no one ever cared to actually make it clear for anyone who might not know. The answer to her is; No. Not really. Generally, once you write an idea with someone, you are in it for good with them. It’s considered as a very bad form to take your idea and write it one your own or with someone else. And it would probably destroy your relationship with writer #1. If you are in such situation and you really don’t like the result of what came out with that writer but you really like the topic, I would suggest that the better approach is to see if you can get your co-writer to agree to bring in someone else to help you fix it or make better, while the writer #1 is also involved in the process. If he / she agrees, then the three of you could sit down and hopefully get it where it needs to be.

THE SCARIEST MOMENT IN SONGWRITING

1/18/2022

I believe that the scariest moment for any profession is the moment before you start. And the exact same goes for songwriting too. Most of us have voices that play in our heads. Those voices often tell us that the task at hand “can’t be done”. “You aren’t good enough”. “You can’t handle this”. “Songwriting is not something you can just do if you aren’t born with it”. You know the drill. It is the rare person who has never heard those voices. The negative self-talk keeps us from starting. If you don’t start, or don’t try, then you can’t fail. Or so “they” tell us. So, we drift through life taking the easy road because these nameless voices don’t believe in us. When you think about it, it seems silly, doesn’t it? Letting nameless, internal voices change the course of our lives? And giving up on something we are dying to do because we can’t summon the courage to just give it a try. And this is not just about songwriting. In fact for anything in life, whenever we want to start something new, we hear voices telling us that it is impossible and it scary and this and that. And they only shut up when we get into it, start doing what we wanted to do and start getting results. Show the voices “who the boss is”.

SONGWRITERS AND EXCUSES

1/11/2022

If there is one thing that I have learned in my journey through the music business, it’s that I’ve never made one dollar from excuses. Yet I lose count of people around me, usually newbies or unsuccessful seniors in the business who keep making excuses to justify everything rather than just taking responsibility and accepting that they could change the situation simply by working harder – or in some cases simply just by “working” instead of waiting for someone else to do their job for them. “It’s harder than ever to get a cut” “You have to write with the artist to get a cut” “I write songs that are too deep for the market” “People don’t understand my music”. These are the excuses I’m hearing on a daily basis and yes, they may all be true. But the fact remains there is that, if I write an amazing song, someone will notice. Will they notice my average songs? Not unless I have some special connection. Will I be able to sneak a “decent” song through and get it recorded? Not likely, unless I wrote it with the artist and, even then, that is a longshot.

CREATIVE VS. COMMERCIAL SONGWRITING

1/4/2022

One of the big areas of tension when we write is the battle between commercial and creative. This had been going on between the artists since the whole concept of art is created, to create art for art or art for people. The “artistic” community has often propagated the idea that you can’t be both. Typically, those putting forth this idea are not being successful commercially, which makes one wonder if, just maybe, they are a little bit bitter because no one is buying their music. So, to make themselves feel better, they try to convince the world that their “art” is on a higher plane than the “so-called” art that people are rushing out to buy. I beg to differ. I don’t think there’s anything noble about writing songs that no one wants to purchase. If someone chooses just to write for their own pleasure, that’s awesome. If they float those songs out there and people don’t care for them, it really doesn’t matter. But that doesn’t make them better songs or more “artistic”. If you are trying to write commercially, I would suggest the following thoughts for making your songs both creative and commercial.

SONGWRITING GOALS 101

12/28/2021

Songwriters have all kinds of goals. Depending on what they are trying for, each songwriter has their own goals and although the goals can be very similar but it’s hard to find two individuals who are sharing the exact same goal and exact same approach for getting to their goal. I do a lot of mentoring sessions. One of the big discoveries I have made in those sessions is that people have all kinds of different goals for their music. And they have very different approaches for reaching to their goals. I have discovered that almost every answer to every question people ask us depends on their answer to the question “What are you shooting for?” as soon as they can answer that one question, they basically had answered any question they might think I should answer for them. Some are just writing for themselves, the joy they find in writing makes them happy enough that they are not really looking for getting into the commercial world and want to get better for their own satisfaction. Some other have different dream and they want to hear just one of their songs on the radio someday. Many others are hoping to make a living writing songs and sky is their limit. Your end goal, your target determines so much about what you need to do to improve.

