Career Songwriter

The path to becoming a professional songwriter is never as clean-cut as we’d like it to be. If only there were ads in the classifieds “writer needed for top pop act,” with a phone number and an address to send a resume, it would be more obvious to know where to start. For me, the transition from hobbyist to professional writer was a bit like wandering through the woods and then suddenly stepping out into the clearing. I didn’t know how far down the path I had tread until I found myself already at my destination.

The trouble with success like anything in life, is that it’s not typically a steady upwards curve. There are months or years when even professional songwriters don’t get paid for their craft, being in-between deals or waiting for royalties to trickle in, and so in the most realistic sense, professional is a just a matter of experience and a way of doing business.

So what are some of the activities or elements that transition a hobby songwriter to a professional? I’ll give you my two cents, and you can add your own as you look back into the woods from your own clearing.

The first activity that makes the change is writing. It seems obvious, but it’s amazing how easy it can be to get distracted or just plain too busy, and stop writing regularly to develop our craft. Writing songs can certainly be a gift, and with that gift each of us brings a certain style and inspiration. But like any other skill, it takes dedication to learn to direct our inspiration to consistently achieve the results we want. That’s the important word here, consistency. Professional writers don’t just write one great song every 6 months. They write 10 good ones every 3 months, and if we’re lucky, 2 or 3 of those stand out as great songs.

I can’t stress enough the importance of writing, even when you don’t feel inspired. If you’re going for a publishing deal, for example, the company expects you to continuously put out more material. That’s how you stay relevant and current to the industry. Even as an artist writing for yourself or for others, if the last song you wrote and recorded was 6 months ago, you could be 6 months behind the trend…not to mention everyone you’ve played the song for has begun to forget you’re still around. Fans need to be reminded too. With so much new music coming out that is so accessible, we can’t go into hiding for too long before we’re simply out of mind as well as out of sight.

All the other activities, from networking to performing, getting to know names in the industry, gaining studio and recording experience, co-writing, following leads to meetings with industry gate-keepers, and so on are secondary. Learning how to carry ourselves in a meeting such as how many songs to play and how to accept criticism and compliments are certainly important, but without the activity of writing, we hardly get the chance to practice those skills.

There are hundreds of thousands of people who write songs and fancy themselves songwriters. What makes the difference between a hobbyist and a professional is how aware the write is of his/her own shortcomings and potentials. It’s not how many songs we get recorded or how much money we make (artists as famous for not being recognized and appreciated until they’re dead). It’s how much we enjoy the craft that enables us to survive just about anything along the way.

If you’re writing a few times a week and would like to step up your game in other areas of the business, I encourage you to follow some of the steps I’ve outlined in my previous blogs entitled ‘While You Are Writing.’ If you have specific questions about a crossroads you’ve reached in your career, please feel free to submit your comments in response to this blog. I’d be glad to take a stab at brainstorming with you for your next big career step.

Sincerely,
Andrea Stolpe