Tag Archives: Ole Music

Great advice from our September 2018 “Play For A Publisher” event!

May 6, 2019 Brent Baxter Leave a comment

Want to get inside the mind of a hit music publisher? Read on!

We had a great “Play For A Publisher” event in September with John Ozier of Ole’ Music in Nashville. The Songwriting Pro community brought some strong songs, and John brought some great advice. Let’s dive into some of his advice (paraphrased)!

You can never have a bad meeting if you play great songs. John tries not to “cast” his songs too much- he just takes in his best songs.

Want more? Read on below.

_______________________________

To BE a pro, you need to THINK like a pro, and this FREE ebook will help transform your thinking, your songwriting, and your success. Get it today!

Click Here For The Book

_________________________________

Write honesty. Don’t cast your songs so much (thinking “who can cut this? I’m going to write it like I think Artist X will like”) that you end up faking it. There’s no cookie-cutter way of writing a good song. Figure out what makes you different as a songwriter and do more of that.

Go for interesting, hooky phrasing. Phrasing seems to be what’s separating good songs from great songs right now.

Small publishers can’t sign 5 writers who all do the same thing. They want specific skillsets. They can’t be redundant. Build a body of work that the publisher loves. They’ll take work ethic over talent. You can’t control your talent, but you can control your work ethic. It’s 10% talent and 90% hustle.

First lines are important. Hook the listener fast. And if a title looks like a bumper sticker, that’s a good thing.

A&R wants tempo, attitude, and ear candy. Your song needs to fit sonically between the current hit songs and artists. Study radio. Catch the upswing of styles and sonics.

Not every song is for radio. Synch (film/tv) is a growing business for music publishers. Plus, synch licensing can help build an artist’s brand.

Want to play YOUR song for a legit music publisher? Songwriting Pro’s next Play For A Publisher event is coming right up, and our guest is Joe Dan Cornett, Creative Director of Daywind Music Publishing & Billy Blue Publishing! Joe Dan works in the Country, Southern Gospel, Bluegrass and CCM/Worship markets. If YOU have the songs, HE knows what to do with them! Play for a publisher. Get his professional feedback. Make a connection. Overcome your fear.

CLICK HERE TO GET ALL THE DETAILS AND SEND IN YOUR SONG!

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 #1 Single of the Year in Canada & a top 10 in Texas… so far. He also co-hosts a 5-star podcast, “The C.L.I.M.B.” on iTunes, Stitcher & HERE.

P4P

Congrats To Our September 2018 “Play For A Publisher” Winners!

September 18, 2018 Brent Baxter Leave a comment

Congratulations to our newest “Play For Publisher” Top Ten songs and songwriters!

First of all, BIG thanks and congrats to each of you who took a chance, took positive action, and submitted one or more songs to the “Play For Publisher” event with John Ozier of Ole Music. Ya’ll are just plain awesome.

Out of over 200 songs, it took a while to whittle it down to just 10. We have country songs, pop songs, cowrites, solo writes, male songs, female songs, simple recordings and full demos!

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, it doesn’t mean that it isn’t a good song.

So these were picked based on the song, not on the songwriter. As a result… some folks got more than one in the Top 10 and On Hold. Congrats to them for doing good, consistent work.

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 John’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):

“Ain’t That A Beach” by Jonathan Helfand, Lucy LeBlanc, McMellon

“Apple Tree” by Billy Sweeney

“Bulletproof Girl” by Jody Stewart-Regner, Brittany Brant, Selby Copeland

“Chasin’ The Ace” by Lynn Tessari, Mandy McMillan

“Funhouse” by Kris Bradley, Connor Thuotte, Katrina Burgoyne

“Hurt Somebody” by Ethan Bell, Steve Smentek

“Old Oak Tree” by Jenny Leigh, Ryan Sorest, Nick Donley

“Spin” by Marla Rubinstein, Troy Castellano, Jayne Sachs

“Stars In The City” by Cody Coggins, Cheryl Jividen

“Zero Latitude” by Troy Castellano, Donna King, Lisa Whitters

(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 or in the Songwriting Pro Facebook Group!)

Congratulations! John and I look forward to hanging out with you on September 25. (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 or in the Facebook group, too!)

