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IT’S NOT THE WORLD’S RESPONSIBILITY TO "GET YOU" OR "GET YOUR MUSIC"

4/20/2021

I was in Starbucks last week enjoying my morning dose of inspiration — COFFEE! — and an aspiring songwriter approached me. “Are you Flipside’s Hangi?” “Yes,” I said. He asked if he could chat about writing for a couple of minutes. He began by saying, “I’m writing some great music, but no one gets it.” He continued, “I’ve played my songs at four pitch to publisher meetings, and this world just doesn’t get my writing.” I made a few suggestions to try to steer my friend in the right direction. As he walked away, I realized he would need to accept a simple, but powerful, truth: it’s not the world’s job to “Get us.”

This was a hard lesson for me to learn in the beginning of my career. I would go to meetings with publishers or play live shows and rap battles, all with the hope of being discovered. And I often got angry when no one paid attention. They just don’t “get me,” I would say.” I’m as good as all those writers making a living with their songs.”

HOW DO I WRITE COMMERCIAL MUSIC WITHOUT SELLING MY SOUL?

3/16/2021

Often songwriters ask, “How do I write commercial music?” They are writers who would like to have commercial success and hear one of their songs on the radio or an album. But they want to know how to accomplish this and still be true to themselves. They don’t want to sell-out. The definition of commercial music generally means the music that is heard by millions and/or purchased by millions. That number could be hundreds, depending on your level of commercial success. Over my years as a professional songwriter, I’ve lived a rollercoaster ride of commercial success, some years with three songs playing on the radio at once, and some years with no songs playing. In the commercial music, I can say the only person who was pretty stable in his position was Max Martin. He was on the top for almost all of his professional career until he stepped down a little bit and in one interview, he said that’s because of his personal reasons. Else than him everybody have to work hard to get to commercial level and work even harder to maintain it.

OTHER PEOPLE’S OPINIONS – ARE THEY GOOD OR BAD FOR YOUR SONGWRITING?

3/9/2021

I wrote with a writer who is actively looking for a publishing deal. He is a super talented young writer and while we were in the co-write, he was constantly expressing his frustration over how two publishers suggested changes on a song he wrote, and both gave exact opposite opinions on what his song needed. One said his chorus melody didn’t go anywhere and needed work. The next publisher, he played his song and loved the music and melody but thought his title was not strong enough. When I asked the young writer that what he thinks about his song and I wanted to know his personal opinion, “I like the song the way it is” he said to me in total frustration.
Since I mostly co-write songs, I’m a little more used to navigating the opinion waters. So, I offered my him my take on it. If my co-writers, publishers, a producer, or label person are all giving me feedback that my song is lacking somewhere then I’ve probably missed the mark on my song, and they are trying to come up with a reason.

HOW TO WEATHER THE UPS AND DOWNS OF THE MUSIC BUSINESS

2/23/2021

“The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There’s also a negative side.” ~Hunter S. Thompson

There is no doubt that the music business is tough. But so is the “Medical” business, the “law” business, the “teaching business”, etc. You get the picture. Things are tough all over. But the music business is full of things that look promising and fall through, things that are “guaranteed” and don’t happen – on and on it goes. By this point I have shared some of my disappointments. Holds that were all but a “sure thing” and didn’t happen. Singles that were promised on Sam Smith and never came to be.

The list is long and sad. And these are maybe less than 5 percent of the disappointments. But important is if you are going through these disappointments, you don’t give up and just use these rejections or unfortunate indicants as lessons and start again, stronger. So, how do you stick with it when the “downs” start to pile up? I learned the hard way that you have to have a plan. The plan I came up with was this.

