All posts by Brent Baxter

Write Like A Pro

Is it ok to put brand names in my song lyrics?

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Ask Your SWP

Today, I want to tackle a question I got from a Songwriting Pro reader…

QUESTION:

“Is it a good idea to put brand names (Nike, Snapchat, Wal-Mart, Chevy, etc.) in my song lyrics?  Do I need permission?  Can I get in trouble?”

ANSWER:

The short answer is that it’s okay, but it may or may not be a good idea.  Let’s dive in.

Let me start off my saying that I’m NOT a lawyer, and this should not be considered legal advice.  Do your own research.

With that out of the way, let me say that I’ve never heard of needing permission to put brand names in a song.  I’ve turned in several songs with brand names to my publishers, and they have NEVER said anything about it, pro or con.  So between that and actually hearing brand names in songs on the radio, you should be good to go.

Now, if you decide to namedrop brands in your lyrics, I want you to do it wisely.  So here’s some advice:

Endorsement deals and deal breakers.

Most major-label and major indie artists have endorsement deals of some sort.  I don’t worry about them too much when I’m sitting down to write.  However, if you’re writing a song specifically for a particular artist, do your research.

For example, if your target artist has a Chevy endorsement, there’s no point writing and pitching him a song about how great Fords are or how terrible Chevy’s are.  On the flip side, a song with a line like “her love pulls me through the hard times like a Chevy pulls a trailer” might make your song more appealing to the artist- or at least his manager.

Expiration dates.

It’s usually better to use classic brands than trendy ones.  Why?  Because it usually takes a while to get a song cut, and you generally want to avoid references which may sound dated in a year or two.

For example, Jack Daniels is a classic brand that’s been used in songs for decades and will be used for years to come.  It’s a “safe” brand to mention.  Other brands, especially in social media or technology are a lot more risky.  Anybody singing about their iPods, flip phones or Myspace pages these days?  Yeah, I didn’t think so.

Negative isn’t a positive.

It’d try to avoid making a negative statement about a brand.  An artist may not want to risk offending fans of… I don’t know… American Airlines, Toyota, or McDonald’s.  It might be funny to say, “her dress left her more uncovered than a BlueCross BlueShield patient” or that she’s “blowing up my phone like a Samsung battery” – yeah, it may be funny… but it might also scare away an artist.

What about you?  Have you name dropped brands in your songs?  Have you gotten any feedback it?  Leave a comment!

And if YOU have a question you’d like me to address in a future blog post, email me at brent@songwritingpro.com.  (I can’t get to them all, but I’ll answer your question here on the blog if I think it’ll help the Songwriting Pro community.  Oh, and I’ll leave your name out, so you’ll keep your privacy.)

If you want to become a songwriting pro (in how you think, write songs or do business), then a great place to start is RIGHT HERE.  I want to help you on your songwriting journey.  I’ve been in the music business for years, and I’m here to help you get the cuts – and avoid the bruises.  CLICK HERE TO START 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, Write Like A Pro

Wordplay Thursday #182

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Welcome to Wordplay Thursday!

“Songwriting is __________.”

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- and try to get IMAGERY in at least one of your plays!

“Songwriting is  ___________.”

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

“Songwriting is rhyming the truth.”

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!

Wordplay Thursday is a fun way to generate new song ideas- and who doesn’t need more song ideas?  If you’d like an inside look at the techniques I use to find song idea after song idea- ideas that YOU can use, too- I have just thing for you!

CLICK HERE TO FIND GREAT SONG IDEAS!

God Bless and Enjoy the Journey,

Brent

The C.L.I.M.B., Write Like A Pro

The C.L.I.M.B. #60: Faith Requires Hard Work

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What does your career have in common with George Michael’s?  You gotta have faith (faith faith)!

This week on The C.L.I.M.B., Brent & Johnny discuss the importance of faith in your career.  If you don’t BELIEVE you can succeed… you CAN’T!  If you DO believe… you’ll work your backside off!  So give this episode a listen as we give your career a faith-lift.

The C.L.I.M.B. Podcast Episodes 59 is live and ready for download!

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE C.L.I.M.B. ON ITUNES

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE C.L.I.M.B. ON STITCHER (for Android)

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN ON THE C.L.I.M.B. WEBSITE

The C.L.I.M.B. stands for “Creating Leverage In The Music Business,” and that’s the goal of this podcast- to help singers, indie artists and songwriters like YOU to create leverage in the music business.  What is leverage?  It’s “strategic advantage; the power to act effectively.”  We want to help YOU make stuff happen in the music biz.