SONGWRITING TIPS YOU MIGHT NOT HAVE THOUGHT OF

12/21/2021

Your songwriting rhyme scheme helps the listener keep up with where they are in the song. You want to keep the rhyme scheme consistent across all of the verses and consistent across all of the choruses if the choruses change. Not doing so makes the listener feel unsettled. They will feel lost and no human being enjoys being lost, therefore, there is a little chance they will come back to your song to listen to it again, and that’s not what you want, right?

Your hook or title has to appear in one of the following places or you risk the listener not being able to tell what your title is, and this would happen perfectly when you repeat the song title (which is good to be same as your hook) in various places. There had been researches about it and as a result, the title is best to be placed at:
1. The last line of the verse.
2. The first line of the chorus.
3. The last line of the chorus.
4. The third line of the chorus if it’s also the first line.

HOW TO ENJOY SUSTAINED SUCCESS IN THE MUSIC BUSINESS

12/14/2021

I’ve enjoyed a 16-year music business career that has exceeded my imagination by far. When I started doing music, I could never imagine that one day it will become my full time job - although I was desperately hoping for it. I couldn’t even imagine to be anywhere near where I am today, yet all those dreams came true and today I am very happy about where I am and what I am doing for a living. After all these, now it’s time for me to pass on some of the things I’ve learned in this time period of 16 years, about keeping cuts coming over time. Here are the ways I have turned a couple of cuts into a bunch of cuts.

Don’t develop a “thing” that you do. I always cringe when someone says, “This is what I do.” If your “thing” goes out of style, you are in trouble. Try to write all over the spectrum in your genre. Don’t limit yourself to only one aspect of what you are doing and don’t let people to think your capabilities are just limited to that one “thing”.

SONGWRITING IS ADDICTIVE

12/7/2021

Time after time, I see the warning signs. It takes a trained eye to spot them, but even simple statements thrown out in casual conversation can reveal that a songwriter has crossed over from social songwriting to having a real problem. When you get the hang of writing songs, it really is addictive. You want it or not, there are times you would find yourself thinking of songs ideas when you hear even random words from people around you. My friends are talking about their life, relationship or even simple things like when they are talking about football or politics and I hear songs in my head. When that happens to you, you would know it exactly is the definition of addiction. There are lots of things an addicted person says or does that would tell you about their situation. When you hear statements like these are a dead giveaway: “I think I need another guitar” or “That would be a great song title” as will as “We should write that” or “I woke up and wrote that chorus at 3 AM”. They sound innocent enough, but they reveal a deeper problem. Much deeper than what they look like. This person is addicted to songwriting.

PUT YOURSELF IN POSITION TO SUCCEED IN SONGWRITING

11/30/2021

Many writers struggle with the idea of getting themselves in position to succeed. In fact, I see two extremes play out. Sometimes writers adopt the idea that “all I have to do is write a great song” and they believe they literally don’t need to do anything else at all. Others go to the extreme of trying desperately to “meet the right people” while ignoring the fact that they don’t have any great songs to present to those right people when they finally get to meet them.

So, I find myself continually preaching the message of putting yourself in position to succeed. Meaning you have to put yourself mentally in the right place to start seeing the signs of success and getting to understand what you need to do to take your songwriting career to a whole new level. This is what I’ve learned from these mentoring sessions. Here are my suggested steps for putting yourself in position to succeed – in order of importance.

5 KEYS TO BUILDING A BETTER SONG CATALOGUE

11/23/2021

Several people have asked the question, “What’s the best way to build a song catalogue?” Here are some key factors I’ve learned over the years after writing for several major publishing companies and building a new catalogue at each of them.

Write, write, write! There is no substitute for this. A catalogue is a collection of songs. You need to write everyday if possible. But at least as often as you can! This not only helps you become a better writer, but also gives you more variety material which increases the odds that you’ll have the right song for a particular project. The more your write, the bigger your catalogue would be and the more you have available to provide when needed. Plus, keep writing is always a great practice for your skills to get better and better. No matter how good you are, you always can get better.

Recently I was watching one of very interviews of Max Martin and they asked him why for the past few years he wasn’t as active as he used to be in late ‘90s and early ‘00s. “Because I needed time to practice and get better.” He replied. Remember, this is MAX MARTIN saying these words. At peak of his career, when he was knowns as the biggest songwriter alive, he felt he need to take some time off and practice to get better. Let alone you and me!