ETIQUETTE FOR SONGWRITING

2/9/2021

Our pitch to publisher webinar recently reminded me of several points that I think bear bringing up every now and then. Almost everyone involved in the song submitting process behaved professionally. One or two did not. One of those people e-mailed me after the event claiming that I must not have listened to their songs because they submitted two songs that were better than anything that was played. They went on to say that they would hate to have my job because they could not stomach passing over great songs and playing weak songs that were more commercial instead. I am pretty forgiving, and I have very thick skin, but I want to remind everyone that doing something like that with a publisher or other industry professional will mean the end of your relationship with that person. I have seen it happen.
My first publisher was the most kind, generous person. He would spend time with anyone off the street that came in my office. And he would bend over backwards to help them.

DON’T UNDERESTIMATE YOUR SONGWRITING PEERS!

1/12/2021

One of the biggest mistakes I see aspiring writers make is that of overlooking their peers. When we are trying to get things going with our writing, too many of us are so busy looking up that we forget to look around. There are people at your level right now that are easily accessible to you who will be the biggest writers in town someday. If you spend all of your time trying to set up co-write with writers higher up the ladder from you, you will walk right by these people. And, in walking right by them, you will seal your fate. When they do become successful, they will remember that you didn’t have time for them when they had nothing going on.

My first publisher was a writer as well. He had written with a young artist who was working days selling boots down on Broadway and writing at night. This artist had been turned down by every label in town. He had nothing going on. Still, my publisher believed in him and wrote with him when no one else would.

SONGWRITING TAKES COURAGE

1/5/2021

Being a songwriter is not for the faint of heart. But, being alive is not for the faint of heart, either. The more I experience and the more stories I hear, the more I realize that the vast majority of us have faced some really difficult things in life. If you have not, then count your blessings. I loved this quote the moment I saw it. Even the courageous are afraid. They just decide that something else is more important than fear. Soldiers in battle who go toward the enemy to save a buddy are still afraid. They just put their friend above the fear, and they face it anyway. In life, or in songwriting, the same principle applies. The moment you come over your fears and realize that you actually can start taking the risk and aim to become a full-time writer, the doors will open to you. Life will surprise you the way you never expected. There definitely will be times you will get disappointed and discouraged over and over but you should always remember that you’ve already started a game that from beginning you knew that only strongest ones will survive. Play the game with all your heart and not only you will make it, but the journey as well as the winning will give a joy you never could experience it in anything else.

WHEN IS IT TIME TO GIVE UP?

12/29/2020

I have had numerous people share with me their struggle to maintain hope and self-motivation and to keep trying to pursue their dream in the face of great adversity. Obviously, there is no one pat answer that applies to everyone and all their struggles but, in general, my answer is this. You keep going until the cost of giving up is less than the cost of keeping on. Remember how much time, energy and money you had invested in your career so far and how close to the goal are you? Does it worth to give up now and let all your investment to turn into nothing? If your answer is yes, and if you are that cold about sticking to what you are doing, then no one can change your mind anymore. But for me, personally, nothing is impossible and it’s just matter of time, and I would try harder and harder to reach where I always wanted to reach, and meanwhile, whenever any bumps come to the road, I just remind myself why I had started it and where I want to go with it, and that is enough motivation for me to keep up.

IF YOU DON’T WRITE SONGS, YOU PROBABLY THINK IT’S EASY!

12/1/2020

Some people sleepwalk, some people sleep write. “It was a spring morning in 1965 when Keith Richards rolled out of bed and noticed a new tape somehow wound its way through 45 minutes of usable tape. Curious, he rewound the tape and pushed play. A three-note guitar riff came blasting out of the speakers, followed by some basic chords and a simple refrain. ‘I can’t get no satisfaction,’ went the melody, sung by Richards in a sleepy, half-conscious voice. Richards had apparently woken up with a melody in his head, recorded it with his acoustic guitar and then fallen back asleep.” — Andrew Leahy, “Behind the Song: ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction'”.

I know what most people are thinking. Anyone that isn’t a songwriter probably reads this quote and thinks this writing thing is easy, guys just do it in their sleep. While we never know when a “seed” or “idea” for a song will come to us, the real work comes in growing that “seed” into a well written song.