It’s exciting to see how folks are digging the show- and being helped on their CLIMB.  If YOU like it, we’d really appreciate it if you’d subscribe and leave a rating or review on iTunes.  Positive ratings and reviews help us to climb the iTunes rankings so more people become aware of the show and we can help more singers, songwriters, and indie artists like you make The CLIMB!The CLIMB iTunes review 3

CLICK HERE TO LEAVE AN iTUNES REVIEW

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE C.L.I.M.B. ON ITUNES

If you aren’t on iTunes, you can listen to the show at our website:

TheCLIMBshow.com

If you have an Android phone, you can subscribe to the show on:

Stitcher

Thanks for your time. It means a lot to me, and hopefully it’ll be a lot of help for you!

God Bless and keep C.L.I.M.B.ing,

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.

Think Like A Pro

Songwriters Win When They W.I.N.

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There are so many distractions in a songwriter’s life – both inside and outside of the writing room.  They sneak up on us and steal our best work right out from under us.  But if YOU want to consistently move toward success, you must keep focused on your big W.I.N.

____________________

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

_________________________________

Every day, every hour, every minute, you need to be focused on your W.I.N. Your W.I.N. will help you beat back distraction, drama, and derailment.  Focusing on your W.I.N. will help you keep moving in the direction of your dreams in spite of disappointment.  Because, let’s face it… there WILL be disappointment.

W.I.N. = What’s Important Now?

You win when you W.I.N.

Yeah, I know it sounds simple.  But simple isn’t always easy.  There are so many things that keep us from writing, for example.

How many times do you check email during a cowrite?  That’s not W.I.N.ing.

Whatever MIGHT be waiting in your inbox is probably not more important than the song you’re working on.  Dreaming about your someday #1 party isn’t as important as the song you’re writing now.  Complaining about the music biz isn’t as important as that next song.  Playing your newest demos for your cowriter isn’t as important as the song you’re writing right now.

Sometimes, writing a new song won’t be your W.I.N.

Sometimes, your W.I.N. is to search for an idea worth writing.  And eventually, you’ll need to record your best songs so you can play them for people.  Sometimes, the W.I.N. will be pitching a song – and tracking down who to pitch it to.  Sometimes the W.I.N. will be a songwriting workshop or class so your future songs will be better, faster.

And sometimes your W.I.N. is to shut everything down for the day and be fully present with your family – so you’ll have people who will celebrate your eventual success with you (instead of resenting your songwriting).

Sometimes, the W.I.N. is to put down the guitar and spend time with your Creator, getting yourself in tune so you define success correctly.  “What’s Important Now” might be finding out what’s most important in your life.

“What’s Important Now” will be different at different times, so you’ll want to ask that question several times a day.  As a matter of fact, you might want to grab the image below and keep it where you’ll see it often.  (If you’re like me, you need frequent reminders to do the BEST thing, not just a good thing or the next thing.)

I hope this reminder will help YOU win in your songwriting- and in life.  I’d love to hear from you.  What are some of the things that distract you from your W.I.N.?  How do you stay focused or get back on track?  Leave a comment!

If your W.I.N. is to really dig in to what it means to write commercial, “cut/able” songs, then you should definitely check out my new, expanded and upgraded version of “Cut/able: Lessons In Market Smart Songwriting.” Its five powerful lessons will help you write songs that artists want to sing, radio wants to play, and listeners want to hear! CLICK HERE TO WRITE CUT/ABLE SONGS.

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, Write Like A Pro

Wordplay Thursday #181

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Welcome to Wordplay Thursday!

I was up till midnight last night working on my taxes, so let’s run with that for this week’s writing prompt.  It’s not a fill in the blank this time… more of a brainstorm.  It’s silly, but it’s an exercise.

“Our love is like tax season or taxes.”  or  “Her/His love is like taxes or paying my taxes.”

I’ll give you some examples to get you started:

“It always catches me by surprise.”  “It left me exhausted, angry and glad it was over.”

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!

Wordplay Thursday is a fun way to generate new song ideas- and who doesn’t need more song ideas?  If you’d like an inside look at the techniques I use to find song idea after song idea- ideas that YOU can use, too- I have just thing for you!

CLICK HERE TO FIND GREAT SONG IDEAS!

God Bless and Enjoy the Journey,

Brent

The C.L.I.M.B., Write Like A Pro

The C.L.I.M.B. #59: One Word Can Kill Your Song

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This week on The C.L.I.M.B.: Brent & Johnny discuss how just ONE line in your song can wreck it’s chances for success.  These “one-line cut-killers” are sneaky!  You might already have some of them hiding out in your songs and not even know it.  We’re gonna help you identify them… so you can kill them before they kill your song!