IF YOU WANT A MUSIC CAREER, BE OPEN MINDED

11/16/2021

On a daily basis in this business I come across musicians, songwriters and artists who are trying to make a name for themselves in the industry, but it is interesting to see how a big percent of them forget the most basic attitude: to be a bit open.

People who fall into this category are mainly the ones who are either asking for opportunities, or they already have a little exposure to the industry, but they are not involved with any of the major players. Either way, they are considered as not very professionals, although some of them have a real talent in them which unfortunately they don't know how to use it to climb the ladder.

Here I am going to mention a few of the examples I have encountered with, in person and tell you why I consider them as narrow minded.

REASONS NOT TO QUIT WRITING SONGS

11/9/2021

Many of us struggle with voices in our head saying things like “You’ll never make it.” or “You’re not good enough.” And, most of us, at one time or another, have thought about throwing in the towel. I can consider myself successful at this point of my career but believe it or not, I still hear those voices occasionally and once in a while I ask myself “What the hell are you doing by writing all these songs?”. But as an answer to myself, those voices, and your stinky thoughts, here are few reasons that encourage us not to throw in the towel.

If you were born with the urge to write, you will probably never feel complete if you give it up. Most writers are not able to just walk away without feeling regret and emptiness. Writing is part of us. Creating is in our nature. Without them, we are just some bodies, moving around, pointless and aimless. If a none writer read this might not understand what I mean by saying “writing isn’t just part of us, but we ARE the writing”. We can go by not talking let’s say for a month or two, but not writing for a week can drive us insane.

STOP ASKING THE WORLD TO LISTEN TO YOUR MUSIC AND WRITE SONGS SO GOOD THEY WANT TO HEAR THEM

11/2/2021

A few years ago, I urged a popular music forum to start a songwriting thread. The songwriters involved in it thought it was a great idea and I stop in from time to time to discuss writing and read comments. It started out really cool. Discussions about lyrics, melody, popular songs vs. classics, etc. Later on, I stopped in to read up on the discussions. I admit I hadn’t logged on in a few months. And guess what the most popular column on the songwriting thread was? “Post your demos here” 121,000 views & comments in the last 6 months. The closest column about actual “songwriting” in the Songwriting Thread was 718 views!

Now understand this was not a site where fans buy music or publishers go to find songs. It was just a forum for songwriters to discuss songwriting and to share their opinions and ideas on this one particular topic and nothing more than that.

SHOULD YOU PAY YOUR CO-WRITER TO DEMO YOUR SONG?

10/26/2021

Let’s talk about some co-writing scenarios. Sometime ago, we had a lively and awesome debate in the one of our sessions at Flipside with the young writers about whether or not a “track guy” (Or girl) should charge their co-writers for building a track/demo for their song. There truly no one’s answer is right or wrong to that question. There might be times when that is appropriate, but there are definitely times when it’s highly inappropriate. Let me illustrate some of the complex situations that occur in my writing and let you weigh in on the answer to that question.

Hit Writer/Staff Writer Track Guy. One guy I write with has had a number of hits and lots of cuts. He’s a great “track guy”. He has produced songs on some major label artists. He has a publisher, but they don’t have an office in Singapore, so we work together whenever they need to get anything done here and we let them to use our Flipside’s office and recording studio.

They are great with sync and pop pitches, but not really a player at all when pitching film music – which is my specialty in composing and in my heart, it is my personal preference to compose film music more than anything else. So, this writer and I wrote what we thought was a great pitch for one of major artists. I spent about an hour and a half the morning of our write working on ideas and found a great one that we used. I came in with it all mapped out and part of a chorus. We quickly wrote the song. Two days later, he sent me a demo. I got it pitched to that singer we had in mind and she put it on the hold. If we get it cut, we make the same amount of money since we have similar pub deals. So, what do you think? Should I have paid him to track the song? Should he have paid me to pitch it since we used my connections for pitching and he admitted, “never leaves his basement”? Is a great demo that never gets heard worth anything?

HOW SONGWRITERS GET PAID?

10/19/2021

Several people have asked about the different ways for songwriters to get paid. It seems to be a big question for everyone even inside the industry that how one can sit down and write music and make a living out of it! Growing up in Iran, where people appreciate music more than anywhere else I had ever seen, yet nobody wants their children to become musicians, I often had this problem that when anyone was asking me about my job and I was saying that I am a songwriter, their next question was, “No, what is your real job? How do you make money?”. To this date I can say this is one of the most common questions I get. So, here are a few ways for songwriters to get paid.

