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WHAT REALLY MAKES A SONG A HIT?

3/22/2022

People often ask me if I KNOW that I’ve written a hit song when I finish it. The answer to that is a resounding “NO”. I generally know when I finish a song whether it is great or just good or it just simply have to get more time spent on it. Beyond that, so much goes into making a song a hit that is out of my control. So, all I can do is try to write a great song every day and then get it into the right hands. After that, it’s up to other forces to make it a hit.

In my experience, here is what makes a song a hit:

The songwriter writes a song that is catchy, compelling and commercial. That means the song is well crafted, it connects to a broad audience and it causes action on the part of the listener. It may make them cry, laugh, dance, tap their feet, or go purchase the song. In any case, it causes them to react. It also has to be commercial in the sense that an artist would want to sing it and an audience would want to hear it.

USING LOOPS FOR CREATING THE #1 SONG

3/15/2022

One great tool every songwriter has at their disposal today are drum loops. Whether you have a computer handy or a smart phone, there are amazing apps for beats that were not available even a few short years ago. Loops are a quick way to add energy and style to your new music creation but there are some pitfalls to be mindful of and avoid. Even as a professional producer, I sometimes use these loops if I want to quickly write down some ideas, and not to spend any time on any other part of the song else than just writing the lead. The biggest reason I use a drum loop is that it sets a mood. Whether I want to write an R&B groove ballad or an up-tempo heavy metal song, that instant drum beat, and sound takes me to that place where that song can begin.

THINGS MUSIC PUBLISHERS LOOK FOR IN A SONGWRITER

3/8/2022

Music Publishers seem to be the “holy grail” for songwriters trying to get that first cut. Somehow, many people have the idea that if they could just “get a publisher,” all of their problems would be solved, and the cuts would start rolling in. While having a great publisher can be very beneficial, “getting a publisher” isn’t the most important piece of the success equation by any means. And, notice that I said having a GREAT publisher can be very beneficial. Having a bad or just mediocre publisher is often worse than not having one at all. So, proceed with caution and do a lot of background checking before agreeing to work with any publisher on an exclusive basis. Having said all of that, and as a publisher myself, here are a few things that publishers are looking for in a writer. Working at becoming all of these things before you meet with a publisher is going to increase your chances of that publisher wanting a working relationship with you.

THE TRUTH ABOUT PITCHING SONGS

3/1/2022

One of the biggest areas in which I see songwriters being scammed is in the area of pitching songs. There are untold numbers of services that will gladly take your money to “pitch your song”. There are two big reasons that this arena is full of sharks. One is that you have no way of knowing if they ever really pitch your song. And the other problem is that you want a cut so bad you’ll believe anyone who says they love your song. Guess who loves your songs most, other than you and your mom? Scammers. Why? Because they know they can get you to fork over some dollars for that song, even if it doesn’t have a chance of getting cut. Even if they have no real connection to the artist at hand. Even if they have never gotten a song recorded. Even if the artist isn’t looking for songs. All they have to do is tell you that they love your song and your wallet falls open. So, how do you keep the wallet safe and avoid wasting your money? By understanding how the business works. And by doing some homework. Here are some important things to know about pitching songs.

WAYS TO MAKE YOUR SONGWRITING MORE COMMERCIAL INSTANTLY

2/22/2022

Write a better first line. The first line is literally the very first thing one would hear when they are listening to your song. So, it is the super important how you want to start your “conversation” with your listener – from the listeners to the artists and label people – and convince them to sit through and keep listening and waiting for your hook and punch line to come up. It’s all about the first line, specially when professionals are listening. With the very first line of your music they hear, they already start judging your song and for sure you don’t want them to stop listening. Because if the first line is too weak, there’s a good chance they might stop listening. Interesting first lines grab the listener and make them want to hear more. They can be the difference in an artist or A&R person listening all the way through or passing on your song right away. And they can be different through the listeners when the song gets recorded.

THE SONGWRITER’S SINGLE SONG CONTRACT – A CAUTIONARY TALE

2/15/2022

When I was first starting on my commercial songwriting journey, I was dying for someone – anyone – to like my songs. One day I got the call that a publisher was interested in one of my songs. Not just any publisher. It was actually a very well-known publisher. Not one of the big majors, but almost everyone would know the name of the publisher if I threw it out there. I was elated! I was so elated, that I nearly just signed the single-song contract without having a lawyer check it out, or matter of fact, almost without looking at it at all. After all, this was a real publisher. They wouldn’t give me a bad contract, because who am I that they try to rip me off, right? Fortunately, I decided to take it to an entertainment lawyer just in case there was an issue with it. Turns out, there was an issue. Not a little issue. A deal breaker issue. In the contract, it stated that the publisher (who was already getting 100% of my publishing in the deal) would get 50% of my writer’s share if they changed “one note of my arrangement”.

