Becoming a signed songwriter is a blessing and a curse.
Getting the attention of a publisher and keeping his attention is not so easy.
You are not hearing your "unheard" competition!
In most cases you have to be in town all the time. You have to be able to see that publisher on a regular basis.
If he asks you for a a certain kind of song for a specific artist can you respond in less than 2 weeks? with a slap me around the room song? That fits the criteria. Can you do that 6 times in a row over 6 months? If you can you might have a shot at being a signed writer.
That is only one area. Getting along with the publisher is another one. They may like your songs and yet do not want to do biz with you.
Do you make a good general impression? It does count most of the time.
Being really pro helps a lot.
When I was at MCA and other companies I was getting 2 to 3 hundred songs a week.
You can get lost very fast in just the sheer numbers of songs.
How do you know the songs are what the publisher is looking for.
Showing a body of work is not really the answer, it may help but the publisher has no idea how long it took you to come up with that body of work and if it is so good why dont you have a cut yet?
Well we know part of the anwer to that, but it doesnt tell the whole story.
I signed writers because of their potential.
I signed writers who already had many cuts.
The success rate in both cases was about the same.
Sometimes the potential never bloomed. Sometimes the the writer who had had many cuts , number one songs, never got another cut, just didnt have the songs. Some writers just have so many songs in them. Some know that it takes work .
I think the word "creative" is really just another word meaning "work" after the first blush of creativity spills out of the writer.

Right now, well this past week there was an act that Taxi was looking for songs and just what they wanted was very defined. The act has a following. The listing said something about not being a typical Nashville act and spelled out the kind of song they were looking for. The casting of songs for this act was so off the listing as to be unbelievable.
I have said this for years and Brian just said it. It is not about what you WANT them to record , it is about what THEY want to record. The closer you can come to what is being asked for for any act , Taxi aside but including Taxi , the better your chances are at getting a cut.Sometimes an exception can work. Dont count on being the exception.
Most songs are okay, to just less than that , too be kind.
We can pick apart any song, any hit etc.
It is easy to be critical.
It is a commericial game, if you want to play that game then you have to know how to play the game.
Too be a pro boxer, a pro baseball player a lawyer, a teacher, an artist who paints, what do they all have in common? They go to a place to learn the "trade".
They go where the action is happening.
For a songwriter that means Nashville, New York, L.A. You may not like that.
But it takes a certain committment.
Exceptions do happen, but not many.
Second best is going to those places at least 4 times a year. Then you have tip sheets. And you have an outfit like Taxi.
I do not want to get into a position where Im defending Taxi or promoting Taxi, thats not my job.
But Taxi is a tool that is legit and in the long run pretty cheap. I firmly believe they are far better than any "tip" sheet.
Unless you have access to info right out of the record company. And guess what? Call the record company and ask them who is looking and who the producer is. Learn how to do that, and you will be ahead of 99% of the other songwriters.

Hope that helps at least one person...This Too long, sorry.

Dude..

http://www.songconsultant.com


Last edited by Dude McLean; 08/17/08 12:41 AM.