Publishing Draws for songwriters. This is a monthly amount a publisher pays to a writer that is on a staff publishing deal. This basically is same as any other sort of employment and the writer is being hired by the publisher as a full-time staff, getting paid to write a certain number of songs that would be approved by the publisher.

These are really advancing on royalties that have to be repaid out of incoming royalties. Once your catalog is recouped, the publisher pays you semi-annual royalty checks for money they have collected. This part can be taken as the “bonus” in business world. Basically, the more you write, the bigger your catalog would be, and the bigger your catalog is, the more semi-annual royalties will come to you.

DISCIPLINES IS A KEY FOR SETTING YOURSELF UP TO SUCCEED

10/12/2021

One of the biggest lessons I have learned in my years in the music business is that nobody wants me to succeed as much as I do. My publisher, my co-writers and my song pluggers all want me to do well. They are heavily invested in my success. But, at the end of the day, I’m going to have to do most of the heavy lifting if I’m going to succeed. They will help but they will do what they can do, and that’s my job to do “my job”. If they were up to do what I am supposed to, they didn’t need to work with me from the first place. And to do my job, I need to have a very strong discipline coming from myself, because in this industry we don’t really have such thing as “boss” or someone who force us to do anything. Everything, including all success or failures come, are direct reflection and consequences of our own actions. The way I always explain it for my mentees is, “We need to have a military level of discipline, and there is no commander to force us. We have to have it from inside our own will power”. Here are a few things I try to do every day to keep myself moving in the right direction:

PRESS RELEASE: xs - Save This Love

10/8/2021

xs is back with a new song Save This Love which is her second single since her debut album Good Girls Don't Speak Their Minds.

Written by xs and Hangi Tavakoli and produced by Hangi Tavakoli, Save This Love has an acoustic instrumentation, heavily relying on guitars and supported by distorted 808 drums, accompanied by a complicated yet simple vocals and adlips arrangement. It gives a chill vibes and listeners walk away with a warm feeling in their hearts.

In the song, xs tries to salvage the romance as she addresses her fault, seeks forgiveness and asks her partner to not give up the relationship.

HOW TO PITCH YOUR SONGS WISELY OR DON’T BE THAT GUY

10/5/2021

One of the biggest mistakes I see rising songwriters make is pitching songs improperly. This can ruin everything. When you are pitching songs, there are some little unwritten rules about it that can help you a lot in getting the attention of the publisher, producer or the artist you are pitching to. And not following those rules will tell them you are unprofessional, and you will be in their blacklist – the last place you’d want to be. I want to give you some guidelines to help you pitch songs wisely and to not be that guy/girl that burns bridges by pitching the wrong way. Here are some things to consider when pitching.

Follow instructions carefully. If they said, “Don’t pitch any beach songs”, you are better off not pitching one, even if you think yours is great. Pay close attention to what they have already and don’t pitch that. If you don’t care about what they need, why do you think they need to care about what you are pitching? These people are some of the busiest people in the industry.

You cannot expect them to open your song and listen to it while it is irrelevant to what are searching for something else. This action will have no result other than you, shouting to them that you are unprofessional and basically asking them to put you in the blacklist and never to open your emails again.

DO SOMETHING REAL.

9/28/2021

One time, I was playing a songwriter show in Tehran and had one of the funniest, yet most profound experiences of my musical life. After the show, the hotel’s entertainment booking person wanted to have an “after party” with all the writers who played and some of her special guests. So, after the show, we head over to the hotel’s cafe to hang out, shake hands and talk to the people that brought us there. The other writer who had played the show with me was a big pop producer who had also written several hits. We were starving, so we ordered some food and continued to schmooze. Before our food came, Mary, the booking person, brought in 4 guys that were in a band she was working with. They all had facial tattoos and piercings. They were dressed in leather and either wearing bandanas on their heads or had spiked up mohawks. Chains from their wallets to their pants. Metal spikes on the boots. You get the idea. I’m not judging. Just describing.

BAD MUSIC AND SONGWRITING

9/21/2021

“I want more than anything to get one of my songs recorded by a major artist on the radio.”
“Today’s music sucks. The stuff artist is putting out is crap and it all sounds the same!!"

These are two sentences spoken by an aspiring songwriting during a coffee conversation.