WHAT IS A STAFF SONGWRITER?

2/8/2022

There are many misconceptions of what it means to be a “staff songwriter.” So, I thought I’d make an attempt at clearing that up. In layman’s terms, a staff writer has signed an exclusive agreement assigning a publisher some portion of every song they write during the term of the agreement. So, if a songwriter signs a “5 Year Deal” for a straight (100%) publishing deal, the publisher will own 100% of the publishing on every song the writer writes during those 5 years. However, a “5 Year Deal” is almost always actually a one-year deal with 4 extra options that the publisher can exercise.

That means that the writer gets to write for the publisher for one year. At the end of the year, the publisher may or may not pick up that option. If they do pick it up, then the writer hangs around for another year. The same thing happens another 3 times. The publisher decides yearly to keep the writer or let them go. The writer generally does not have the option to leave until all 5 years are up.

WHO CAN STOP YOU FROM WRITING SONGS?

2/1/2022

I think that’s a valid question for every songwriter to ask themselves from time to time. We all had been there, thinking about it and we all will come back to thinking about it. On occasion, I hear songwriters say things like “It’s not really worth writing a song if I can’t get a publisher to listen.” Or “Why bother writing another song no one will ever hear?” Or even “It’s so hard to get on the Billboard Charts or make money with music these days”. When I hear those comments, I challenge the writers to examine their motivation for writing. So, I’ll ask you the same questions I ask them. Maybe they will cause you to think about your own motivation. Would you keep writing if you knew you’d never make a dollar with your music? Is your motivation solely based on money, or would you keep writing for other reasons even if it never paid off? Could lack of publisher interest make you give up? Do you really want to give them that much power? Does the size of the potential audience for your music factor into your decision to write?

QUESTIONS ABOUT CO-WRITING ETIQUETTE

1/25/2022

Once in one of our sessions a songwriter asked me, “If I don’t like the way a song turns out with a co-writer, am I free to take the idea and write it with someone else?”. It was very easy to answer her question as it’s pretty obvious and I was kind of surprised seeing that she didn’t know the answer, but on the other had the answer to such question is not written anywhere as a rule or anything. Maybe because it’s just simply too obvious, and no one ever cared to actually make it clear for anyone who might not know. The answer to her is; No. Not really. Generally, once you write an idea with someone, you are in it for good with them. It’s considered as a very bad form to take your idea and write it one your own or with someone else. And it would probably destroy your relationship with writer #1. If you are in such situation and you really don’t like the result of what came out with that writer but you really like the topic, I would suggest that the better approach is to see if you can get your co-writer to agree to bring in someone else to help you fix it or make better, while the writer #1 is also involved in the process. If he / she agrees, then the three of you could sit down and hopefully get it where it needs to be.

THE SCARIEST MOMENT IN SONGWRITING

1/18/2022

I believe that the scariest moment for any profession is the moment before you start. And the exact same goes for songwriting too. Most of us have voices that play in our heads. Those voices often tell us that the task at hand “can’t be done”. “You aren’t good enough”. “You can’t handle this”. “Songwriting is not something you can just do if you aren’t born with it”. You know the drill. It is the rare person who has never heard those voices. The negative self-talk keeps us from starting. If you don’t start, or don’t try, then you can’t fail. Or so “they” tell us. So, we drift through life taking the easy road because these nameless voices don’t believe in us. When you think about it, it seems silly, doesn’t it? Letting nameless, internal voices change the course of our lives? And giving up on something we are dying to do because we can’t summon the courage to just give it a try. And this is not just about songwriting. In fact for anything in life, whenever we want to start something new, we hear voices telling us that it is impossible and it scary and this and that. And they only shut up when we get into it, start doing what we wanted to do and start getting results. Show the voices “who the boss is”.

