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ARE YOU PITCHING YOUR SONGS WITH A MACHINE FUN OR A RIFLE?

12/22/2020

In one of our Staff Writer Crash Courses I was teaching; we had a number of songwriters concerned because they could only submit one song for consideration for the week’s assignment. The prevailing attitude was that “more shots equals a better chance of something great happening”. I want to dispel that myth and to explain why pitching your songs with a machine gun is not the best way to hit your mark.

Not too long ago, one of my pluggers sent out an e-mail to all of our writers asking us to send him only one song pitch idea for a big shot singer. Well, I had the singer's first single ever, so I thought to myself “I’ve got tons of songs that would work for him”. I proudly sent my plugger a list of 8-10 smash hits that I thought he would kill. In my head, they were all pretty good shots. And, I thought the plugger could pick his favorite (or two or 5) to play for him. Immediately, I got a reply that said “I’m about to walk out the door to go to this meeting and I don’t have time to listen to 10 songs from every writer.

BLOW THEM AWAY WITH YOUR SONGWRITING

12/15/2020

I often run into people who are doing all the wrong things in their pursuit of success with their music. Most of the time, the thing they need to be doing is improving their songs. That’s often the one thing they aren’t doing, and they’re usually wondering why this whole songwriting business is not working for them. They are meeting with publishers and people at PRO’s (ASCAP, BMI, COMPASS, SESAC, etc). They are trying to get co-writes with big writers. They play shows, hoping to get noticed. Basically, they are doing anything they should be doing according to the “textbook” but the problem is that their songs aren’t just good enough. No publisher or PRO rep can help you if you don’t have songs that are great. Not good. Great.

If you get that writing appointment with a big writer and you aren’t up to writing at his or her level, you probably won’t get another appointment. So, I often find myself reminding people that the “secret” to success is to write undeniably great songs.

You know the feeling you get when you are listening to the radio and all of the sudden, a song comes on that is way better than the previous song? It stands out because it is just flat out better. If you have songs that are undeniably great, it won’t take many meetings or shows for you to garner some interest. If you aren’t getting that interest yet, then just take a deep breath and invest your time and energy into writing better songs.

THE SONGWRITER’S PITCH TO PUBLISHER CHECKLIST

12/4/2020

Before you even agree to the meeting, ask yourself – “Are my songs really ready for recording and for going to the radio? Are they my songs going to compete with everything this publisher hears every day?” If you can’t honestly answer that question, then you don’t need to take the meeting. I will be just a waste of time for yourself and more importantly for the publisher. I said more importantly because when you waste their time, they will put you in their “waste of time” list and next times when you actually might have something to offer, they will refuse to meet you because, well, why should they? The last time the spent time to meet you, they got their time wasted. I have heard songs pitched to me – as publisher – that were so bad that an artist would never cut them in a million years. Get lots of good feedback on your songs from the people you already trust that they don’t hesitate to tell you if your song is bad, and you know for sure they will tell you the truth. I refer to those people around me as “safe people” that I know no matter what, tell will tell me the truth.

Safe people are people that aren’t going to hold it against you if you play them a bad song and they most probably will tell you what they think is wrong with your song and even they might give you some suggestions to make your song better. You can consider their opinion, work on your craft and then show it to them again and see what they will tell you. Publishers are not safe people. They usually give you one chance and it is best for you to use your that one chance wisely.

WHY YOU’RE NOT GETTING SONGS CUT?

11/24/2020

Looking at the songwriters whom I am mentoring, and the messages and emails I receive all the time, I can say as an average, the biggest question most aspiring songwriters have is “Why am I not getting songs recorded by major artists?”
This is a very hard question to answer because there are many factors affecting your process in getting a song, but in my experience, there are several primary reasons people don’t experience the success they want with their songs. Here they are:

Your songs aren’t good enough yet. Well, I always had been saying “write better songs”. That doesn’t mean your songs aren’t good enough, but it means you can write better songs that what your written until this point. Today, you should write a song better than what you wrote yesterday, and tomorrow you should write something better than the song you wrote today. In more than 90% of the cases I’ve encountered, this is the problem.

DON’T BLOW YOUR SONGWRITING CHANCE

11/17/2020

If you get a chance to write with a producer, an artist or a writer bigger or more experienced than you, there are some key questions you can ask that will give you a better shot at getting a cut on their record. Those opportunities are valuable, so be sure to ask these questions before you start writing!