“ON HOLD” songs…

“A Dollar” by Bobby Simpson

“I Am Yours” by Russ Parrish

“Just A Dirt Road” by Marla Rubinstein, Lee Thomas Miller, Fran Beaudet

“Koozie In Your Pocket” by Selby Copeland, Joey Ebach

“Sexy As Hell” by Cody Coggins & Cheryl Jividen

“The Girl I Never Met” by Adam Bahadursingh, Sean Spollen, Jim Logrando

“We Made It” by Selby Copeland, Jeff Roe, Ryan Griffin, Jason Duke

“What Makes Me Want You” by Ava Paige, Patrick Dodge

“Where Cowboys Go To Die” by Blaine Younger, Jonathan Olivares, Ken Matthiessen, Jackson Gulick

“Who Are You Waitin’ For” by Karen Kiley, Brittany Brant

These songs, along with others, were in there battling it out with the top 10, so be encouraged!

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To BE a pro, you need to THINK like a pro, and this FREE ebook will help transform your thinking, your songwriting, and your success. Get it today!

Click Here For The Book

_________________________________

God Bless and Enjoy the Journey,

Brent

P4P, Write Like A Pro

Don’t take “no” from someone who can’t say “yes.”

August 27, 2018 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 the power to tell you, “No, my artist WON’T cut your song.”

If someone who can’t really say “yes” says “no,” all it means is that 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 get to that artist.

Actually, you don’t quit even then. Why? Read on below.

_______________________________

To BE a pro, you need to THINK like a pro, and this FREE ebook will help transform your thinking, your songwriting, and your success. Get it today!

Click Here For The Book _________________________________

Let me tell you a story about a song called “Crickets,” which I wrote with Lisa Shaffer and Bill Whyte. The day we wrote it, we thought it was a great Joe Nichols song. The only trouble was… my publisher disagreed.

They didn’t want to demo it. That was the first “no.”

But you know what? All my publisher could do was refuse to PAY for a demo. They couldn’t stop me from demoing. So my cowriters, Bill and Lisa, went and did a guitar/vocal of the song, anyway. They believed in it.

But then we hit another “no.”

We couldn’t get “Crickets” through Joe’s label, Universal South. I personally pitched the song to the head honcho over there, and he passed. Thankfully, another avenue opened up.

After a while, Joe left Universal South and signed with Red Bow Records. 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 next 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. Let us know your story in the comments- we’d love to hear from you!

Also, if you’re ready to take another swing (or the first swing) with a song you believe in, I have a great opportunity for you.

Songwriting Pro’s next Play For A Publisher event is coming right up, and our guest is John Ozier of Ole’ Music! John has worked closely with several #1 hit songwriters, and he’s been getting songs recorded by major artists. If YOU have the songs, HE knows what to do with them!

CLICK HERE TO GET ALL THE DETAILS AND SEND IN YOUR SONG- THE DEADLINE IS THIS WEEK!

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 #1 in Canada & a top 10 in Texas… so far.

P4P, Write Like A Pro

The music business is a recommendation business.

August 20, 2018 Brent Baxter 3 Comments

The music biz has often been called a relationship business – and it IS. But how you GET those relationships is often a matter of recommendations.

And I want to help you get more of those recommendations.

First off, let me tell you about a few referrals and how they have really affected my songwriting career. Why? It’s not about me or my story. I’m not bragging. I’m sharing because I want to prove to you that recommendations MATTER.

Read on below.

_______________________________

To BE a pro, you need to THINK like a pro, and this FREE ebook will help transform your thinking, your songwriting, and your success. Get it today!

Click Here For The Book

_________________________________

Chad Green, my ASCAP representative at the time, picked up the phone and called Major Bob Music. He recommended that they listen to my songs. I ended up signing my first publishing deal with them. Thanks, Chad.

I used to do some gopher / bookkeeping work for a producer in town named Miles. He recommended I write with a young, unknown Canadian singer/songwriter named Aaron Goodvin. We eventually did, and years later, Aaron helped me land cuts on Canadian artist Drew Gregory and Sony Canada artist, Tristan Horncastle. Aaron himself is currently an artist on Warner Music Canada. Thanks, Miles and Aaron.