SONGWRITERS AND EXCUSES

1/11/2022

If there is one thing that I have learned in my journey through the music business, it’s that I’ve never made one dollar from excuses. Yet I lose count of people around me, usually newbies or unsuccessful seniors in the business who keep making excuses to justify everything rather than just taking responsibility and accepting that they could change the situation simply by working harder – or in some cases simply just by “working” instead of waiting for someone else to do their job for them. “It’s harder than ever to get a cut” “You have to write with the artist to get a cut” “I write songs that are too deep for the market” “People don’t understand my music”. These are the excuses I’m hearing on a daily basis and yes, they may all be true. But the fact remains there is that, if I write an amazing song, someone will notice. Will they notice my average songs? Not unless I have some special connection. Will I be able to sneak a “decent” song through and get it recorded? Not likely, unless I wrote it with the artist and, even then, that is a longshot.

CREATIVE VS. COMMERCIAL SONGWRITING

1/4/2022

One of the big areas of tension when we write is the battle between commercial and creative. This had been going on between the artists since the whole concept of art is created, to create art for art or art for people. The “artistic” community has often propagated the idea that you can’t be both. Typically, those putting forth this idea are not being successful commercially, which makes one wonder if, just maybe, they are a little bit bitter because no one is buying their music. So, to make themselves feel better, they try to convince the world that their “art” is on a higher plane than the “so-called” art that people are rushing out to buy. I beg to differ. I don’t think there’s anything noble about writing songs that no one wants to purchase. If someone chooses just to write for their own pleasure, that’s awesome. If they float those songs out there and people don’t care for them, it really doesn’t matter. But that doesn’t make them better songs or more “artistic”. If you are trying to write commercially, I would suggest the following thoughts for making your songs both creative and commercial.

SONGWRITING GOALS 101

12/28/2021

Songwriters have all kinds of goals. Depending on what they are trying for, each songwriter has their own goals and although the goals can be very similar but it’s hard to find two individuals who are sharing the exact same goal and exact same approach for getting to their goal. I do a lot of mentoring sessions. One of the big discoveries I have made in those sessions is that people have all kinds of different goals for their music. And they have very different approaches for reaching to their goals. I have discovered that almost every answer to every question people ask us depends on their answer to the question “What are you shooting for?” as soon as they can answer that one question, they basically had answered any question they might think I should answer for them. Some are just writing for themselves, the joy they find in writing makes them happy enough that they are not really looking for getting into the commercial world and want to get better for their own satisfaction. Some other have different dream and they want to hear just one of their songs on the radio someday. Many others are hoping to make a living writing songs and sky is their limit. Your end goal, your target determines so much about what you need to do to improve.

SONGWRITING TIPS YOU MIGHT NOT HAVE THOUGHT OF

12/21/2021

Your songwriting rhyme scheme helps the listener keep up with where they are in the song. You want to keep the rhyme scheme consistent across all of the verses and consistent across all of the choruses if the choruses change. Not doing so makes the listener feel unsettled. They will feel lost and no human being enjoys being lost, therefore, there is a little chance they will come back to your song to listen to it again, and that’s not what you want, right?

Your hook or title has to appear in one of the following places or you risk the listener not being able to tell what your title is, and this would happen perfectly when you repeat the song title (which is good to be same as your hook) in various places. There had been researches about it and as a result, the title is best to be placed at:
1. The last line of the verse.
2. The first line of the chorus.
3. The last line of the chorus.
4. The third line of the chorus if it’s also the first line.

HOW TO ENJOY SUSTAINED SUCCESS IN THE MUSIC BUSINESS

12/14/2021

I’ve enjoyed a 16-year music business career that has exceeded my imagination by far. When I started doing music, I could never imagine that one day it will become my full time job - although I was desperately hoping for it. I couldn’t even imagine to be anywhere near where I am today, yet all those dreams came true and today I am very happy about where I am and what I am doing for a living. After all these, now it’s time for me to pass on some of the things I’ve learned in this time period of 16 years, about keeping cuts coming over time. Here are the ways I have turned a couple of cuts into a bunch of cuts.

Don’t develop a “thing” that you do. I always cringe when someone says, “This is what I do.” If your “thing” goes out of style, you are in trouble. Try to write all over the spectrum in your genre. Don’t limit yourself to only one aspect of what you are doing and don’t let people to think your capabilities are just limited to that one “thing”.

