Nobody can provide you with an exact roadmap on how to get from being an amateur songwriter to being a professional songwriter. But here are five things you must know – and act upon – if you want to go pro. Read on!
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1. Nobody turns pro alone.
You have to build a network. Songs move from hand to hand (or inbox to inbox) and into the right hands based on relationships. These relationships can range anywhere from business acquaintances to best friends. You MUST get to know people, and they must get to know your music. Knowing the “right people” isn’t cheating. It’s a vital part of succeeding as a pro songwriter.
2. “Professional” means your songs earn money.
In order to earn money, your songs have to have value in the market. At the end of the day, some artist wants to record them, and a bunch of fans want to buy them. To become a full-time songwriter or to get and keep a publishing deal, your songs have to earn income. Your job is NOT to write songs. Your job is to write songs that make money.
3. Songwriting is NOT your hobby – it’s your business.
If you treat it like a hobby, that’s all songwriting will ever be for you. Just a hobby. And that’s fine, if that’s your goal. But if you want it to be a business, you have to act like a professional. You have to treat it like a business. The serious songwriters are the ones who get the serious cuts.
4. Good enough isn’t good enough.
To break into the biz, your songs can’t be “just as good as” the worst stuff on records and radio. If an artist wants to cut mediocre songs, they’ll cut THEIR OWN mediocre songs, or their buddy’s or their producer’s. Your song has to compete against everybody else’s BEST songs.
5. You WILL have to sacrifice.
The professional songwriters are the ones who have been willing to sacrifice. They came home from their day jobs and picked up the guitar instead of the tv remote. They spent their Spring Break in Nashville instead of at the beach. They left family to move to Nashville. They waited tables – even though they had a masters degree – just to be where the music is. They don’t just TALK like they want success. They WORK like the want success!
But you don’t have to just take my word for it. If you REALLY want to go pro, you need advice from as many pro songwriters as possible. And I have good news for you.
I’m gonna hook you up with an awesome multi-hit songwriter.
In February, I’m hosting Frettie’s “Know The Row” with hit songwriter, Byron Hill! This is your chance to sit down face-to-face (online) with a real-deal professional songwriter. Since moving to Nashville and signing his first publishing deal in 1978, Byron’s songs have generated more than 700 recordings, and have been released on ninety-one industry certified Gold and Platinum albums and singles! Wow.
You and I BOTH want to learn what Byron has to share.
Here’s the deal. You can join us online from anywhere in the world on Thursday, February 8, 2018 from 7pm-8pm Central time. And this special event is FREE to members of Frettie.com! (But don’t worry- you can still purchase a ticket even if you don’t want to take advantage of all of Frettie’s membership benefits.)
CLICK HERE TO GET ALL THE DETAILS & MEET HIT SONGWRITER BYRON HILL.
Brent Baxter is a hit songwriter with cuts by Alan Jackson, Randy Travis, Lady Antebellum, Joe Nichols, Gord Bamford, Ruthie Collins, Ray Stevens, and more. He’s written a top 5 hit in the US, a #1 in Canada & a top 10 in Texas… so far.
Ouch. Nice job.