All posts by Brent Baxter

Songwriting Opportunities Come When People Think These Three Things About You

September 21, 2015 Brent Baxter 10 Comments

Songwriting opportunities will come to you more and more as people in the music biz (publishers, artists, producers, other songwriters) think three particular things about you.

The more folks that think these things about you, the more doors are going to open for you, the more inside info you’re going to get, and the more successful you’re likely to become. So what are these three magic beans that can grow your songwriting career? Buckle up, ‘cuz I’m about to drop some serious, deep philosophy on ya. You want people to think…

“I know you.”

“I like you.”

“I trust you.”

There ya go. Are you surprised that these are the keys to the door of opportunity? If so, on behalf of the people of Earth, I welcome you to our planet. I hope you enjoy your visit. While you’re here, I suggest you check out The Grand Canyon and pancakes. If you only have time for one, go for the pancakes.

It’s just simple human nature that people want to work with and help folks they know, like, and trust. Let’s look at each one.

“I know you”

You have to get out there and shake hands- whether in person or digitally. Complete strangers rarely bring good opportunities. (Although there is a promising email in my inbox right now from a prince in Nigeria…) I can’t tell you that a new artist on Sony is looking for your type of song if I don’t know you or what type of music you do. Without someone knowing you, you’ll never get to the next step…

“I like you”

The music biz is rarely like a serious medical condition (I know what you’re thinking- don’t say it) where there’s only one or two doctors in the world who can help. In that case, the doc can be a complete jerk, but you don’t care because he’s the only one who can sew your face back on or whatever. It doesn’t matter if you like him. But that isn’t the case in the music biz where we’re surrounded by talented people. If we’re going to extend a good opportunity, it’s going to be someone we like and can think…

“I trust you”

Let me tell you about my brother-in-law, Matt. I’ve known Matt for over a decade. He’s a great guy. But if I were to get on an airplane and hear his voice come over the intercom saying, “This is your pilot speaking…” I’m getting off the plane! Why? Because I don’t trust him to fly an airplane. He has a lot of skills, but that isn’t one of them. He’s not a good fit for that job. Folks in the biz are less likely to attach their name to you if they don’t trust you for that particular opportunity.

For example, let’s say you’ve had a couple meetings with a publisher. He’s gotten to know you, and he likes you. Awesome. But he doesn’t think your songs are very good. Is he going to set you up on a cowrite with his best hot-streak writer? Probably not. Because he doesn’t trust that you’ll bring the goods. And he doesn’t want Mr. Hot Streak knocking on his door asking why his day got wasted.

See, it takes all three components for the opportunities to really start rolling in. They may start as small opportunities as people get to know you. But if you knock those small opportunities out of the park, people will begin to trust you more often and with bigger opportunities.

More know-like-trust leads to bigger opportunities.

But it all starts with folks getting to know you. So reach out in person at industry events, writers nights, workshops, online groups, etc. Be likable. Then knock their socks off with your songs and professionalism. And enjoy those pancakes.

Knowing the importance of know-like-trust is one way that pro songwriters think. And if you want to become a pro, you need to think like a pro. In my FREE e-book, “THINK LIKE A PRO SONGWRITER,” I not only reveal several of the mindsets which separate the pro songwriter from the amateur, but also…

How to get on a music publisher’s radar
How the pros know who is looking for songs
Six simple ways to make your songs more commercial
And more!

To get your FREE, INSTANT download of “THINK LIKE A PRO SONGWRITER,” just click on the image below, or CLICK 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 and a #1 in Canada… so far.

WordPlay

Wordplay Thursday #110

September 17, 2015 Brent Baxter 10 Comments

Welcome to Wordplay Thursday!

Here’s a writing prompt for you. It’s a simple fill-in-the-blank. You can use one word or several. Feel free to get as crazy, genre-appropriate, or as imaginative as you want. The point is to get the creative juices flowing. And it’s a good thing to dig deeper, so don’t stop at the first idea that hits you. Try coming up with at least five things.

“The visiting team got beat like _____.”

I’ll give you an example to get you started:

“The home team got beat like a Klansman at a Jay Z concert.”