SONGWRITING IS ADDICTIVE

12/7/2021

Time after time, I see the warning signs. It takes a trained eye to spot them, but even simple statements thrown out in casual conversation can reveal that a songwriter has crossed over from social songwriting to having a real problem. When you get the hang of writing songs, it really is addictive. You want it or not, there are times you would find yourself thinking of songs ideas when you hear even random words from people around you. My friends are talking about their life, relationship or even simple things like when they are talking about football or politics and I hear songs in my head. When that happens to you, you would know it exactly is the definition of addiction. There are lots of things an addicted person says or does that would tell you about their situation. When you hear statements like these are a dead giveaway: “I think I need another guitar” or “That would be a great song title” as will as “We should write that” or “I woke up and wrote that chorus at 3 AM”. They sound innocent enough, but they reveal a deeper problem. Much deeper than what they look like. This person is addicted to songwriting.

PUT YOURSELF IN POSITION TO SUCCEED IN SONGWRITING

11/30/2021

Many writers struggle with the idea of getting themselves in position to succeed. In fact, I see two extremes play out. Sometimes writers adopt the idea that “all I have to do is write a great song” and they believe they literally don’t need to do anything else at all. Others go to the extreme of trying desperately to “meet the right people” while ignoring the fact that they don’t have any great songs to present to those right people when they finally get to meet them.

So, I find myself continually preaching the message of putting yourself in position to succeed. Meaning you have to put yourself mentally in the right place to start seeing the signs of success and getting to understand what you need to do to take your songwriting career to a whole new level. This is what I’ve learned from these mentoring sessions. Here are my suggested steps for putting yourself in position to succeed – in order of importance.

5 KEYS TO BUILDING A BETTER SONG CATALOGUE

11/23/2021

Several people have asked the question, “What’s the best way to build a song catalogue?” Here are some key factors I’ve learned over the years after writing for several major publishing companies and building a new catalogue at each of them.

Write, write, write! There is no substitute for this. A catalogue is a collection of songs. You need to write everyday if possible. But at least as often as you can! This not only helps you become a better writer, but also gives you more variety material which increases the odds that you’ll have the right song for a particular project. The more your write, the bigger your catalogue would be and the more you have available to provide when needed. Plus, keep writing is always a great practice for your skills to get better and better. No matter how good you are, you always can get better.

Recently I was watching one of very interviews of Max Martin and they asked him why for the past few years he wasn’t as active as he used to be in late ‘90s and early ‘00s. “Because I needed time to practice and get better.” He replied. Remember, this is MAX MARTIN saying these words. At peak of his career, when he was knowns as the biggest songwriter alive, he felt he need to take some time off and practice to get better. Let alone you and me!

IF YOU WANT A MUSIC CAREER, BE OPEN MINDED

11/16/2021

On a daily basis in this business I come across musicians, songwriters and artists who are trying to make a name for themselves in the industry, but it is interesting to see how a big percent of them forget the most basic attitude: to be a bit open.

People who fall into this category are mainly the ones who are either asking for opportunities, or they already have a little exposure to the industry, but they are not involved with any of the major players. Either way, they are considered as not very professionals, although some of them have a real talent in them which unfortunately they don't know how to use it to climb the ladder.

Here I am going to mention a few of the examples I have encountered with, in person and tell you why I consider them as narrow minded.

REASONS NOT TO QUIT WRITING SONGS

11/9/2021

Many of us struggle with voices in our head saying things like “You’ll never make it.” or “You’re not good enough.” And, most of us, at one time or another, have thought about throwing in the towel. I can consider myself successful at this point of my career but believe it or not, I still hear those voices occasionally and once in a while I ask myself “What the hell are you doing by writing all these songs?”. But as an answer to myself, those voices, and your stinky thoughts, here are few reasons that encourage us not to throw in the towel.

If you were born with the urge to write, you will probably never feel complete if you give it up. Most writers are not able to just walk away without feeling regret and emptiness. Writing is part of us. Creating is in our nature. Without them, we are just some bodies, moving around, pointless and aimless. If a none writer read this might not understand what I mean by saying “writing isn’t just part of us, but we ARE the writing”. We can go by not talking let’s say for a month or two, but not writing for a week can drive us insane.

STOP ASKING THE WORLD TO LISTEN TO YOUR MUSIC AND WRITE SONGS SO GOOD THEY WANT TO HEAR THEM

11/2/2021

A few years ago, I urged a popular music forum to start a songwriting thread. The songwriters involved in it thought it was a great idea and I stop in from time to time to discuss writing and read comments. It started out really cool. Discussions about lyrics, melody, popular songs vs. classics, etc. Later on, I stopped in to read up on the discussions. I admit I hadn’t logged on in a few months. And guess what the most popular column on the songwriting thread was? “Post your demos here” 121,000 views & comments in the last 6 months. The closest column about actual “songwriting” in the Songwriting Thread was 718 views!