Separate recommendations by my cowriters, Lisa Shaffer and Brandon Kinney, led to my third publishing deal – a deal with Writer’s Infinity. Thanks, Lisa & Brandon.

A cowriter, Skip Black, brought me in on a cowrite with singer/songwriter, Benton Blount. (Any time a cowriter brings you in with an artist, it’s a recommendation.) Benton Blount went on to land a spot in the Top 10 of America’s Got Talent Season 10. I’ve had several cowrites and cuts on Benton’s albums so far.

I met radio host and record promoter, Jay Karl, several years ago. He liked my song “Armadillo,” and recommended it to one of his artists, Junior Gordon. Junior evenutally released it as a single in Texas, and “Armadillo” reached the top 10 on the Texas Regional Radio Chart. Thanks, Jay.

Chad Green, at this point a music publisher, recommended I write with an unsigned singer/songwriter from Georgia named Jason Wilkes. Jason has since gone on to sign a publishing deal, have a successful run on NBC’s The Voice, and one of my cowrites with WILKES was just released on his new EP. Thanks (again), Chad.

Again, this is not about bragging or showing off some of my success. This is about proving how recommendations can open doors for you- in some cases, doors you didn’t even know existed.

It’s not enough to JUST have a relationship. Your contact has to do more than just know you or be aware of your existence. They have to have a reason to make a recommendation – either TO you for FOR you. And those reasons usually fall into one of two broad categories.

They want to help themselves.

If a cowriter brings you in to write with an artist because they know you’ll kill it… and you DO kill it… who comes out looking cool? Your cowriter who hooked it up! He or she gets to be the one who “made it all happen.” Plus, he benefits from being part of a better song. He also strengthens his ties with the artist.

If a publisher hooks you up to write with a pro, it’s because she hopes you either already have “the goods” or she can help you develop “the goods.” Why? So she can publish your hits and make money, that’s why!

Your relationships are definitely NOT gonna hook you up if they think it’ll make them look bad to their friends or bosses. Why should they? Even if you’re friends and he wants to help you, what’s the point? If you don’t have the skills or personality to take advantage of the opportunity, you might feel good in the moment, but all you’ll really accomplish is wasting someone’s time and hurting your reputation.

To help someone else.

Sometimes your contact will hook people up or pass along a song with little or no self-interest. Maybe they think you’ll be a great cowriting team or just good friends. Or he knows Artist X needs a hit, and he believes your song is it. So he passes it along.

Your contact may not have any direct financial stake in that recommendation. But he or she will still benefit from the good will and hero status a successful recommendation can bring. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

I’ll be honest, I would LOVE to reach hero-status as part of YOUR songwriting journey. I want to be part of YOUR success story. And you know what? I also want to be part of the success stories of my publisher friends. I want to help you get your best songs heard, and I want to help my publisher friends find great songs.

Which leads leads me to a cool opportunity…

CLICK HERE TO GET ALL THE DETAILS AND SEND IN YOUR SONG!

God Bless and Enjoy the Journey,

Brent

P4P, Write Like A Pro

Are you setting S.M.A.R.T. songwriting goals?

August 12, 2018 Brent Baxter 2 Comments

Do you have songwriting goals, or just songwriting dreams? Your answer matters because goals call us to action while dreams call us to wait.

Just look at the language, and we’ll talk about each.

“I reached my goal.”

“My dream came true.”

We use words like “reached” or “achieved” in association with goals. These are action words, meaning we DID something to achieve our goal.

Dreams “come true” as if it’s something that happens TO you instead of something that YOU do.

You have a much better chance of successfully reaching a goal than you do of having a dream come true.

Why? Read on below.

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To BE a pro, you need to THINK like a pro, and this FREE ebook will help transform your thinking, your songwriting, and your success. Get it today!

Click Here For The Book

_________________________________

Goals are measurable and have a deadline. You know if you’ve reached a goal by the time the deadline has passed. If a goal is vague or has no deadline, it’s just a dream, and you can spend the rest of your life dreaming about “someday.”

Dreams are great. I can’t imagine living without having dreams. I’m a dreamer. But dreams without goals?

Those are just wishes.

Instead of just wishing, you should be setting S.M.A.R.T. goals if you want your best chance to be successful.

