Career Songwriter

I recently received an email from a fellow songwriter that raises some excellent questions about the relevance of what we write as artists to the commercial industry of songwriting, and I thought I’d share my response in a blog. The writer had read my book, Popular Lyric Writing: 10 Steps to Effective Storytelling, among other songwriting books, and arrived at an insightful observation regarding the craft and business:

I read your book on songwriting 10 steps to great story writing. I thought it was excellent. I think you were able to illustrate the “soul” of lyrics in a practical way, making it less of a mystery but more concrete.

One dilemma I have is I don’t see a lot of these techniques in hit songs. I mean all the books tell you to “show don’t tell” but in pop songs there isn’t a lot of room for vivid details. I wish I had a dollar for every “I’ll love you forever” song I hear. The lyrics seem to be non pictured but just verbal chit chat.

It’s true that many of the songs we hear on major radio waves are not driven by expert lyrics. That is to say, if the lyric were separated from the track, the melody, the groove, and the artist’s image and marketing campaign, it wouldn’t hit us as particularly memorable. Much of what we hear from well-known acts is primarily ‘telling’ language, thoughts and feelings that don’t mean much apart from the context of the music in which they sit.

Though lyrics are an integral part of songwriting, they certainly don’t always take center stage. The melody is a huge driving factor in popular music, and we can observe how much so by simply looking at the fan base of some of the biggest entertainers of today. As a song is promoted and played over and over again, their simplicity lends to even the most tone-deaf listeners.

But we might ask the question, what if popular songs offered more substance in the lyric – would that weaken their popularity? I think the answer is no, it wouldn’t. Artists like John Mayer still uphold a high level of lyric writing while appealing to the masses. It can be done, and is being done, but by a select few.

Because we don’t see the kind of lyric writing in most popular mainstream music that the songwriting books harp about, I don’t think that points to the conclusion that popular mainstream music wouldn’t benefit from higher craft. What it does point to, is that writing great lyrics to great melodies is an extraordinarily difficult thing to do. Many of us write decent songs each day, songs that capture our listener’s attention and express purposeful messages. But when we really get honest with ourselves, can we say with confidence that we write hit songs every day? Do we write the kind of melodies and lyrics and grooves that make fans want to lose themselves in our world for hours at a time, buy our clothing line, wear our perfume? And in that light, do we have the marketing campaigns behind us that will propel our music to hundreds of thousands of people? Lastly, I think it’s also important to point out that many songs sung by our well-known entertainers are actually written by songwriters who are deeply immersed in the business. They are brought into a project for their ability to work with the artist and turn out songs that will appeal to the fan base the artist is already entertaining. This is not to say that those working on these mainstream projects are robots, but that they too are compelled to work within the confines of the industry machine to a certain extent.

As independent artists of today, we are writing with a distinct difference. Our goal is not to appeal to the industry gatekeepers, but to appeal to our fans. I believe that fans want good music, and want purposeful songs about real moments in life – more than ‘we’ll always be together, always and forever’. Though most of the popular music industry is not giving their audiences more, I don’t believe that it is because the audiences couldn’t handle it. And regardless of what I believe, I have only to look at the songs I’ve written that win over my listeners. Are they generalized lyrics with really catchy melodies appealing to folks who just want to party and have fun, or are they lyrically driven verse/refrain songs that appeal to a more thoughtful, insightful crowd? What is it that draws listeners to our own personal music? When we can pinpoint that, we can understand who our fans are, and therefore understand the need that we innately fill with our voice. Those are the questions that lead to greater expression through better songs, and greater connection with a broader audience. Regardless of what is driving the major music industry, our future depends on our ability to create an experience for our fans.

I love the part of your book where you said the greater the detail, the less time has passed. I think we live moment to moment, so it makes sense songs should too.
But one thing that came to mind is, once you have zeroed in on a particular moment with detail, where do you go from there? Do you string together different moments with each verse, or do you keep defining the same detailed moment throughout?

This is a great question pertaining to the craft of writing with external or ‘showing’ language. When we draw a listener into a specific experience, we’re drawing a picture in which we can evoke certain emotions. Those emotions draw their importance from the scene we’ve set, and so the question is how to craft the song around that scene to make our main message truly believable and powerful. I’d like to show you how to use a few techniques from my book and Commercial Songwriting Techniques, the online www.berkleemusic.com course, to apply this kind of imagery-writing to your own songs. But, that’s another topic – so please allow me to do so in another blog on tools for the craft of songwriting, which I’ll post soon. Thank you for your great questions, and please feel free to comment in response to my thoughts here.

Happy writing,
Andrea

It’s 5 o’clock and you’ve just merged into the flow of freeway traffic after a long days work. You reach for your MP3 player, only to realize you’ve left it on your desk and will somehow have to survive the evening without it. So you flip on the radio hoping to find some musical retreat for the ride home. As the latest hits from the most talked about artists float on the radio waves, you find yourself coming up against the same old questions, “why do artists record bad songs?” and “why does the radio play them?” Those questions are soon followed by thoughts like “if I could only get so-and-so to hear my song, I know she’d love it and put it on her next record.”

As commercially viable songwriters and artists, it behooves us to know the current sounds catching the ears and pocketbooks of millions of music lovers. However, with the changing landscape of the music industry and radio no longer the gate-keeper of success, our view of the business is not limited to the empty-calorie happy meals we’re fed from top-40. We have access to a rich, all-you-can-eat smorgasbord of original music with just the click of a button and a credit card.

