Songwriters are a sick bunch of folks.
Songwriter pains include:
*I’m not getting cuts.
*I can’t find good cowriters.
*Publishers won’t set me up with cowrites.
*My ASCAP/BMI rep won’t introduce me to publishers or cowriters.
*Publishers won’t give me a meeting.
Songwriters are often tempted to treat each of these conditions as a separate illness, but I think that’s usually a mistake.
These are just symptoms. The disease is having songs that aren’t good enough.
We can treat the symptoms all day long, but until we address the disease itself, your songwriting success will be limited. For example, we might be able to smooze our backsides off and finally talk our way into a cowrite with a pro writer… but so what? He or she will figure out pretty quickly that our songwriting isn’t up to snuff, and we probably won’t get a second cowrite.
But if we write strong songs, it’ll be a lot easier to get a pro to sit down to write. And when we prove our skill again- in the writing room- it’ll be easier to get a second cowrite.
It’s hard to think of a “songwriter symptom” that isn’t dramatically helped or fixed completely by writing better songs.
Want your ASCAP or BMI rep to start introducing you around? Write better songs.
Want better song evaluations? Write better songs.
Want better cowrites? Be a better cowriter yourself- by writing better songs.
Want cuts? Write incredible songs, which lead to more relationships in the biz which lead to more opportunities to write more incredible songs, which put you in a much better position to get cuts.
Treat the illness and the symptoms become a lot less severe or just go away on their own.
God Bless,
Brent
This is brilliant! Pretty sure I say to myself every day “You got to write better…. The best… Songs Durden!” Yep.
Thanks for this.
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True. Writing great songs is the only way for those writers not on the inside to have a chance at getting anywhere. Having said that I have to say that the quality of songs I’m hearing released as singles by the major labels has hit an all time low in Nashville. For every good song there are 4 to 5 bad ones. And the best songs I’ve heard are coming from independent artists like 2 Steel Girls, Kaitlyn Baker and Erica Bryan. Unfortunately you won’t make any money as a songwriter off independent artists.
Excellent post!
I have one basic recommendation. Buy Brent’s Cut/able and every other product he’s selling that you can get your hands on.
I use lessons I’ve learned from Brent in every co-write and it has got me back into the room with fantastic songwriters and artists over and over.