WIN OR LEARN

Songwriters tend to have this “win or lose” mentality.  When I play my songs for someone, I either “win” and they take a copy, or I “lose” and they reject my song (and by default, me). I would suggest that we look at those opportunities as “win or learn” opportunities. Again, if they love my song and take a copy, I have won! But, if they don’t, I have a chance to turn my “loss” into a “learn”. Here’s how I do it.

Any time someone rejects my song, I ask a few questions, not defensively, but in a quest to learn WHY my song was not taken. So, I ask questions like “What kind of song are you most looking for?” or “What might I have played you that would have caused you to jump out of your chair?” I never want the person to feel like I’m making them defend why they didn’t like my song, but I DO want to find out as much as I can what would have increased my chances and helped my gain the “win”. Any bit of information I can get helps me learn. They might say, “We need up-tempo and you brought a ballad” or “Katy won’t sing about being a weak woman”. Both of those help me know what to try to write and bring in next time.
I’ve discovered that a “learn” can be just as valuable as a “win”. If you’re continually learning, you’re always getting closer to the big “win” you are chasing. And, the more I learn, the better I get at my craft. Win or learn. You come out ahead either way.

Author

Hangi Tavakoli is our in-house established and professional music producer with more than 15 years of experience in music production, mix and mastering, recording engineering, live sound designing/engineering, lyrics writing and music arrangement. He has produced more than 800 and written more than 2000 published songs to-date, including some major hits in international scale.