A&R | Songwriting Pro

So, you finally did it! You have an opportunity to pitch a song to a label or producer for one of their artists. Awesome!

You’re excited, pumping your fists in the air and wondering how many bottles of champagne you can fit on a yacht, when all of a sudden, it hits you…

“Should I play a full demo, a guitar/vocal, or a work tape?”

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Like so many questions in the music biz, there’s no one right answer. Personally, I’ve gotten cuts in a few different ways. “Monday Morning Church” (Alan Jackson) and “Every Head Bowed” (Randy Travis) were pitched with full demos. “Last Night Last” was written with Lady Antebellum, and they demoed it themselves before they cut it. “Crickets” was pitched as a guitar/vocal for Joe Nichols. And “When Your Lips Are So Close” was a cowrite with the artist, Gord Bamford, and cut from the work tape.

So, apparently, your songs don’t HAVE to be demoed to get cut. But, honestly…

A great demo gives your song a better chance to get cut.

“Well, any producer or A&R rep worth anything should be able to hear a great song even if it’s not demoed!” I agree. But it isn’t that simple.

First of all, your song may not even get to the A&R or producer.

What if an intern or low-level A&R person listens to the “other” songs (the ones that don’t come in from already-established writers or publishers), and your song ends up on their desk? Can THAT person hear your hit song through a work tape or simple guitar/vocal? Maybe. Maybe not.

Don’t forget to consider the competition.

You’re not the only songwriter trying to land on an album, ya know. The producer or A&R rep will be listening to hundreds if not thousands of other songs by a bunch of other songwriters – and many of those demos will sound amazing. That’s your competition.

Pros don’t pitch from hissy cassette tapes these days.

If your song doesn’t sound, at the very least, clean and easy to listen to, the producer / A&R will probably immediately assume you’re a newbie. Then your song has to be even better to get out of the hole that your recording put it in.

A poor recording puts your pitch at a disadvantage.

At the end of the day, you want your songs to sound professional and competitive. That may mean full production with a killer demo singer. Or it may mean guitar, some loops, and a good cowriter vocal.

Maybe you want to start demoing a few songs, or maybe you want to take your demos to the next level. If so, I have a cool event coming up.

On Tuesday, February 28, I’m hosting a live, online videoconference with top Nashville demo singer, Matt Dame. If you want to ask your questions and learn from one of the top singers in the game… if you want to learn how to get the best performance possible from a demo singer (or how not to screw up a demo vocal) this is your chance! CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THIS GREAT OPPORTUNITY. Oh, and there are only a few spots available (so we can keep things personal and “face to face,”) so don’t wait- check it out now!

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.

Ever imagine having a music industry pro pull a lyric out of one of your songs (from memory) and quote it back to you? And to tell you they love it? Let me tell you, it feels GREAT. And it opens doors.

In my last post, I revealed how great imagery can give your songs that slight edge that can bring big opportunities [CLICK TO READ]. Today is the example of one of those opportunities…

Brandon Kinney and I wrote a song called “Every Head Bowed,” written from the point of view of a little boy in church. It was a funny song, and we packed it with imagery from both our imagination and memories of growing up in church.

The song went on to get recorded by legendary country artist, Randy Travis, on his “Around The Bend” album on Warner Bros. Records. It was a huge thrill to have a song recorded by an artist of Randy’s stature. Unbelievable. And what really tickled me was the fact that the song contained the word “spork.”

Spork? Yes, spork. Those plastic spoon-fork things at KFC.

The end of the song takes place after church as the family is having lunch at KFC, and the dad tells the singer to “put that spork back down” while the family prays. It’s such an odd, specific word, but it’s exactly what you use there- and it fits the fun vibe of the song.

Here’s where it gets even more fun. I kinda knew some of the A&R folks at Warner Bros., but now I had a cut on one of their artists. That definitely took me up a notch in their eyes. Even more, they LOVED the spork line.

As I’d bump into a couple of the A&R folks, and we’d talk about the song, they’d always mention that line and how it was their favorite line in the song or how it was so funny.

A&R people hear thousands of songs- more than they can remember. But if you can give them an image they love, they’ll remember your song and YOU.

This simple thing gave me a calling card. I was the guy that wrote “the spork song.” It gave the A&R people a little something positive to remember me by. It’s a goofy line, but it no doubt helped me get more pitch meetings there. And the song even helped me and Brandon land a cowrite with Randy Travis himself!

A great image can really set the identity of a song in the mind of a listener- just like it’s another hook or an alternate title. Don’t believe me? How many people called “Something Like That” by Tim McGraw “BBQ stain?” How many people know you’re talking about the Dierks Bentley song “What Was I Thinkin’” when you call it “little white tank top?” The right image, as simple as it might be, can make your whole song memorable. And memorable is valuable!

Another quick story involving “Every Head Bowed.” I was out a couple months ago, and I ran into one of Randy Travis’ band members. I said, “Hey, you’ve probably played one of my songs.” “Which one?” he asked. When I told him it was “Every Head Bowed,” he nudged his wife and said, “Hey, this guy wrote ‘Every Head Bowed”- we love that song!”

She looked confused, like she didn’t remember it. Then he said, “Oh, you know- the Twinkie song!” Then she gave a big smile as he told me they always call it “The Twinkie Song.”

Yep, there’s a line about a Twinkie in that song, too. Again, giving your listener one strong image (or more) can set your song in their memory more than even the title does.

I want to help you put winning imagery into your lyrics. Here’s a quick video that might serve you…

What about you? Do you have any songs that you or your friends call by a different title- one based on an image? Or a particular image that comes to mind when you think of a certain song? Leave a comment!

Since strong imagery is such an important part of professional-level songwriting, I’ve put together a course on imagery. It’s called, “Use Imagery To Supercharge Your Songwriting (Like The Pros Do)” and it’s available now. By the end of the course, you’ll have the basic skills to:

Effectively use both literal and figurative imagery.
Make your story come to life using imagery.
Prove your character’s personality using imagery.
Make your listener connect to your character’s emotions using imagery.
Hook your listener in the song’s first few lines using imagery.
And to begin more songs (more easily) using imagery exercises as the start of your songwriting process.

Click here if you’re ready to “Use Imagery To Supercharge Your Songwriting (Like The Pros Do)” or click on the image below.

God Bless and Enjoy the Journey,

Brent

Songwriting Pro

Tag Archives: A&R

Do Labels And Producers ONLY Want To Hear Fully-Produced Demos?