S.M.A.R.T. goals are: Specific. Measurable. Actionable. Reasonable. Time-bound.

Specific.

A goal needs to be specific, not vague. For example, “Do more songwriting stuff” is not specific. However, “Finish more songs” is more specific.

Measurable.

Make your goal measurable so you can track your progress and know if and when you reach it. For example, “Finish more songs” is not measurable. “Finish 12 songs” is measurable.

Actionable.

A SMART goal is actionable. This means you have the ability to affect the outcome. You can do something about it. Setting a goal for something you can’t do anything about is like setting a goal for the sun to come up tomorrow or for it not to rain tonight. “I will finish 12 songs” is something you can do something about.

Reasonable.

A goal should be something that requires effort (and is worth the effort), but it shouldn’t be unreasonable. For example, “Finish 12 songs on my lunch break” is just not reasonable. A more reasonable goal might be, “Finish 12 songs over the next 3 months.”

Time-bound.

Your goal should have a deadline. Without one, it’s too easy to keep putting off the work. Without a deadline, it’s easy to tell yourself you’ll get around to it “someday.”

Not only that, without a deadline, how will you know if you’ve actually accomplished your goal? “Finish 12 songs,” could take the rest of your life. “Finish 12 songs in the next 3 months” lets you know in three months if you accomplished your goal. It also gives you a sense of urgency.

Setting SMART goals can take you from a vague non-goal of “Do more songwriting stuff” to the SMART goal of “Finish 12 songs in the next three months.”

Here are some other examples of SMART goals:

“Record 5 new demos this year.”

“Select and join a PRO by the end of August.”

“Book my first cowriting session by the end of the month.”

“Attend one songwriting conference next year.”

“Play one song for a publisher by the end of September.”

When your goals are SMART, you’ll get more done and be more successful. And that’ll make you look REALLY smart.

What do you think? What are YOUR thoughts on goal-setting? What are some of your songwriting goals? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

If one of your goals is to get a song in front of a publisher, I want to help make that happen.

CLICK HERE TO GET ALL THE DETAILS AND SEND IN YOUR SONG!

God Bless and Enjoy the Journey,

Brent

P4P, Write Like A Pro

Great advice from our June 2018 “Play For A Publisher” event!

August 6, 2018 Brent Baxter 1 Comment

Want to get inside the mind of a hit music publisher? Read on!

We had a great “Play For A Publisher” event in June with Tim Hunze of Parallel Music in Nashville. The Songwriting Pro community brought some strong songs, and Tim brought some great advice. Let’s dive into some of his advice!

Publishers are looking for GREAT songs. Bring your best and let him know who you are as a writer. Bring something that represents the real you, not just who you think the publisher wants you to be.

Want more? Read on below.

_______________________________

To BE a pro, you need to THINK like a pro, and this FREE ebook will help transform your thinking, your songwriting, and your success. Get it today!

Click Here For The Book

_________________________________

Even thought it might be an honest line… beware if it makes the singer look like a jerk. Singers tend to prefer songs that make them look good.

Be sure you write to the hook. If you have a great hook but a cliche’ setup or even a non-setup, it’s a missed opportunity.

Aim for the fringes. If an artist usually writes a particular type of song, it’s going to be really hard for you (not writing with the artist) to get a cut on that type of song. Aim for the fringes. Aim for what they don’t write.

A clean guitar/vocal with a loop beats a bad demo. Either go simple demo or do a great full demo. A mediocre or “not great” demo hurts you.

A great place to find new artists is the “New Boots” playlist on Spotify.

Most artists don’t want songs that are super wordy.

A lot of artists like good, positive message songs.

These are just a few of the value-bombs Tim dropped on us that night. If you’d like a get a legit music publisher to give YOU some advice… I have a great opportunity for you.

CLICK HERE TO GET ALL THE DETAILS AND SEND IN YOUR SONG!

God Bless and Enjoy the Journey,

Brent

P4P, Think Like A Pro, Write Like A Pro

Great Advice From Our December “Play For Publisher” Event!

February 2, 2018 Brent Baxter Leave a comment

Here are some great lessons from our December Play For A Publisher Event!

We recently had another great “Play For A Publisher” event. Our guest publisher was John Ozier of Ole’ Music in Nashville, Tennessee. Today, I’d like to share some of the best takeaways from the evening.