I’d love to hear what you come up with, so please share in the comments. Oh, and please keep your posts below an R-rating. It’s a family show, after all!

And thanks to Linda Keser, Chris, Matt Martoccio, Mark Johnson, Eric Tingstad, Joe Sly, Ken Matthiessen, Michael Klenda, Nick S., Carrie, Will, Carol Katterjohn and everyone else for your great additions to Wordplay Thursday #109 (read it here)! Great job!

Wordplay Thursday is a great way to the get the creative juices flowing and get some songs started. But what about finishing songs? Sometimes that can be more difficult. That’s why I’ve written “Finish Your Song! 20 Ways To Overcome Creative Roadblocks.” Click here to find out how to finish more songs faster and better. Or click on the image below. Thanks!

God Bless,

Brent

Biz, Cowriting

Don’t Neglect Your Songwriting Peer Group

September 14, 2015 Brent Baxter Leave a comment

Starting off, pretty much every songwriter wanting cuts feels like the fastest way to get there is to “write up.”

To “write up” is to write with a songwriter who is at a higher level in his or her career. It might mean writing with a hit songwriter, a published songwriter, or even just someone who’s been at it for more years. Hey, writing up is great if you can make it happen, but it’s not going to suddenly unlock every door on Music Row. And focusing on writing up might actually lead to some big mistakes.

The big danger of focusing on writing up is that you’ll neglect your peer group. Don’t neglect your peer group! Who is your peer group? It’s those songwriters in the same boat as you. It may be that guy in your hometown that has the same dreams and work ethic as you. It might be that unpublished writer you keep running into at songwriter rounds. It might be someone in the same online community who posts songs that are similar to yours.

Sure, maybe none of these folks are pro writers… (yet), but who’s to say where they’ll be in five or ten years? If the raw talent and work ethic are there, maybe all they’re missing is time and the right song or connections. What if you’re supposed to write your first hit TOGETHER?

That’s what happened with “Monday Morning Church.” Neither Erin Enderlin nor I had ever had a major cut before that song. When I wrote that song with her, I WAS writing with a hit songwriter – she just hadn’t written the hit YET. We were supposed to write that hit together!

I’m glad I didn’t neglect our cowriting relationship while I was busy trying to write up. Here are some ways of neglecting your peer group:

1. Holding back your best ideas

What if I had held off on writing “Monday Morning Church” until I could finally get in the room with a “real” hit songwriter? What if I thought my idea was too good for one of the best cowriters I had back then? Well, the song might never have gone top 5, and you might not be reading this blog right now.

Write your best ideas with your best cowriters, whoever they are, even if they aren’t a “pro” yet.

Even if the song doesn’t live up to your hopes, it’ll still probably be better than the average idea you’re tempted to settle for instead. And better songs will lead to better opportunities in the future.

2. Not writing with a good writer just because he/she isn’t a “pro”

Like I said, neither Erin nor I had ever had a cut when we wrote our future top 5 single together. I was so much better off writing with her – an unsigned but talented and serious writer, than I would’ve been just waiting to write with a hit songwriter.

I’m not saying your should write with just anyone with a pulse. I’m saying don’t overlook a serious, talented, hardworking songwriter just because they don’t have a hit or a publishing deal yet.

Knowing that you shouldn’t neglect your peer group is one way that pro songwriters think. And if you want to become a pro, you need to think like a pro. In my FREE e-book, “THINK LIKE A PRO SONGWRITER,” I not only reveal several of the mindsets which separate the pro songwriter from the amateur, but also…

How to get on a music publisher’s radar
How the pros know who is looking for songs
Six simple ways to make your songs more commercial
And more!

To get your FREE, INSTANT download of “THINK LIKE A PRO SONGWRITER,” just click on the image below, or CLICK HERE!

God Bless and Enjoy the Journey,

Brent

WordPlay

Wordplay Thursday #109

September 10, 2015 Brent Baxter 14 Comments

Welcome to Wordplay Thursday!

“His alibi was as _____ as _____.”

I’ll give you an example to get you started:

“His alibi was as flimsy as wet cardboard.”

I’d love to hear what you come up with, so please share in the comments. Oh, and please keep your posts below an R-rating. It’s a family show, after all!

