HOW TO TELL WHEN A SONG IDEA IS WORTH PURSUING

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!

Does the idea have legs? Once I get an idea, does it make my mind race with the next line, and then the next? Or do I get stuck immediately? I find that the idea I’m supposed to write that day will usually take off with a creative burst and have the legs to get a good bit down on paper before the creativity stops. If an idea bogs down too quickly or has a hard time getting started, then I search for another idea.
 
Is the idea believable? People want to listen to a song that is believable. They want to be taken on a journey. And the listener won’t do that UNLESS the idea is believable. I always try to avoid ideas that can be called into question. For example: “Everyone Knows Love Is Just A Game”. I would not write this title because not everyone believes this. A lot of people believe in real love and don’t think it’s just a game! This may seem like a small thing, but I’ve witnessed it kill a lot of potentially good songs.

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.