DON’T FOCUS ON THE SUMMIT

10/30/2020

Songwriting can be a wonderfully, beautifully frustrating pursuit. But it can be especially maddening if your singular goal is something outside of your control. It’s best to enjoy the way while you are climbing your way up this mountain of music industry. If you only and only focus on the end goal, the road to that goal would be extremely tiring and most probably you will give up when a couple of years past and you are still nowhere near your goal. In my humble opinion the best is to learn how to enjoy the way and earn all the you can while you are reaching the summit. Make your process sweet so you won’t give up very easily. So, let’s say your one obsession is a Bruno Mars cut. There are several reasons that you are going to likely spend the rest of your life banging your head on the wall and cursing the day you ever tried to be a songwriter. For sake of brevity, I won’t list them all, but the primary reason is that you can’t make Bruno Mars like any of your songs. And if he doesn’t like them, you’ll never get a Bruno Mart cut. So, I wanted to run through some alternatives to goals that are outside of your control. Considering these “what ifs” might just help you get closer to your goal than you ever imagined.

KIDS ARE DREAMERS, DREAMS CHANGE THE WORLD

10/27/2020

I remember spending my days daydreaming as a kid. I daydreamed sitting in my desk at school, I daydreamed while doing the list of chores waiting for me when I got home from school, and I daydreamed before closing my eyes and falling asleep at each night. These days I’m sure a teacher or someone would have diagnosed me with ADD and put me on some medications right away to insure a better future for my little daydreaming shoulder devil and myself!

What I didn’t understand then and what a lot of non-creative type of people don’t get, is that there is nothing more powerful than daydreaming. I believe, when done positively, it’s a form of prayer. A way to focus your intention so profoundly that you gather forces larger than yourself to change your future. The Wright Brothers dreamed of flying. Jonas Salk dreamed of curing Polio. Thomas Edison envisioned the light bulb.

They spent every waking moment dreaming first and later working to make those dreams come true. Kids get this. They don’t question if their dreams are crazy. It’s just a natural creative process. It’s the grown-up world that tells the kid to “grow up” or “be more practical” or “that’s impossible!”

JOB #1 MEANS DOING YOUR JOB!

10/13/2020

Some time ago I was enjoying a mentoring session and was offering tips to help a young songwriter understand what producers and publishers often listen for in song demos. One of the demos had an extremely long guitar solo after the first chorus. I offered that:

#1. Guitar solos typically are after the 2nd chorus and not the first.

#2. The solo was so long it pushed the song to over 4 and half minutes. And that hurt the chances of getting the song recorded. The songwriter I was mentoring shot back this question. Why can’t a publisher or producer who knows what they are doing, hear the song with all the changes and record the song anyway?

AN OPEN LETTER TO YOUNG SONGWRITERS

10/9/2020

I write with a number of young songwriters and I can’t count the times that I have referenced an older song (80’s or 90’s) and discovered that they had never heard the song and in many cases, had never heard of the artist either. This isn’t shocking to me – I once was that guy myself. But it does make me want to pass on something that my mentor, told me years ago. I had just gotten my first writing deal and had written a song that I thought turned out amazing. I proudly presented it to my mentor, and he gave it a listen. He had a huge smile on his face as the song ended and I thought that I had really impressed him. Turns out, I had made an impression, but not the one I wanted to make. He said, “You know that is iconic song for Ernest Tubb, don’t you?” I didn’t know that. I didn’t know one song by Ernest Tubb. I didn’t really like the super twangy old country. I didn’t understand why it even mattered. He changed all of that.

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.

A SONGWRITER’S CHALLENGE

9/15/2020

One of the first things I did when I decided to seriously pursue writing as a career was to attend a Songwriting Camp. I submitted my application and nervously awaited a response to let me know if I was accepted or not. Finally, the day came. There in the stack of mail was a letter from the management. I opened it excitedly, hoping and praying that I got in. I did not. The letter very politely told me that I didn’t make it in, but I was on the waiting list in case someone dropped out.
Several weeks went by and the camp was rapidly approaching. I had given up when I got a call letting me know that someone dropped out and I could come if I still wanted to. It kind of had the feel of a girl telling you that she would love to go to the prom with you, but you were not really her first choice. It hurt a little, but I swallowed my pride and accepted. Looking back, I’m glad I did. It gave me a great beginning place. Most importantly, it showed me where the bar is. Once I realized how high the bar is, I was motivated to work even harder to get over it. During the camp of the instructors said something that has stuck with me to this day.