What’s been going on with you? I always start there for two reasons. I truly am interested in what’s happening with their career. And it helps me know what to write when I hear the answer to that question. Often, they will say something that sparks a song idea. When I’m mentoring younger writers I always encourage them to go out there and talk to people. Ask them questions, learn about them, understand them. Each person is filled with thousands of interesting stories and as writer who have a voice in the society, it’s our job to be their voice and say their stories. That being said, who could be better than your co-writer? When you get the ideas from your co-writer and working on it together with them, during the process they can contribute more too because they feel close to the story.

WHAT SONGWRITERS SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THE MUSIC BUSINESS?

11/13/2020

One of the biggest factors that keeps songwriters from succeeding in the music business is that they overlook the fact that it’s a business. Understanding the fact that “music business” is made from two words of “music” and “business” and they are equally important. Unfortunately, most of young musicians I know just care about the music part and they mostly complain that they can’t make enough money to make a living! If you are from this group, you should know the most important and the simplest reason you are not making enough money is that you are too focused on the music side and forgotten about the business part. On the other hand, there is another group of musicians that they are focusing way too much on the business side and they forgot that they need to be a good musician or a good songwriter to have fresh and constantly produced material to do business with. They just write a couple of songs and then they focus so much on selling those few songs! That’s not how it works. You must focus on both side of the music business at the same time and understand that these two, together, can bring success to you.

TIPS FOR PITCHING YOUR SONGS

11/6/2020

I see lots of mistakes being made in regard to pitching a song. Pitching the songs can be very tricky and sensitive. Tricky because you must make sure you understand what exactly they are looking for and you pitch the right work. And sensitive, because with couple of wrong pitches you can put your name in publisher’s list of people who always send the wrong song and the publishers will never open your emails anymore. Here are some tips to increase your chances of success, to help you appear more professional, and to keep you from burning bridges:

Learn as much as you can about the artist you are pitching to before you pitch a song. Pitching a love song to Kenny Chesney is as useless as spitting into the wind. He won’t cut one. Katy Perry isn’t going to sing a song that makes her look like a weak woman. Don’t waste your time or hers by pitching her one. Learning what artists will and won’t say is crucial to success in pitching songs. Be sure you have a song that you think is perfect for that artist, not just in the ballpark.

HOW VALUABLE IS “EXPOSURE” FOR SONGWRITERS?

11/3/2020

If I had a dollar for every time someone offered to let me entertain them for free in exchange for exposure, I could buy a new house. I’ve had offers from TV shows, wanting me to grant them a license for my song for free so that I could “pad my resume” and get “exposure” for my music. I’ve had countless bar owners offer to let me play “any time I want” for free so that “word can get out” about my music. The list goes on. The main problem with this is that I can’t get that exposure to supermarket and use it to buy grocery!

The other problem with these offers is multi-faceted. Everyone else in the chain is getting paid.

The guy making the TV show, the actors, the prop people, the gaffer (whatever that is), the cinematographer – they all get paid. Every single one. They aren’t working for exposure. In the case of the bar or restaurant, the same thing applies.

5 WAYS TO INCREASE YOUR CHANCES IF YOU LIVE OUTSIDE A MUSIC CENTER

10/20/2020

As a mentor and coach living in Singapore – which is not exactly the biggest music town in the world – I am often helping many songwriters that don’t live in a music town too. Natural being based in a city that is known to be music center, it can help your career a lot but if you are not based in any of “music cities” it still is perfectly okay. Nowadays with all the technology you can be completely present in a place without physically being there! Here are a few of my suggestions for getting deals and cuts while you are not living in a music city.

Visit as often as you can. Even if it’s just once a year. Even if it’s not possible to literally keep going to the music cities, some wisely planned “face time” with your key contacts can help you make progress and make new connections and strengthen the existing ones. Just letting people see your face and hear what’s going on with you can make a difference. Human being tends to forget about others if they don’t keep the connections. Everyone once in a while just drop and email or give a quick video call and say hi. Let your name to be under “alive” status in their mind.

HOW DO WRITERS AND PUBLISHERS SPLIT ROYALTIES?

10/2/2020

I get lots of music business related questions on my inbox and this is a very common one. The business side of music is not as complicated as it seems. The contracts and “rule” can look pretty confusing and complicated but once you get it, it will be very easy. Just need to get that on click in your mind and suddenly it’s like the fog had gone away and you can see everything pretty clear. Here are the basics of Writer – Publisher deals and how money is split.

There are two shares of royalties for each writer when a song is created. Each writer has a writer’s share and a publisher’s share. So, if there are two writers on a song, there are four shares assigned to that song. Two writer’s shares and two publisher’s shares. The way those shares are divided depends on the contracts that the writers have entered into basically it’s going to both of them as a whole and depending on the type of agreement they have between themselves it can be divided. In Flipside’s case, we sign the writers to an exclusive publishing agreement.