The C.L.I.M.B. Podcast Episodes 59 is live and ready for download!

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE C.L.I.M.B. ON ITUNES

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE C.L.I.M.B. ON STITCHER (for Android)

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN ON THE C.L.I.M.B. WEBSITE

The C.L.I.M.B. stands for “Creating Leverage In The Music Business,” and that’s the goal of this podcast- to help singers, indie artists and songwriters like YOU to create leverage in the music business.  What is leverage?  It’s “strategic advantage; the power to act effectively.”  We want to help YOU make stuff happen in the music biz.

It’s exciting to see how folks are digging the show- and being helped on their CLIMB.  If YOU like it, we’d really appreciate it if you’d subscribe and leave a rating or review on iTunes.  Positive ratings and reviews help us to climb the iTunes rankings so more people become aware of the show and we can help more singers, songwriters, and indie artists like you make The CLIMB!The CLIMB iTunes review 3

CLICK HERE TO LEAVE AN iTUNES REVIEW

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE C.L.I.M.B. ON ITUNES

If you aren’t on iTunes, you can listen to the show at our website:

TheCLIMBshow.com

If you have an Android phone, you can subscribe to the show on:

Stitcher

Thanks for your time. It means a lot to me, and hopefully it’ll be a lot of help for you!

God Bless and keep C.L.I.M.B.ing,

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.

Write Like A Pro

Here’s How ONE Line Can Cause Your Song To Fail

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Wanna know how just ONE LINE in your song can really mess up its chances for success?  Here are a few ways…

____________________

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

_________________________________

As you may know, each line in your song is important.  Every line needs to be “on point.”  Every line needs to point to the central idea, theme, and vibe of your song.  Every line needs to pull its weight.  Each line has a job to do.

And sometimes, one single line can mess up your song’s chance to get recorded or connect with your listener.

And I’m not talking about, “Oh, this line or that line was off-topic or was a little confusing.”  Sure, those are things to be avoided because they DO hurt your song.  But I’m talking about a few other types of lines…

The Cornerstone / Stumbling Block

It’s a mistake to make one line of your song TOO important.  “If the listener misses this one line, they’ll get lost,” is a dangerous way to write.  Don’t hang too much of the weight of your song on one line.  Sadly, you can’t expect too much of the listener’s attention.

Listeners usually won’t give your song their full, undivided attention.

I write EXPECTING that the listener will zone out on at least a line or two while they get/send a text, honk at a bad driver, or get some notification on their phone.  If that text comes during that ONE LINE they have to “get” or they won’t “get” your song… they won’t “get” your song!  What you built to be the cornerstone of your song just became a stumbling block to your listener.

And this doesn’t have to be the line that provides “the big surprise twist ending.”  It can be a line in the first verse that sets up that the singer is a single mom.  Or is in prison.  Or just got his heart broken.  Whatever it is.  Don’t hang too much on one line.  Pepper that information throughout your song.

The Wait-For-It Line

This one usually IS the twist, surprise or otherwise killer line where you think, “if the listener will just listen until we get to THAT line (usually in the 2nd verse or bridge), I’ve got ’em!”  Well, I hate to tell you… they probably won’t stick around.

The danger with a Wait-For-It Line is that you CAN’T make the listener wait for it.  Every line needs to keep the listener’s attention.  You can’t put clichés throughout the lyric, expecting the Wait-For-It line to save your song.  The listener will tune out (literally or figuratively) before the line ever gets there.

Keep the listener’s attention with EVERY line.

The Crossed-That Line

This will really depend on your genre, but your song can be chugging along just fine, making the A&R person bob his head and tap his pencil, when all of a sudden you drop an F-bomb that has to be an F-bomb because it’s the rhyme, or you say something really negative about women, or something else that is a cut-killer. (Again, depending on genre.)

Another example of this is when a happy love song has a line that reveals that the singer is a parent or a grandparent.  Nothing wrong with this, but it limits which artists can sing it.  It might even be very important that the singer BE a parent or grandparent.  But just realize the tradeoffs involved.

Those are a few cut-killing and connection-killing lines.  Do you have a few more that you’d like to add?  Have you put some cut-killing lines in your songs (admit it- we all have).  I’d love to hear from you.  Leave a comment!