REASONS TO CO-WRITE

9/11/2020

People often ask me, sometimes skeptically, why I co-write so often instead of writing alone. “The songs you write on your own are great, why you need to write with others?” I heard these many times. I have some reasons that I find pretty compelling.

Not many people I know are world-class at melody and lyrics. There are plenty of people who do both but doing both and excelling at both are different things altogether. To succeed at the highest level in the music business, you have to have a world-class melody and lyrics (unless you are writing with an artist, but that’s a whole separate topic). In order to get a song at that level, 99.9% of us have to co-write. I always recommend that writers define what they are strongest at and really work hard to become world class at that. You can find someone to work with that is already world-class at whatever you are weaker at.

HOW TO INTERPRET FEEDBACK ON YOUR SONGS

8/28/2020

Often, it seems like song feedbacks leave people confused. In one of my attempts at getting feedback early in my career, I send a song to a very prominent songwriting organization that I belonged to. The was called “It Don’t Get Better Than This” and it was about the way the “this” changed throughout a boy’s life. In the first verse, the boy held his first puppy and as it licked his face, he was thinking “It don’t get better than this.” The second verse has him kissing his first girlfriend and thinking the same thing. Finally, the bridge has him standing in his wedding ceremony and while his bride walks the aisle toward him, thinking the chorus again. The feedback I got was “Pretty well written, but it’s not possible to have three things that it doesn’t get better than.” I couldn’t imagine how the person giving feedback didn’t understand that what we imagine to be “the greatest thing ever” can – and does – change over time. The feedback left me confused and frustrated. Years later, as I gained more confidence in

my writing, I took another look at that song and realized that the feedback I got was not good at all. I’ve since discovered the reason for the weak feedback. The organization that I had gotten feedback from hired people to do feedback who had never had cuts. They were aspiring writers who were struggling and needed a paycheck, not professionals or hit songwriters who knew what they were talking about. Over the years, I have found these thoughts to be helpful in interpreting feedback on my songs:

SONGWRITING ECONOMICS 101

8/21/2020

I get the question all the time, “Why won’t a signed staff songwriter write with me?”. Most people are surprised to find out that the answer is economic and it’s all about business instead of being personal in nature. When you know how exactly the business side of music industry works, you wouldn’t be surprised anymore when a signed writer rejects writing with you. Here are the economics of why staff writer’s are hesitant to write with unsigned writers.

Other unsigned writers who have gone before you have not paid for their portion of demos. They ruined it for you, and probably you would find it unfair, right? But look at it from the signed writers’ point of view, and it all will make sense. Let me give you some personal examples of my previous experiences. I have had several unsigned co-writers in the past who didn’t pay their portion of the demo costs when we did demos for the songs we wrote together. When that occurs, guess who has to pay for it?

Me. After a few times that happened, it left a bad taste in my mouth. I’ve also had unsigned co-writers tell me after we wrote a great song that they can’t afford to demo the song. Even though I am trying to appreciate that at least they told me about it before we actually proceed to make the demo, but I still wish they had told me about it before we sit down and spend so much time and energy on writing a song together because now the time had already been spent but I can’t get it cut if we can’t demo it, so we wasted a day. Both are important economic issues. Why spend a day writing a song that no one will ever hear while I could spend that time on writing a song that actually could go somewhere?