EAT THE BIG FROG FIRST

9/25/2020

“If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And if it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first.” Mark Twain

Author Brian Tracy wrote a book called “Eat That Frog”. He took the idea from the Mark Twain’s quote. The idea of the book (and the quote) is that most people procrastinate doing the most important things because they are usually the hardest things to do.

WITH THIS CO-WRITE, I THEE WED: 10 CO-WRITING VOWS

9/22/2020

By entering the songwriting room to write with you, I hereby promise:

To be faithful to you in keeping our song “OUR” song. I will not change our song in any way without getting your approval. No lyric changes, melodic changes or production changes. Nor will I bring another writer in on our song without your approval.

I will honor you as an equal creator of this song. I will not count lines or try to measure who contributed most. I will respect that fact that WE created this song and that everything that happened in the writing room contributed to the song being the way it is.

I will not take this idea and write it with anyone else, even if it was my idea. If I don’t like the way it turned out, I will suggest changes or ask you if we can bring someone else in to help us make it better, but I won’t do anything without consulting you. At the end of the day, if I still don’t like it, I will move on and learn from the experience.

HOW TO GET A STAFF WRITING DEAL?

8/7/2020

Write with signed writers. As I mentioned, the relationship is one of the key factors for a songwriter to get a staff writer deal. To build these relationships, you can always approach the signed writers and write with them. This is a way the publishers and producers working with that writer will notice your work and maybe they will want to work with you. Or if that doesn’t happen in any given case, you’ve lost nothing, and you end up with a new song with a signed writer who can just help using his connections to push the song.

Get to know music publishers organically. If there’s a publisher you are interested in and you are able, go to writer’s nights where they are featuring their writers. Buy them a drink. Meet their writers. Mix and mingle. Go to events where publishers are speaking. Attend industry events. Publishers are much more likely to sign someone they know over a stranger. The more publishers you get to know, the better your chances are.

FINDING YOUR PLACE IN THE MUSIC BUSINESS

7/31/2020

When I first started to pursue a career in music, I set out on a path to try to become the best at everything. I saw people making their own demos, so I went out and bought a ton of gear. I saw people coming up with really cool guitar licks, so I started working at that. Others were singing their own demos, so I tried to get better in the studio with my vocals. And the list went on and on. After a couple years of writing on my own and making no money, I did manage to get a publishing deal. My publisher made it clear that I was getting the deal based on potential, not based on having even one song that was commercially viable. It was sort of like a girl asking you to the prom and saying “I had hoped to find someone else, but you are the last guy available”. But I digress.
Two years into the writing deal, I realized that my relentless quest to become the best at everything had failed. I was improving some in every area that I had been working on, but I was still not getting any activity with my songs. And, I was in extreme danger of losing my writing deal altogether.

HOW TO FORMAT YOUR LYRICS SHEETS

7/24/2020

The proper way to format your lyrics sheet is one of the most overlooked details in the songwriting business! Since starting our music label, Flipside, I have had the chance to see many songs and / or song lyrics presented to me. I’ve seen some wild lyrics sheets — or in many cases, even no lyrics sheets — accompanying songs being presented, and as a publisher, nothing can discourage me from listening to those songs more than having the song and don’t have any lyrics or have a very messy lyrics in front of me.

Publishers, Producers, and other people in the industry all speak a common language. The professionals in the industry share a style of working that had been developed over the years, without any written rules about it. One of the very little but important details you should care about when you are presenting your songs to someone you hope will record it is a typed, formatted lyrics sheet to be understandable by everybody. The format includes all the contact information, name of every writer, and each section such as verse and churns to be cleared.

THE (REALITY) CHEQUE IS IN THE MAIL

7/17/2020

Money is the big green elephant in the music business’s living room. There are many reasons we don’t like to talk about it. Some of us feel that putting a price on our art cheapens its value or implies that we’re in this for the wrong reasons. Some of us attend the school of “Faking It Till You Make It”, which means we don’t want people knowing we had to sling beers for a paycheck at midnight last night, so that we could be available for that 10am cowrite this morning. In general money is an uncomfortable for lots of musicians to talk about. Now let’s see if it is right or wrong.

I’m here to talk reality, and the money part of music has been an extremely interesting part of my journey. When a song of mine was first playing on the radio, the phone started ringing. Because we live in a culture of excess, we believe the glamorous images that are presented to us of the entertainment business.

WHERE IS THE BAR?

