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 Scot Sherrod of Rare Spark Media.  Ya’ll are just plain awesome.

Out of about 250 songs, it took a while to whittle it down to just 10.  We have country, pop & gospel songs, solo writes and co-writes!

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 Scot’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):

“Be Your Bartender” by Brittany Brant, Selby Copeland, Susan Simonson

“Gonna Stay With Me” by Kevan Kirk

“Blocked” by Mikalyn Hay, Chris Graham

“Musical Beds” by Blaine Younger, Emily Kroll, Jonathan Olivares

“Coming Clean” by Brooke McBride

“Behind My Back” by Claire Bunnik, Carrie DeMaeyer

“Whiskey In My Eyes” by Zebb Rogers, Clay M., Mathew P.

“Got That Fire” by Stacy Clearman

“Mind Of It’s Own” by David Hill, Jeffrey East, Shelby Lee Lowe

“Tractor Time” by Dave Quirk, Chris Garner

(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!  Scot and I look forward to hanging out with you on March 28.  (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…

“Boomerang”  by Zebb Rogers, Ceri Usmar, Steve Smentek

“Tattoos And Scars” by Troy Castellano, Andrew Rollins

“Cocktails And Beach Chairs” by Penelope Lane,  Buck Wild

“24/7 365” by Tim Svedlund

“Still Shine” by Colleen Francis, Nigel Wheeler, Ryan Lorensen

“Slow Down And Live” by Mark Skinner, Aaron Clafton

“Something About Me” by Erinn Bates

“Dying Within” by Colin Clyne, Terry McDermott

“Kill Switch” by Sandra DeVault, Keesy Timmer

“Life Is Good” by Jason Street, J. Spears

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

If you want to enter a song in the next round of “Play For A Publisher,” the best way to stay in the loop is to join the Songwriting Pro Insider’s List.  You can do this by downloading my FREE ebook, “Think Like A Pro Songwriter.”  Not only is this ebook full of helpful information, you’ll stay up to date on future opportunities like this one.  Here’s the link:

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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

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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.