With so many avenues to discover new artists and talented songwriters, why then do we still complain about multi-platinum artists releasing aluminum sounds? The answer, I think, varies as widely as the experiences and perspectives of those who give them. For songwriters, the key may revolve somewhere around our ability to weather the industry, network, and hone our craft.

It’s no secret that the music industry is a people business. Who we know plays a great deal into the opportunities that come our way. We may have all the skills and personality necessary to write Beyonce’s next hit, but without access to her circles, we can rationally write off the likelihood of getting on her next record. This may sound unfair, but consider it from a business point of view.

Let’s say you’re eating your Wheaties one morning, and as you stare at the box you come up with a great new idea for their marketing campaign. So you decide to call up the people at General Mills and introduce yourself. When the 1-800 number on the back of the box doesn’t pan out, you try to leave a few messages with the 22-yr.-old temp in the customer service department. But the fact is, without a referral it doesn’t matter how good your ideas are. The creative team has its own agenda and hand-picked staff of brain-stormers who have proven their reliability and worth over years of service.

So how do we get into the circles of writers and artists who are making the music that sells? We network. We go to shows. We attend music festivals and conventions. We become a member of our local songwriting groups. We create and sustain an online presence. We hand out samples of our music. We co-write with anyone who believes in our ideas, and above all, we persist against all odds.

Some of the most successful and most fulfilled writers and artists are those who invest as much in others as they do in themselves. Focusing on advancing our own careers while also benefiting the careers of our peers is a plan structured for success. The bigger the circle of writers and artists we’re involved in, the more likely we are to be discovered. By bringing our art into local circles and creating something notable in our communities, we can start a movement as powerful as the grunge scene of Seattle, the singer-songwriter scene of Atlanta, or the dance scene of Miami. Discounting the significance of the fans and peers around us is as dead as the idea that a major label contract is the only way to reach millions of listeners.

Who we know is such an important aspect of the industry that it even overshadows talent and skill. When we hear a major-label release on the radio, what we’re hearing is networking in action. Imagine for a moment you are J-Lo, Paris, or Christine. Between touring, public appearances, and keeping up your great skin and hair, you’ve got to find time to write and record. On your 5-hour layover in NYC, you sit down to write a melody and some lyrics over a track already laid down by the producer and other names your label has paired you up with. Your first instinct will probably not be, ‘Hey, why don’t we check out some unfamiliar artists online and see if they’d want to fly in to co-write with us?’
No, you’ve got your team of proven hit-makers, and you’d like your next record to reliably find success. Furthermore, you enjoy that you’re able to work with a team who listens to and incorporates your artistic vision into the record. Finally, after breaking even on the first few records of your contract, you’ve realized that there’s money in publishing. Artists stand to gain a significant piece of the pie with their hands in the writing of the record.

The fact of the matter is that many producers and artists strive to write and record their own material rather than lose the writer and publisher share by recording outside material - even if that outside material is right for the record. Even as I wince at that statement I have to admit I’m guilty of the same. As an artist with the desire to both express myself and enjoy the financial rewards, I also prefer to write and record my own material.

Another perspective I’ve had to recognize is that I am an educated listener with educated tastes. My neighbor, much to my constant frustration, is not. While she pulls into her driveway with the latest Britney Spears single pumping out open windows, I’m painfully aware of the chasm that separates us on our musical vistas. What I think is drivel, she bounces to like Christmas morning. What I think is well-crafted and layered with depth, she finds complicated and boring.

Interestingly, my neighbor and I differ on another point. She works in the film industry, and much the way I feel about ‘consumer music’ she feels about ‘consumer film.’ Personally, I can’t get enough of Bruce Willis blowing up a power station while single-handedly saving the world from certain destruction. Set me in front of a serious art film that’s star-studded and a shoe-in for best picture, and I’ll be asleep as fast as you can say Grammy. After all, I don’t always want to think. I just want to be entertained.

Acknowledgment of my own consumerism makes it easier to understand why some people don’t gravitate towards deep lyrics, or jazz for that matter. A chef can’t imagine how fast food still exists with the knowledge of how to prepare simple and tasty meals. An electronics buff can’t understand why anyone would settle for the equivalent of a boom-box when pristine sound is available from Manley Labs. So the question may be, why does the lowest common denominator of what we value still exist? Because someone still buys it.

As musicians, we can easily sink into the sludge of cynicism. After all, how can we compete with the money and power of the commercial industry? Why do we continue to try to improve our craft when in the end, it seems to be all about our ability to market ourselves? Because we’re crafts-people. Because we’re the heartbeat of humanity. Because we have something to say, and without us, music-lovers all over the world would be left with a vacant shell void of expression. I’ve never met a songwriter who didn’t experience moments of defeat, cycles of abundance and drought. My own experience has taught me that unless I create for the pleasure of creating, my art soon loses its soul.

So next time your favorite diva belts out another rendition of ‘Baby Baby, you know I love you’, take heart. With belief in your music, a little talent and lots of persistence, you can get your songs heard. Most importantly, set your sights on forming relationships that last. If you’re a songwriter, write. If you’re an artist, perform. Do what you do as often as you can. In this industry of music, no two writers follow the same path to success. We all need to choose the way that will bring us the kind of lifestyle, relationships, and fulfillment we desire.