The other day in a coffee house an aspiring songwriter behind me in line recognised me and offered to buy my cup of black coffee and wondered if he could talk to me about songwriting for a few minutes. I was early for a writing appointment, so I said, “Sure.” He was a great guy. I asked him what he wanted more than anything. He said with no hesitation, “I want to get one of my songs recorded by a major artist and make a living writing.” “Great goal,” I thought. I told him that I had been in the same place 12 years ago! The next thing out his mouth was a small rant about how music today “sucks.” “Nothing is good out there” and “the artists look good but can’t sing.” He went on to say he spends most of his time listening to classic music. “Hmmm…” I thought, “this is something I hear a lot in writing forums on the internet.” Later that day I pondered the morning conversation about “today’s music” and this writer’s attitude towards it.

IT’S IMPOSSIBLE: MORE SONGWRITING MYTH BUSTING

9/14/2021

I don’t know how many times each week I hear the words “It’s impossible” when people get rejected to hear what they don’t want to hear. The ridiculous part of it all is that the things they are saying are “impossible” are not impossible at all. It just needs them to understand there is no such thing as impossible in this industry and to understand how they can defeat anything that might sound impossible to lots of people.

“It’s impossible to get a song cut if you don’t live in Nashville, New York or LA.” False. I am living in Singapore and every once in a while, I get a cut on an artist on a major label. Even a lot of times I wrote with the artist or other writers in the other side of the world using the magical power of technology, via Skype or even emails. Some names that you wouldn’t believe if I tell you, sat down on Skype and we came up with ideas together and wrote the song during the call!

On the other hand, I know people living in the same town as those major artists, tried to work with them and still didn’t get a cut on. Yes, I agree it’s hard to work when you are living somewhere far away from the music centers, but it also is far from impossible.

ARE YOUR DOING THESE THINGS THAT IRRITATE PUBLISHERS?

9/7/2021

I see a number of common mistakes songwriters make that leave the smell of a burning bridge in the air as they leave a publisher’s office. As a publisher myself, there are certain things that songwriters – and at times, artists – do that it is telling me why I don’t want to work with them next time. If you really want to tick a publisher off, try these stunts.

Show up unannounced. That’s disrespectful and not business-like. Not only for the publishers, but in general in business world. And always remember, the publisher is the businessman of music industry. You wouldn’t do that with a lawyer or doctor or any other type of businessman. But, if you really want to irritate a publisher, show up unannounced, tell everyone loudly that you are the next big thing in songwriting and demand a meeting. You’ll be off on the right wrong foot.

Flipside Live Sessions - 11.09.2021

9/6/2021

We are excited to announce Flipside Live Sessions' launch on Saturday, 11th September for the first time. On this session there will be lottie and Camille Miller performing alongside with Jurine Chia and Rine Avery.

The live stream will take place 8 to 9:15pm, Singapore time and will be streamed on multiple platforms including YouTube, Instagram and Facebook.

Be sure to add the date in your calendar, and give Flipside a follow using the links below so you don't miss it!

ARRIVING IN LIFE AND SONGWRITING

8/31/2021

The longer I live and the more I write, the more I realize that there really is no “destination” in life, unless it is death.

Short of the grave, we are all still on the journey, trying to figure out the world and our place in it. In regard to writing, we all – or most of us anyway – have hopes, plans and dreams. We have places we want to go. Things we want to achieve. Accomplishments we want to grasp before we leave the planet. There is no aspect of my music career that has gone according to my plans. I’ve determined that I may not be smart enough to come up with a plan for life or a career and that, perhaps, I do my best work when I just take each day for what it is.

Press Release: lottie - Indigo

8/25/2021

lottie has released her new single, Indigo. The song is available on all platforms to stream and purchase.

Indigo is the second single to be released from lottie’s debut album, set to be released later this year. It’s an upbeat 80's inspired track, infused with synths and an arpeggiated bass. lottie sings about the thrills of a newly blossoming relationship, the ups and downs and the inner turmoil of falling for someone who isn't quite right for you.

lottie, signed to Flipside, a boutique Singaporean record label, is originally from Essex, England, but has resided in Singapore for the past two years. Working closely with renowned producer Hangi Tavakoli, lottie released her debut EP, 'Dance With You', earlier this year. A proud member of the LGBTQ+ community, all her songs are voiced from a lesbian perspective.

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