Here are some great lessons from our March Play For A Publisher Event!
We recently had another great “Play For A Publisher” event. Our guest publisher was Courtney Allen of BMG Music in Nashville, Tennessee. Today, I’d like to share some of the best takeaways from the evening. These aren’t direct quotes, but you get the idea. _______________________________
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Be cautious with your use of vocal effects. They can be cool, but they can sometimes be distracting.
You don’t want your “sexy” images to be too in-your-face. Sexy is great, but too sexual can be too much for an artist to want to sing. “Sangria” by Blake Shelton is a great example of sexy but not going too far.
Some songs need full demos, and some don’t. Craft your song, then get as much feedback as possible before spending money on it.
When looking to sign a writer, publishers are looking for “pieces of gold” – a great line, interesting perspective, etc. It isn’t just about you walking in the door with a hit song. They’re looking for hit songwriters.
Find great ideas! Ideas have to be really strong in order to cut through all the other songs out there. Go for unique ideas.
A dated-sounding recording hurts your chances of getting a cut.
It’s impressive if you can write a good song all by yourself. That being said, it’s important to be able to cowrite.
It’s important that the demo matches the sentiment of the song.
The song is more important than the track. Make sure the song is killer, not just the track.
Film/tv placements: they always need positive and uplifting songs.
Some producers like having some “space” in the demo so they can “hear” what they’d add for their particular artist. Over-producing can hurt your pitch.
A lot of writers get overly concerned with who’s looking for songs right now. Who cares who’s looking? Write something great!
A play on words has to be true, not just clever.
I hope you found these pearls as helpful as I did! If you were there or watched the replay, what takeaways did YOU get from the session? What are your thoughts on these pieces of advice? Please leave your thoughts 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!
“Tupelo Trippin'” by Todd Dickinson, Kevin Rowe
“Furniture” by John Watts
“I Can’t Blame Her” by Doug Folkins & Keesy Timmer
“What’s It Gonna Hurt” by Janine de Souza & Russell Fogg
“Cake” by Ashley Taylor
“Vintage” by Dave Quirk, Troy Castellano, Victoria Banks
“Up” by Mikalyn Hay, Maddy Rodriquez, Johnny Simmen
“You’re Not Gonna Hurt Me Anymore” by Mary Hartman
“Fireball” by Davis Weir, Gabe Marshall, Justin Lilley, Ronnie Stanley
“Just Friends” by Joe Slyzelia, Donna King
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 guest will be Tim Hunze of Parallel Music. Tim has worked closely with several #1 hit songwriters, and he’s been getting songs recorded by major artists for years. If YOU have the songs, HE 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
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.