Artists and producers are ALWAYS looking for uptempo.

Your song’s first line MUST hook the listener, or they’ll never get to the chorus.

Publishing companies live and die at Top 40 radio.

Find out who’s getting cuts- and work your way into that circle.

Write your truth. It resonates with people. For example, Lori McKenna songs are so real and honest that they jump through the speakers.

Publishers love when you can write a great song by yourself.

Not every song has to change the world. There is space for fun live songs.

He is strategic when looking to add new writers to his company. No writers at Ole are redundant. Each is unique and fills a different niche.

Interesting phrasing and musical hooks are very important.

You HAVE to stay relevant to the times. As much as you can write yourself into this business, you can write yourself out of it.

Radio won’t switch abruptly from one sonic quality to something totally different. There’s a certain sonic common thread that runs through those radio songs.

Find your lane and do it better than anyone else. You’re trying to stand out from among thousands of songwriters.

If you were there or watched the replay, what takeaways did YOU get from the session? Please leave it in the comments!

I want to give another shout-out to all of the writers who joined us for the event. Ya’ll really represented the Songwriting Pro community well!

“Dirty Oar” by Jennifer Stricker, Mark Maxwell

“The Wrong Spirit” by David Micheal, Lauren McLamb

“Mom Life” by Heather Morgan

“Nice Tall Glass” by Marla Rubenstein, Tucker Bouler, Betsy Walter, John Cirillo, Dan Reifsnyder

“Indiana” by Daniel Leathersich, David Micheal

“Vintage” by Dave Quirk, Troy Castellano, Victoria Banks

“Sand” by Todd Dickinson, Jonathan Helfand

“Your Key Still Works” by Jayne Sachs, Joey Ebach

“Be Beautiful” by Donna King

“Beautiful Ever After” by Joe Slyzelia, Donna King, Emily Kroll

If YOU would like to play your song for a legit music publisher, our next Play For A Publisher event is coming right up! Our next guest is Courtney Allen of BMG Nashville. Courtney works closely with hit songwriters Travis Meadows, Wynn Varble, Lucie Silvas, and more. If YOU have the songs, SHE knows what to do with them!

CLICK HERE TO GET ALL THE DETAILS AND SEND IN YOUR SONG!

God Bless and Enjoy the Journey,

Brent

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Congrats To Our December 2017 “Play For A Publisher” Winners!

December 6, 2017 Brent Baxter 2 Comments

Congratulations to our newest “Play For Publisher” Top Ten songs and songwriters!

First of all, BIG thanks to each of you who took a chance, took positive action, and submitted one or more songs to the “Play For Publisher” event with John Ozier of Ole’ Music. Ya’ll are just plain awesome.

Out of over 200 songs, it took a while to whittle it down to just 10. We have country songs, pop songs, cowrites, solo writes, male songs, female songs, full demos and a worktape!

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, it doesn’t mean that it isn’t a good song.

By the way, here’s a little about HOW I pick these songs. Brave, awesome songwriters like you sent in your song or songs. I downloaded them and listened – BEFORE I looked at who the writers are. I picked the Top 10 and On Hold songs, THEN I looked up who wrote them.

So these were picked based on the song, not on the songwriter. As a result… some folks got more than one in the Top 10 and On Hold. Congrats to them for doing good, consistent work.

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.)

Okay, here are the Top Ten (in no particular order):

“Dirty Oar” by Jen Stricker, Mark Maxwell

“Beautiful Ever After” by Joe Slyzelia, Donna King, Emily Kroll

“The Wrong Spirit” by David Micheal, McLamb

“Mom Life” by Heather Evans

“Vintage” by Dave Quirk, Troy Castellano, Victoria Banks

“Nice Tall Glass” by Marla Rubenstein, Tucker Bouler, Betsy Walter, John Cirillo, Dan Reifsnyder

“Indiana” by Daniel Leathersich, David Micheal

“Be Beautiful” by Donna King

“Your Key Still Works” by Jayne Sachs, Joey Ebach

“In The Sand” by Jonathan Helfand, Todd Dickinson

Congratulations! John and I look forward to hanging out with you on December 14. (In the days before the event, I’ll email the winners the instructions about the online meeting.)