THE JOY IN THE JOURNEY

8/14/2020

I met with a songwriter friend who is very talented and very frustrated with her lack of music business success. She was describing to me how she had thought she would be so much farther along by the time she reached the birthday that had just passed. I told her my story. It took me almost 6 years of writing full time to get my first cut. Another year after that to get my first single. And another year to have my first hit. There were countless days of self-doubt. There were heart crushing disappointments when “sure-things” fell through. The rejections were there, when I was so sure about a song and knew it must drive publishers crazy, but they simply listened and with absolutely no emotions they rejected it. There were near misses that could have changed my life if they had come through. She asked me how I stayed encouraged and positive over a 17-year music business career with that many ups and downs. "The joy in the journey" was my simple answer. It just made her more confused.

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.

LEARNING TO SEE THE BIG SONGWRITING PICTURE

7/10/2020

Often songwriters are caught up in the trees that they can’t see the forest. They spend lots of their time looking at the minutiae – I’ve always wanted to say that word – that they lose sight of the big picture. For instance, in a one of our songwriting courses at Flipside, I spend six weeks teaching students a framework that will improve all of their lyrics going forward. At the end of the course, someone said, “I wish you could have critiqued these three lyrics of mine instead.” There’s nothing wrong with that sentiment, but it misses the big picture. If you learn the proper framework and foundation for writing lyrics, you can not only improve all of your lyrics by yourself and going forward, you can also go back and fix anything you wrote before you learned the framework. It’s sort of like the old proverb “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”

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”.

THE 10,000 HOUR THEORY AND SONGWRITING

6/26/2020

The 10,000-hour theory I was reading a magazine on an airplane the other day and ran across an article about Dan McLaughlin, an Oregon man who quit his job and decided to try to become a professional golfer by testing out the 10,000 hour theory made popular by Malcolm Gladwell in his book “Outliers”. Dan saved up $100,000.
He rented out his home and got himself a cheap apartment so that this housing cost was nearly zero. And he began living very simply. He didn’t spend much on anything other than golf.

n the beginning, he thought it would take him about 5 years to reach the 10,000-hour mark. Mentally, he set aside six years. At the time of the article, he was 7 years in and still has 3600 hours to go. Reading this story reminded me of the beginning of my songwriting career!

DON’T FALL INTO THE ARROGANT SONGWRITER/ARTIST TRAP?

6/19/2020

As a songwriter, I am a “lifer.” I’ve spent many hours everyday writing with, teaching to, and in online forums conversing with songwriters. It’s not uncommon to hear songwriters say things like, “You can’t learn songwriting. You either have it, or you don’t.” Or, “This song came from my inner soul, so it’s perfect just like it is.” And here is my personal favorite arrogant quote, “I only write when I’m inspired. Anyone who doesn’t just writes crap.” No, my questions are, why do many songwriters believe their art is different than every other art in the world? That hard work, training, and practicing “even when you don’t feel like it” doesn’t apply to them? Can you imagine a great guitarist saying, “I only play my guitar on days when I feel inspired?” Hell, no! The great guitarists practice hours and hours playing the same lick thousands of times. Does that mean that great guitarists don’t play from the soul like a songwriter writes from the soul? Of course, they do! But the hours of practice — inspired or not — get them to a point of executing their art at a higher level.

HOW SONGWRITING CHANGED MY LIFE

6/12/2020

I had a few minutes alone in the quiet the other morning and I started thinking about all of the different ways that songwriting has changed my life. Some of those changes are the result of being successful as a songwriter, but the biggest, most profound changes are ones that were simply the result of writing songs. Songwriting itself, and the process of becoming a professional in this industry – which can literally take ages – will teach you a lot of very valuable lessons. I was just reviewing the lessons I learned and in no particular order, here are the ways songwriting changed my life.

It opened my eyes to a larger world and my place in it. In the beginning, my songs were very self-serving and self-reflective. I wrote about the people, places and emotions that I knew, and it only belonged to me. Unfortunately, my world at that time was very plain, very lower middle class, very political and very homogeneous in almost every way. I can say I used to be pretty narrow minded and I was very comfortable in my own comfort zone and had no intention to get out of it.

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