And thanks to Mark Johnson, Theresa, Tommy Kib, Debbie Davidson, Ken Matthiesen, Mike Baker, Nila, Jeff Green, Debbie Convoy, Nick S., Linda Keser, Joe Sly, Kim Kondrashoff, Carol Katterjohn and everyone else for your great additions to Wordplay Thursday #108 (read it here)! Great job!

God Bless,

Brent

Craft

7 Mistakes That Kill Your Song’s Emotional Power

September 8, 2015 Brent Baxter 5 Comments

Are you having a hard time getting your songs to resonate with your listeners emotionally? You can tell they’re hearing you, maybe even giving you their full attention, but you can tell their hearts aren’t in it. Are your songs leaving your listener unmoved and unchanged? Are they crying at your sad songs or getting all dreamy-eyed at your love songs or pumping their fists in the air during your rebel songs? If not, you’re probably making at least one of the following seven mistakes.

But there’s good news- if you can identify these mistakes, you can fix ‘em!

1. Your song has too many characters.

If your song has too many characters, your listener won’t have enough time to get to know them or care about them. You, your girl, your ex, your best friend, her BFF, her ex, her mom… I’m lost. And now I don’t care.

2. Your song has too much story.

Songs can tell amazing stories, but you have to keep them simple enough that the facts don’t crowd out the emotion. Too much story will turn you into a bland reporter, busily relaying facts just so the listener gets from point A to point B. “This happened then that happened. Two years later in a different town, this other thing happened.” Give enough space in your story for the emotion to come through.

3. Your song is too cliche.

If your song is just a regurgitation of the same old stories told with the same old rhymes and cliched phrases, stuck in the same old melody… why would the listener get excited or moved? It’s like telling the same joke with the same punchline with the same delivery to a crowd that’s already heard it a hundred times. Don’t expect a big laugh. It’s just not going to happen.

4. Your song is too “inside.”

It’s great for a song to be very personal to you. But if you write it in a way that only you understand it, your audience will not be moved. You might know what you’re talking about, but if there’s not enough there for a listener to engage with and latch onto, they’ll just be frustrated, lost, or bored. Let the listener in on your inside joke!

5. Your song tells but doesn’t show.

Don’t just tell the listener you’re sad and expect them to be sad. Even if you show them tears in your eyes, don’t expect them to cry any of their own. Paint a picture of what made you so sad, and it’ll give the listener context and maybe something to relate to. And then they may be reaching for their own Kleenexes.

6. Your song’s melody doesn’t support its emotion.

If your song is supposed to be angry or resentful, but your melody, production, etc. is smooth and poppy… I’m not buying it (literally or figuratively). If your singer is singing about regret and heartache, but the melody feels like happy good times, I’m not buying it. It’s like mumbling a half-hearted, “I love you” or yelling “I’m sorry! Will you forgive me!?!?!?!” in an angry tone of voice. Or when a woman says, “nothing’s wrong, I’m FINE, okay?” in a tone of voice that tells you the opposite. You’re sending mixed emotional signals that cancel each other out or confuse the listener.

7. Your song idea is not emotional enough.

Is your song too “head” and not enough “heart?” Is your topic too trivial or just an interesting (but un-emotional) thought? You can write a song about how the square root of 49 is 7. That’s fine. But don’t expect anyone to laugh or cry when they hear it. Unless they REALLY hate math. So… me in 7th grade. Yep, 7th grade me would cry about a square root song, but that’s not a real big market.

If your songs don’t connect emotionally with the listener, the listener won’t connect financially with you. The heart is connected to the wallet.

Knowing simple things like this is how you write stronger songs- and market-smart songs (songs that have a competitive advantage in the market). If you want to learn more about how to write market-smart songs, check out my ebook, “Cut/able: Lessons In Market Smart Songwriting.” Click on the image below or click here to write market-smart songs.

God Bless,
Brent

WordPlay

Wordplay Thursday #108

September 3, 2015 Brent Baxter 17 Comments

Welcome to Wordplay Thursday!

“He’s handsome, but more _____ than _____.”

I’ll give you an example to get you started:

“He’s handsome, but more flaky than mama’s biscuits.”