“ON HOLD” songs…

“The Highway” by Mckenna Hydrick

“Quitter” by Troy Castellano, Brett Mandel

“Friday Groove” by Donna King, Joe Sly, Emily Kroll

“Where Will I Be” by Marla Rubenstein, C. Ising, Susan Giacona

“My Brother’s Black Chevelle” by Buck Wild & Penelope Lane

“Summer’s Gone” by Frank Renfordt

“Forget You” by Pat Aureli

“What Could Go Right” by Jayne Sachs, Les Bowe

“Better Believe My Eyes” by Peter Lewis, Tony Hume

“I Wish That I Was Him” by Anthony Quails

These songs, along with others, were in there battling it out with the top 10, so be encouraged!

________________________________

To BE a pro, you need to THINK like a pro, and this FREE ebook will help transform your thinking, your songwriting, and your success. Get it today!

Click Here For The Book

_________________________________

God Bless and Enjoy the Journey,

Brent

Do Business Like A Pro, P4P

You can’t have songwriting success without these people!

November 27, 2017 Brent Baxter Leave a comment

You can’t have major success alone. You MUST have help. Songwriting is a team sport. Today, let’s talk about who you might need on YOUR team.

Ready to start building your team – or to add the missing pieces? Read on!

________________________________

To BE a pro, you need to THINK like a pro, and this FREE ebook will help transform your thinking, your songwriting, and your success. Get it today!

Click Here For The Book

_________________________________

Okay, let me start off by saying that not all of these members are necessary for every songwriter at every career stage. Some are only needed when money is being generated from your songs. So don’t get overwhelmed- you don’t have to find all these folks today.

Also, this list is for pro songwriters or those who want to make money. If you just want to write good songs and you’re not worried about big commercial success, pick and choose accordingly.

1. Your Cowriters.

There are very, very few songwriters who turn pro (and stay that way) who are exclusively solo writers. Your cowriters help keep you fresh and break you out of creative ruts and stale habits. They also provide song ideas so you don’t have to come up with all your own ideas.

Cowriters provide creative strengths to compliment your weaknesses (lyrics for your melodies, etc.) They share valuable information (who’s cutting, what they want, who’s about to get a record deal, etc.). They (and their publishers) help pitch your songs. Cowriting also provides political advantages- writing with the artist, the producer, or with someone in a powerful publishing company.

2. Your PRO.

Performing Rights Organizations (PROs) are basically companies who collect and distribute airplay royalties for publishers and songwriters. There are three PROs in the United States- ASCAP, BMI and SESAC. Every other country / territory has only one.

If you’re blessed to get some airplay, you and your song won’t get a dime of airplay money if you and your song aren’t registered with a PRO. That’s the big service they offer. Other benefits include networking and educational opportunities. EVERY money-making pro must have a PRO.

3. Your Recorders.

All the cowriters in the world aren’t gonna do you much good if all your demos / recordings sound terrible. There’s just too much competition and too many quality demos out there for an A&R person to do the work to hear through a bad recording. They just don’t have to. Unless you’re an established hit songwriter with a good track record, they’ll just trash it and move on to a recording that sounds like it was done by a pro.

It’s great if you have the musician and production chops to get good sound on your own. But most songwriters don’t have that, so it needs to be outsourced. Maybe your cowriters can perform this function, or maybe you hire a track guy (or girl) or some studio musicians.

With that being said, a good publisher should be able to hear a good song that isn’t fully demoed. This point is for pitching your song to artists and record labels, not to publishers (who we’ll get to in a moment).

4. Your Administrator.

Somebody better be watching the money. Your administrators are the folks that make sure your songs are registered with a PRO, licensed properly by the record labels, the copyright forms are sent in and that your royalties make it (properly and promptly) from the record labels to the songwriters.

This function is usually done by the publisher, but you can also hire an admin firm for a percentage of what they collect on your behalf. For example, my Major Bob Music catalog is partly administered in-house and partly by The Harry Fox Agency. My personal publishing company, Cowboy Chords Music, outsources my admin to Bluewater Music. They handle my licensing and royalty collections for a percentage of the money they collect.

