ARE YOU ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS?

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:
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• 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)?

Those are the WRONG questions for 99.9% of aspiring writers to be asking. Why? Because their songs are not good enough yet to be competitive with those on the radio – and they don’t realize it. Playing songs that aren’t commercially competitive for someone in the business is like wearing a sign on your head that in best case says “Clueless” if it don’t say “dumb” or “arrogant”. It lets them know that you don’t understand the market and you don’t know what a commercial song is or how to write one. That’s going to burn a bridge in a hurry. A bridge you may not get to go back over again, and I insist again, in this industry the connections are seriously important. You do not want the key people to have a negative impression about you,
 
Here are the questions those songwriters should ask to get to the root of their problems and learn how to improve their writing.
How can I make my songs better?
Why are my songs not getting the attention I think they deserve?
What am I missing – what is holding me back?
What tendencies do I have in my writing that are keeping me from succeeding?
 
If you really want to improve and succeed, THOSE are the kinds of questions you need to be asking. They help you get to the REAL reasons you aren’t getting songs recorded and to show your sincerity to your mentors and potential publishers. When I go through periods where I’m not getting as many songs recorded as I’d like, I ask those questions myself. Because, if I’m not getting attention with my songs, I’m doing something wrong. Identifying that “something” is the key to getting in and staying in the game.

Author

Hangi Tavakoli is our in-house established and professional music producer with more than 15 years of experience in songwriting, music production, mix and mastering. He has produced more than 1500 and written more than 3000 published songs to-date, including some major hits in international scale.