Congratulations to our newest “Play For Publisher” Top Ten songs and songwriters!
First of all, thank you to each of you who took a chance, took positive action, and submitted one or more songs to the “Play For Publisher” event with Tim Hunze of Parallel Music. Ya’ll are just plain awesome.
Out of over 230 songs, it took a while to whittle it down to just 10. We have country songs, pop songs, cowrites & solo-written songs!
There were a lot of worthy songs sent in, and I felt bad about leaving so many out. If your song wasn’t chosen this time doesn’t mean that it isn’t a good song.
You know, one time I turned a song in to my publisher, and they didn’t know what to do with it, so they didn’t want to do anything with it. My cowriters wanted to demo it, and the publisher said they wouldn’t pay for a demo.
The song was called, “Crickets,” and we got it cut by Joe Nichols. It’s the title track to one of his recent albums.
That’s right. The song my publisher wouldn’t even pay to demo got cut anyway. (My cowriters did an out-of-pocket guitar/vocal, and we pitched it ourselves.)
Welcome to Nashville. So while I listened to each and every song and did my best to pick the ones that have the best chance of catching Tim’s ear… I could be wrong. That’s just the way the music biz works. So if your song wasn’t selected, it doesn’t mean you should give up on it.
Okay, here are the Top Ten (in no particular order):
“Surprised” by Kay Williams Mott, Katherine Portanova
“Fences” by Eric Mallon
“The Boy That Once Was Me” by Sam Speirs
“She’s Gonna Leave A Mark” by Jeff Roe, Matt Rogers
“Three-Star Hotel Room” by Curtis Cameron
“Stars In The City” by Cody Coggins, Cheryl Jividen
“All About The Party” by Jonathan Helfand, Conner Sweet
“Hey, LA” by David Michael, Daniel Leathersich
“Picture Frame” by Josh Kiser
“Beat Down” by Troy Werner
(The Songwriting Pro community would LOVE to hear your songs, so if you have a link you’d like to post to your “Top 10” song, please post it in the comments below!)
Congratulations! Tim and I look forward to hanging out with you on June 19. (In the days before the event, I’ll email the winners the instructions about the online meeting.)
Like I said, the 10 songs above aren’t the only good ones I had the pleasure of hearing. There are several more that were put “on hold” for the top 10 songs. This list could be quite a bit longer, but I’d like to spotlight a few of them, too. (Ya’ll feel free to link up your songs in the comments, too!)
“ON HOLD” songs…
“Nice Tall Glass” by Marla Rubenstein, Tucker Bouler, Betsy Walter, John Cirillo, Dan Reifsnyder
“Just An Old Tattoo” by Richard Rende, Jacob Morris
“It’s Goin’ Fast Enough” by Marla Rubinstein, Kelly McGrath, Brad McKinney,
“Stars” by William Underwood
“Furniture” by John Watts
“LA” by Brendan Roberson
“Ammunition” by Tiffany Williams
“Nowhere Bar” by Dan Harrison, Andrew Capra
“I Thank God For Your First” by Jonathan Helfand, Joey Ebach
“Life Behind Bars” by David Micheal, Ross Cooper
These songs, along with others, were in there battling it out with the top 10, so be encouraged!
If you want to become a songwriting pro (in how you think, write songs or do business), then a great place to start is RIGHT HERE. I want to help you on your songwriting journey. I’ve been in the music business for years, and I’m here to help you get the cuts – and avoid the bruises. CLICK HERE TO START HERE.
God Bless and Enjoy the Journey,
Brent
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 top 10 in Texas, and a #1 in Canada… so far.
Hey,
I would like to start receiving news from songwritingpro.com .
I have 40 artist recording credits and a 4-CD series of songs marketed exclusively in Japan. I work with two outstanding studios in Nashville for my pop, R&B, country, and A/C master demos. Norman
Awesome! The beat way to get in my email list is to simply download my free ebook at http://www.giftfrombrent.com
Hi Brent,
Being not one of the fortunate songwriters who landed their song on the winners list of June 2018 “play for a publisher,” were most of the chosen winner songs, country? i.e. being that Nashville is on a mostly country song agenda? Or did it even matter if one’s song was a pop, rock, etc. song?
I guess what I’m trying to say is does it lessen your chance of your song being chosen if your song is other than just country? Please be honest…
P.S.- Will those who didn’t make the list(s) have the opportunity to watch the June 19th publisher critique event to enhance our experience and knowledge for future entries?
Thank you for the opportunity and all that you do for songwriters. Hope to get your response.
Hi, Lisa. Good questions. The top 10 and On Hold songs are a pretty even mix of country and pop. Some could work in either genre. (What ARE genres these days, anyway?) I was just looking for the stuff that most made me listen again- whether a cool country lyric, hooky pop ear candy, whatever.
Thank you Brent for clarifying.
And to your other question, yes. Everyone who signed up for the event or entered a song will have a limited-time access to the video replay of the event. So much great insight and feedback is provided by our publishing guest, and you’ll be able to catch every minute of it. So even if your song isn’t chosen, you still get a lot of value.
Excellent! Will be awaiting your e-mail regarding access to June 19th critique event.
Hi Brent…. It would be a great working tool for us if you could hyperlink the songs so we can learn from these writers. Thanks
Solo-written? What does that mean?
It means one person wrote the song alone. No co-writer.