5. Your Sharpeners.

These are the folks who help you sharpen your skills, both on the artistic and business sides of songwriting. This may include cowriters who inspire and challenge you to do your best, it may include NSAI, Global Songwriters Connection, Songwriting Pro, Frettie, song evaluators, and coaches. It may be your publisher or songplugger. It may be a writer’s rep at a PRO or a publisher who will listen to your songs and give feedback.

The Sharpeners are hugely important for amateurs turning pro and for seasoned pros trying to keep current and to adapt as the commercial market changes. These are the folks who will tell you the truth and challenge you, even when it’s unpleasant.

6. Your Believers.

Who’s going to pick you up when the biz knocks you down? When you’re lost in doubt? You’ll find The Believers in several of the other categories- Cowriters, Publisher, and sometimes the PROS and Sharpeners.

Your Believers may also include folks outside of music- your family and friends. This isn’t just for the aspiring songwriter. We ALL need Believers! But the most important believer will always be one person. Yourself.

7. Your Songpluggers.

If you want cuts, somebody has to be out there actively pitching your songs and getting them heard by folks who can say “yes.” Oftentimes, this is done by a music publisher, who has at least one songplugger on staff. Many pros also pitch their songs themselves. I’m an “all hands on deck” kinda guy, so I like to have cowriters to pitch our songs, too.

People who might plug your songs: you, your publisher, an independent songplugger, your cowriters, your cowriters’ songpluggers. If nobody is plugging your songs, nobody will hear them. If nobody hears your songs, nobody will cut them.

There ya go. A pro songwriter’s team. Like I said earlier, you may not need all these folks right now, depending on where you are in your career. But as you climb that mountain, you’ll add more and more of them.

But what if you don’t have your team put together yet? What if you don’t know any publishers? Let me help.

I’m happy to give you a shot at meeting a legit hit music publisher! I want YOU to join me at Songwriting Pro’s next Play For A Publisher event- and get feedback on YOUR song in person! (No matter where in the world you live.)

If you’re ready to connect with a publisher, I have a path for YOU and YOUR great song to get to a real, legit, successful music publisher, no matter where in the world you live (because it’s all online).

On Thursday, December 14, I’m having the next round of Songwriting Pro’s “Play For A Publisher.” Our guest is John Ozier of ole Music, but the deadline to submit your song is TODAY! That’s right- if you don’t reserve your spot and get your song in TODAY, John won’t hear your song.

DON’T MISS OUT- CLICK HERE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE THIS GREAT OPPORTUNITY!

MEET MUSIC PUBLISHER JOHN OZIER

Ozier’s track record includes placing songs recorded by Garth Brooks, Tim McGraw, Florida Georgia Line, Lee Brice, Randy Houser, Rodney Atkins, Clay Walker, Love & Theft, Ronnie Dunn, Jo Dee Messina, and many more. In 2010, Ozier was responsible for four songs in the Top 15 on the Billboard country charts, including the longest-ever running single, Lee Brice’s “Love Like Crazy,” at 56 weeks. More recently, he was responsible for No. 1s by Rodney Atkins (“Take A Back Road”) and Lee Brice (“A Woman Like You” and “I Drive Your Truck”).

He is also a published songwriter with cuts by Lee Brice, Kelli Pickler, Charlie Worsham, Josh Thompson, Tyler Farr, American Young, Air Supply and others. He co-wrote Lee Brice’s multi-week No. 1 and platinum single, “Hard to Love,” which won a BMI Award in 2013, as well as an NSAI Award for ‘Top 10 Songs I Wish I’d Written.’ Ozier also co-wrote Tyler Farr’s 34-week #1 and Gold Single, “Whiskey In My Water.”

DON’T MISS OUT- CLICK HERE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE THIS GREAT OPPORTUNITY!

God Bless and Enjoy the Journey,

Do Business Like A Pro, P4P

Before You Pitch Your Song, Ask Yourself These 6 Questions!

November 20, 2017 Brent Baxter Leave a comment

You’ve just written your new favorite jam, and you can’t wait to pitch it to every artist and label in town. Congrats! But DON’T pitch that song just yet!

Before you send that email or make that call, you need to ask yourself these 6 questions that can keep you from wasting your time AND your songwriting reputation.