I’d love to hear what you come up with, so please share in the comments. Oh, and please keep your posts below an R-rating. It’s a family show, after all!

And thanks to Ken Matthiessen, Carol Katterjohn, Jillian Silcox, Linda Keser, Nick, Barney Coulter, Ethan Fogus, Lisa Dewey, Elaine Anderson, Joe Sly and everyone else for your great additions to Wordplay Thursday #107 (read it here)! Great job!

God Bless,

Brent

Craft

Let Your Title Write Your Song!

August 31, 2015 Brent Baxter 4 Comments

If you listen closely and patiently, your title will often tell you what your song should be about. This is important because you want your song to be as strong as it can be. And to be strong, everything in the song needs to pull in the same direction.

Everything in your song needs to point to the core idea of the song, which is usually expressed in the title.

If you don’t listen to your title closely enough, you might try to make it something it’s not meant to be. I can tell you from personal experience that when I try to make a title into the wrong type of song, it’s a bear to write.

Just as a house divided against itself cannot stand, a song divided against itself cannot stand out (not in a good way, anyway).

One time, I had a title that made me chuckle when I first thought of it. I decided to write it as a Lee Ann Womack kind of traditional sad ballad. When I mentioned the title and idea to my cowriter, she chuckled, too. But writing it was like pulling teeth.

It was just slow and painful. We had a verse “finished” when we decided that something just wasn’t working. Then we realized, “Duh! The title made us smile- why are we trying to turn a title that makes us smile into a song that makes us cry?”

We decided to try writing it as a fun, attitude thing instead, and everything just fell into place. Once we stopped working against the title and started working with it, the writing process got a lot more fun. And the song got a lot better, too!

Years ago, I found a phrase in a poem that my mom wrote. The phrase was, “empty as a Monday morning church.” I thought “Monday Morning Church” would be a great title, but what was it about?

I started listening. “Empty” evokes sadness or loneliness. “Church” brings in the spiritual- something serious, something heavy. Those elements led me to write a sad country ballad about a grieving man who was having a crisis of faith following his wife’s death.

That whole song came from listening to my title. It went on to become my first hit- a top 5 single for Alan Jackson.

Consider “Must Be Doing Something Right,” written by Jason Matthews and Marty Dodson and recorded by Billy Currington. “Right” is good and positive, which lends itself to being a happy/positive song.

“Something” suggests that the singer doesn’t know exactly what it is he’s doing right to get the positive results he’s getting.

The thought of “I must be doing something right, even though I don’t know exactly what it is,” is all over that song. It leads to the thought that a woman is a mystery- different things please her at different times, etc.

“Don’t know what I did to earn a love like this” is often a throwaway / filler line or thought in a generic love song, but not here. In this song, that line has energy because it supports the title and theme of the song. Good writing.

God Bless,
Brent

WordPlay

Wordplay Thursday #107

August 27, 2015 Brent Baxter 10 Comments

Welcome to Wordplay Thursday!

“That kid has more energy than _____.”

I’ll give you an example to get you started:

“That kid has more energy than a jackrabbit on crack.”

I’d love to hear what you come up with, so please share in the comments. Oh, and please keep your posts below an R-rating. It’s a family show, after all!

And thanks to Matt Martoccio, Tommy Kib, Ken Matthiessen, Theresa, Carol Katterjohn, Janet Goodman, Ethan Fogus, Barney Coulter, Linda Keser, Tiffany Carlen, Nick S, Rick Hickman, Chris H, Jillian Silcox and everyone else for your great additions to Wordplay Thursday #106 (read it here)! Great job!

God Bless,

Brent

Songplugging

Never Take “No” From Someone Who Can’t Say “Yes”

August 24, 2015 Brent Baxter 1 Comment

If an A&R rep, manager, or whoever doesn’t have the authority to tell you, “Yes, my artist WILL cut your song,” then that person doesn’t have to power to tell you, “No, my artist WON’T cut your song.”

If someone who can’t really say “yes” says “no,” it just means you need to find a different person to pitch that song to. Knock on a different door. Or maybe you need to knock on that same person’s door again after some time passes (you never know how the direction of an album- or how someone’s mood- might change).