7/3/2020

How high is the bar for songwriters? When you mention the word “bar” to songwriters, most of them start craving a beer. But that’s not the bar I’m talking about here. I’m talking about the “How good does my song have to be to get it recorded by an artist?” kind of bar. Not every songwriter wants massive commercial success. But if that’s your goal, learning where that bar is may be the most important thing an aspiring commercial songwriter has to do.

The biggest hurdle. The problem with many songwriters, when confronted with the height of the real bar, is that instead of taking steps to learn how to get over the bar, they start trying to find a lower bar that helps them feel better about their music. It’s the equivalent of an aspiring NBA basketball player trying out for the Celtics and not making the team on his first try. So, instead of getting more coaching and improving his game, he goes to the Y and signs up for a pick-up basketball league. He feels better. He finally “made the team”.

5 MUSIC BUSINESS MISTAKES TO AVOID

5/29/2020

Over the years, I have made a lot of mistakes that hurt my career chances in the music business. Without those mistakes for sure by now I could be in a much better place in the industry, but I don’t look at them as failures. Mistake, yes for sure, but failures, no, they were just the price I paid to learn something from each event, and this is all this book is about! To tell you about those mistakes before you learn the hard way.

Also, I’ve observed a lot of people crashing and burning because of miscalculations in their own music efforts. So, I thought I’d write about 5 of the big ones as a cautionary tale for those of you that would rather learn from other people’s mistakes instead of trying them all out on your own. Here we go. Here are some things NOT to do if you want to succeed in the business:

HOW TO TELL WHEN A SONG IDEA IS WORTH PURSUING

4/3/2020

A lot of folks’ emails are asking if I can tell them whether an idea is good and worth pursuing. Though I’d love to give an answer, I generally believe it’s better to teach a man to fish, than hand him a fish. This is what my mentors did for me and I’m lucky he didn’t give me the answers. Instead, they gave me questions! So, I’d like to share with you some questions I ask myself before spending too much time on an idea:

Does your song idea feel real or clever? Real always trumps intellectual or clever in my book! I like to find a lot of ideas that happen naturally in conversation. Like when I, or the person I’m talking to, says something with conviction. I’ve gotten some of my biggest songs this way. Especially with artist co-writes. Artists are great at expressing themselves. That’s their job! So, I like to take things they say and feel — and then write it!

HERE’S THE REAL WAY TO GET A PUBLISHING DEAL

3/27/2020

This is one of the top questions filling my mailbox! The writer often states that they have songs and just can’t get the right person to listen. They feel their songs are as strong as what’s playing on radio, so how can they get a publishing company to take a chance on them? Well, I’ve been in those same shoes, believe me! I know the frustration of feeling like my progress was stalled and doors weren’t opening. And guess what, when they did open, nothing happened as I thought it would. Here’s the way it did happen and often happens.
The Anchor-man Analogy: Imagine an ambitious aspiring news anchor-man. He knows he’s got the goods. He has spent countless hours practicing at home. He can speak as well and is as smart as those other guys at the big networks. So, he books a trip to the Big Apple. He walks into NBC and asks to speak to the head of the network. By chance, the chief happens to be walking by, so the aspiring anchor stops him and says confidently, “I’m your next network anchor I’ve been working my tail off practicing and I’ve got the goods!”

IS THE MUSIC BUSINESS TRYING TO KEEP YOU OUT?

3/20/2020

I can’t count the number of times that songwriters have complained to me about how the music business was trying to keep them out or the industry doesn’t welcome them as it should. These writers believe that the people already in the music business spend their time devising ways to prevent newcomers from breaking into the business. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, the complete opposite is closer to reality. The newcomers are one of the most valuable “things” in the industry and most of big boys in the business are more than happy to introduce the next big player to the game and become the hero!

People in the music business survive by finding new talent. Their livelihood and longevity depend on it. And the competitive nature of the business creates a system in which people love to be the ones who discover the best new thing. Powerful people in the music business are actively looking for great songs, writers and artists.

THINGS TO DO EVERY DAY TO GET AHEAD AS A SONGWRITER

1/31/2020

Here are 5 things I try to do every day. Doing these 5 things helps me feel like I’m making progress in every area of my songwriting.

Learn something. I’m trying to learn to play harmonica now. Yes, sometimes I work on learning an alternative tuning on the guitar. I want to try to learn something that makes me better each day. This way I’m constantly forcing my brain to be active and don’t go lazy. Brain is just like the muscles on your body. The more you use it, the stronger it will get. Plus, learning all these can be fun and you never know when they come handy.

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)?

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.

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