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Let’s say you have the opportunity to pitch to an artist. Maybe Aunt Agnes knows a guy that mows the lawn of the guy that cuts Blake Shelton’s hair. Or maybe you’re a staff writer who knows you shouldn’t leave all the pitching to your plugger. Either way, you want to make the most of your pitches. Here are some questions to ask yourself as you’re going through your songs.

1. Does my song fit the artist’s brand?

Artists are brands. Simply put, if your song is a french fry, don’t bother pitching it to Taco Bell. They don’t DO french fries- it doesn’t fit their brand. Likewise, don’t waste an artist’s time by pitching him a song that doesn’t fit what he does. You’ll look like you just didn’t bother to do your homework. That doesn’t respect the artist’s artistry or their time, and you come off looking bad.

2. Can the artist sing the song?

I was in an A&R pitch meeting at a label, and I pitched a certain song for a certain artist on their roster. The A&R rep said the lyric was right up his alley, but she didn’t think he could sing it. Pass.

My buddy, Anthony Orio, has pitched songs to a publisher before, and the publisher told him, “What guy can sing this melody?” Well, Anthony could. But the point is that not a lot of guys could sing a song that rangy, so it wasn’t as attractive to a publisher as a song they could pitch everywhere.

3. Does the artist already write this type of song?

For example, Keith Urban tends to write his own feel-good mid-and-uptempo songs. Most of his ballads and darker songs, however, tend to be written by other writers- “Raining On Sunday” “You’ll Think Of Me” “Making Memories Of Us” and “Stupid Boy,” for example. Your best bet for getting a Keith Urban cut is probably to bring him something he records but doesn’t typically write himself. The same goes for most artists.

4. Is it a quality recording?

I’ve gotten cuts from demos. I’ve gotten cuts from good guitar/vocals. But unless it’s something I wrote with the artist, I’ve never gotten a cut off a worktape.

There are writers that can pitch a worktape, but they’ve had enough success that the listener expects to hear a great song because of who wrote it. Also, they can probably play it directly for the artist or producer. Depending on how close you are to the project, your song may have to get past an A&R intern, a production assistant, and who knows who else before it can get to someone who can give you the “Big Yes.”

I personally don’t count on every person in that chain to be able to hear through a worktape- especially when it’s sandwiched between great-sounding demos.

5. Is this song a step into the artist’s future?

Right after Brad Paisley hit with “The Fishing Song,” he got blasted with fishing songs from everywhere. Notice how he STILL hasn’t put another one out as a single? I’m sure he didn’t want to get pigeonholed as the fishing guy (although that was an important part of his brand at the time). Besides, he can write a great fishing song on his own- he doesn’t need to pay me for mine when he can make money on his.

Successful artists evolve over time. Plenty of writers will be pitching them their LAST hit. You need to pitch them their NEXT hit.

6. Is this a great song?

I’ve made the mistake of pitching songs that were the right brand, but just “okay.” It’s like kicking a field goal perfectly straight… but five yards short. No points. There are too many really good and great songs out there- why would an artist cut yours? It has to be on-brand AND great. Never, never, never pitch a song that you know isn’t great. It’ll reflect poorly on you as a songwriter. It’ll damage your reputation. And in this business, reputation is huge.

I hope this list is helpful for you. It’s not an exhaustive list- each pitch opportunity comes with it’s own particulars. But I think you’ll be well served to keep these questions in mind.

But what if you don’t have your own pitch contacts? What if you don’t know any artists or producers?

Well, you’re probably going to need a publisher. And I’m happy to give you a shot at meeting one! I want YOU to join me at Songwriting Pro’s next Play For A Publisher event- and get feedback on YOUR song in person! (No matter where you live.)

If you’re ready to connect with a publisher, I have a path for YOU and YOUR great song to get to a real, legit, successful music publisher, no matter where in the world you live.

On Thursday, December 14, I’m having the next round of Songwriting Pro’s “Play For A Publisher.” Our guest is John Ozier of ole Music. John has had his hand in a bunch of hits, but the deadline to submit your song is coming up NEXT MONDAY! DON’T MISS OUT- CLICK HERE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE THIS GREAT OPPORTUNITY.

God Bless and Enjoy the Journey,

Brent