Now understand this was not a site where fans buy music or publishers go to find songs. It was just a forum for songwriters to discuss songwriting and to share their opinions and ideas on this one particular topic and nothing more than that.

SHOULD YOU PAY YOUR CO-WRITER TO DEMO YOUR SONG?

10/26/2021

Let’s talk about some co-writing scenarios. Sometime ago, we had a lively and awesome debate in the one of our sessions at Flipside with the young writers about whether or not a “track guy” (Or girl) should charge their co-writers for building a track/demo for their song. There truly no one’s answer is right or wrong to that question. There might be times when that is appropriate, but there are definitely times when it’s highly inappropriate. Let me illustrate some of the complex situations that occur in my writing and let you weigh in on the answer to that question.

Hit Writer/Staff Writer Track Guy. One guy I write with has had a number of hits and lots of cuts. He’s a great “track guy”. He has produced songs on some major label artists. He has a publisher, but they don’t have an office in Singapore, so we work together whenever they need to get anything done here and we let them to use our Flipside’s office and recording studio.

They are great with sync and pop pitches, but not really a player at all when pitching film music – which is my specialty in composing and in my heart, it is my personal preference to compose film music more than anything else. So, this writer and I wrote what we thought was a great pitch for one of major artists. I spent about an hour and a half the morning of our write working on ideas and found a great one that we used. I came in with it all mapped out and part of a chorus. We quickly wrote the song. Two days later, he sent me a demo. I got it pitched to that singer we had in mind and she put it on the hold. If we get it cut, we make the same amount of money since we have similar pub deals. So, what do you think? Should I have paid him to track the song? Should he have paid me to pitch it since we used my connections for pitching and he admitted, “never leaves his basement”? Is a great demo that never gets heard worth anything?

HOW SONGWRITERS GET PAID?

10/19/2021

Several people have asked about the different ways for songwriters to get paid. It seems to be a big question for everyone even inside the industry that how one can sit down and write music and make a living out of it! Growing up in Iran, where people appreciate music more than anywhere else I had ever seen, yet nobody wants their children to become musicians, I often had this problem that when anyone was asking me about my job and I was saying that I am a songwriter, their next question was, “No, what is your real job? How do you make money?”. To this date I can say this is one of the most common questions I get. So, here are a few ways for songwriters to get paid.

Publishing Draws for songwriters. This is a monthly amount a publisher pays to a writer that is on a staff publishing deal. This basically is same as any other sort of employment and the writer is being hired by the publisher as a full-time staff, getting paid to write a certain number of songs that would be approved by the publisher.

These are really advancing on royalties that have to be repaid out of incoming royalties. Once your catalog is recouped, the publisher pays you semi-annual royalty checks for money they have collected. This part can be taken as the “bonus” in business world. Basically, the more you write, the bigger your catalog would be, and the bigger your catalog is, the more semi-annual royalties will come to you.

DISCIPLINES IS A KEY FOR SETTING YOURSELF UP TO SUCCEED

10/12/2021

One of the biggest lessons I have learned in my years in the music business is that nobody wants me to succeed as much as I do. My publisher, my co-writers and my song pluggers all want me to do well. They are heavily invested in my success. But, at the end of the day, I’m going to have to do most of the heavy lifting if I’m going to succeed. They will help but they will do what they can do, and that’s my job to do “my job”. If they were up to do what I am supposed to, they didn’t need to work with me from the first place. And to do my job, I need to have a very strong discipline coming from myself, because in this industry we don’t really have such thing as “boss” or someone who force us to do anything. Everything, including all success or failures come, are direct reflection and consequences of our own actions. The way I always explain it for my mentees is, “We need to have a military level of discipline, and there is no commander to force us. We have to have it from inside our own will power”. Here are a few things I try to do every day to keep myself moving in the right direction:

PRESS RELEASE: xs - Save This Love

10/8/2021

xs is back with a new song Save This Love which is her second single since her debut album Good Girls Don't Speak Their Minds.

Written by xs and Hangi Tavakoli and produced by Hangi Tavakoli, Save This Love has an acoustic instrumentation, heavily relying on guitars and supported by distorted 808 drums, accompanied by a complicated yet simple vocals and adlips arrangement. It gives a chill vibes and listeners walk away with a warm feeling in their hearts.

In the song, xs tries to salvage the romance as she addresses her fault, seeks forgiveness and asks her partner to not give up the relationship.

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