REASONS TO CO-WRITE

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.

It’s more fun. To me, sitting alone in a room writing is like office work. I write 12 verses and can’t decide which ones are best, or even if there are any worth saving. I love collaborating with other creative people and coming up with a song we love. I’ve not discovered a way to get that energy in a room when I’m alone.
 
I have two (or more) people or companies working the song. When I co-write, there are automatically more people interested in getting that song recorded. My co-writers will be pitching it and their publishers will be pitching it if they are published writers. I’ve gotten many cuts from co-writers or their publishers.
 
There are more people to celebrate the success of the song. I’m a big believer in positive thinking. And, when I write, I have the expectation that something good will eventually happen with the song I’m writing. So, I look forward to sharing that success with co-writers. Over the years, I’ve made or received over 100 phone calls saying, “WE GOT A CUT”! I’ve had 16 of those experiences where we said, “WE HAVE A #1 SONG!!” Those are moments I wouldn’t trade for anything! Sharing those successes made them much sweeter than savoring them alone would have.
 
Co-writing helps a song be more universal. Co-writing automatically gives you another perspective on your ideas, on the language in the song, and the telling of the story. That different perspective assures you that you have something that connects with and speaks to at least one other person. That’s a valuable service. Songs written alone can easily be too personal or “inside” for anyone else to relate to it.

Author

Hangi Tavakoli is our in-house established and professional music producer with more than 17 years of experience in songwriting, music production, mix and mastering. He has produced more than 3,000 and written more than 4,800 published songs to-date, including some major hits in international scale.