The point is, don’t quit on a song you believe is right for that artist. Keep going until you’ve exhausted every avenue to that artist.

Actually, you don’t quit even then. You wait for a new avenue to open up.

That’s what happened with “Crickets,” which I wrote with Lisa Shaffer and Bill Whyte. We thought it was a good Joe Nichols song, but we couldn’t get it through his label, Universal South. After a while, he left them and signed with Red Bow.

We pitched it to the new label, and they loved it. Joe finally heard it, and he cut it as the title track to his current album.

If you believe in a song, keep pitching it. And never take “no” from someone who can’t say “yes.”

Have you had that experience where you’ve had success after refusing to take “no” from someone who can’t say “yes?” It doesn’t have to just be music: “She’ll never go out with you.” “You’ll never make the team.” Etc. I’d love to hear from you!

Not taking “no” from someone who can’t say “yes” is how pro songwriters think. And if you want to become a pro, you need to think like a pro. In my FREE e-book, “THINK LIKE A PRO SONGWRITER,” I not only reveal several of the mindsets which separate the pro songwriter from the amateur, but also…

How to get on a music publisher’s radar
How the pros know who is looking for songs
Six simple ways to make your songs more commercial
And more!

To get your FREE, INSTANT download of “THINK LIKE A PRO SONGWRITER,” just click on the image below, or CLICK HERE!

God Bless and Enjoy the Journey,

Brent

WordPlay

Wordplay Thursday #106

August 20, 2015 Brent Baxter 15 Comments

Welcome to Wordplay Thursday!

“He was as disappointed as _____.”

I’ll give you an example to get you started:

“He was as disappointed as a mosquito in a mannequin factory.”

I’d love to hear what you come up with, so please share in the comments. Oh, and please keep your posts below an R-rating. It’s a family show, after all!

And thanks to Ken Matthiessen, Tommy Kib, Theresa, Linda Keser, Buddy Lewis, Jaredith Mize, Nick S., Barney Coulter, Chris, Kim Kondrashoff, Mae Young, Carol Katterjohn, Joe Slyzelia and everyone else for your great additions to Wordplay Thursday #105 (read it here)! Great job!

God Bless,

Brent

Songwriting Pro

All posts by Brent Baxter

Songwriting Opportunities Come When People Think These Three Things About You

Songwriting opportunities will come to you more and more as people in the music biz (publishers, artists, producers, other songwriters) think three particular things about you.

“I know you.”

“I like you.”

“I trust you.”

“I know you”

“I like you”

“I trust you”

More know-like-trust leads to bigger opportunities.

Wordplay Thursday #110

Don’t Neglect Your Songwriting Peer Group

Starting off, pretty much every songwriter wanting cuts feels like the fastest way to get there is to “write up.”

1. Holding back your best ideas

2. Not writing with a good writer just because he/she isn’t a “pro”

Wordplay Thursday #109

7 Mistakes That Kill Your Song’s Emotional Power

1. Your song has too many characters.

2. Your song has too much story.

3. Your song is too cliche.

4. Your song is too “inside.”

5. Your song tells but doesn’t show.

6. Your song’s melody doesn’t support its emotion.

7. Your song idea is not emotional enough.

Wordplay Thursday #108

Let Your Title Write Your Song!

Everything in your song needs to point to the core idea of the song, which is usually expressed in the title.

Just as a house divided against itself cannot stand, a song divided against itself cannot stand out (not in a good way, anyway).

That whole song came from listening to my title. It went on to become my first hit- a top 5 single for Alan Jackson.

Wordplay Thursday #107

Never Take “No” From Someone Who Can’t Say “Yes”

If an A&R rep, manager, or whoever doesn’t have the authority to tell you, “Yes, my artist WILL cut your song,” then that person doesn’t have to power to tell you, “No, my artist WON’T cut your song.”

The point is, don’t quit on a song you believe is right for that artist. Keep going until you’ve exhausted every avenue to that artist.

If you believe in a song, keep pitching it. And never take “no” from someone who can’t say “yes.”

Wordplay Thursday #106

Helping songwriters turn pro.