If you want YOUR songs to be more “cut/able” (able to be cut) then you should definitely check out my new, expanded and upgraded version of “Cut/able: Lessons In Market Smart Songwriting.” Its five powerful lessons will help you write songs that artists want to sing, radio wants to play, and listeners want to hear! CLICK HERE TO WRITE CUT/ABLE SONGS.

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, Write Like A Pro

Wordplay Thursday #180

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Welcome to Wordplay Thursday!

“Her shoulder’s as cold as __________.”

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- and try to get IMAGERY in at least one of your plays!

“Her shoulder’s as cold as  ___________.”

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

“Her shoulder’s as cold as her side of the bed”

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!

Wordplay Thursday is a fun way to generate new song ideas- and who doesn’t need more song ideas?  If you’d like an inside look at the techniques I use to find song idea after song idea- ideas that YOU can use, too- I have just thing for you!

CLICK HERE TO FIND GREAT SONG IDEAS!

God Bless and Enjoy the Journey,

Brent

The C.L.I.M.B.

The C.L.I.M.B. #58: Managing Expectations

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This week on The C.L.I.M.B.: Brent & Johnny discuss how artists who give HOBBY effort shouldn’t expect PRO results.  Hobby effort will only get you hobby results.  It’s pro effort that gets you pro results!

The C.L.I.M.B. Podcast Episodes 58 is live and ready for download!

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE C.L.I.M.B. ON ITUNES

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE C.L.I.M.B. ON STITCHER (for Android)

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN ON THE C.L.I.M.B. WEBSITE

The C.L.I.M.B. stands for “Creating Leverage In The Music Business,” and that’s the goal of this podcast- to help singers, indie artists and songwriters like YOU to create leverage in the music business.  What is leverage?  It’s “strategic advantage; the power to act effectively.”  We want to help YOU make stuff happen in the music biz.

It’s exciting to see how folks are digging the show- and being helped on their CLIMB.  If YOU like it, we’d really appreciate it if you’d subscribe and leave a rating or review on iTunes.  Positive ratings and reviews help us to climb the iTunes rankings so more people become aware of the show and we can help more singers, songwriters, and indie artists like you make The CLIMB!The CLIMB iTunes review 3

CLICK HERE TO LEAVE AN iTUNES REVIEW

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE C.L.I.M.B. ON ITUNES

If you aren’t on iTunes, you can listen to the show at our website:

TheCLIMBshow.com

If you have an Android phone, you can subscribe to the show on:

Stitcher

Thanks for your time. It means a lot to me, and hopefully it’ll be a lot of help for you!

God Bless and keep C.L.I.M.B.ing,

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.

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Congrats To Our Newest “Play For Publisher” Winners!

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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 Chris Oglesby of BMG.  Ya’ll are just plain awesome.

Out of about 200 songs, it took a while to whittle it down to just 10.  We have a few country songs, some pop, male songs, female songs, and there’s even a second-time submission (good persistance)!

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 his current album.

joe-nichols-crickets

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 Chris’ 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):

“On The Rocks” by Pamela Lack, Dave Quirk, Bobby Earl Ray

“Written In Stone” by Jonathan Helfand, Scott Tonkinson

“Old School” by Jim Logrando, Sean Spollen, Ashley Scire

“Naked” by Lucy LeBlanc, Danny Myrick, Ben Freeman

“Jesus, The Beatles & Me” by Lee Black, Donna King, Gina Boe

“The Melody Is Playing Me” by Jodie Leslie

“My Cinderella” by Alyssa Trahan, Sydney Maxine, Reed Waddle

“Raising Jesus” by Alyssa Trahan, Marty Morgan

“Mirror” by Mikalyn Hay, Murray Dangle, Bobby John

“Grass Stains” by Pat Aureli, Todd Dickinson, Marty Dodson

(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!  Chris and I look forward to hanging out with you on March 27.  (In the days before the event, I’ll email the winners the instructions about the online meeting.  If you didn’t get the email, please let me know!)

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…

“After Dark Smile”  by Bonnie Ryan, J. MacDonald

“Old Fashioned Way” by Scott Voelkerding

“She Gathers Me” by Jonathan Helfand, DuBois

“It Should Be Me” by Johnathan Cochran

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

“Got Her Number” by Blane Mitchell, L. Sekscinski

“The Boy That Once Was Me” by Sam Speirs

“Your Jacket” by Chelsey Stallings

“Issues” by Amir Brandon

“Girl In The Second Row” by Jonathan Helfand, Cece DuBois

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

If you want to become a songwriting pro (in how you think, write songs or do business), then a great place to start is RIGHT HERE.  I want to help you on your songwriting journey.  I’ve been in the music business for years, and I’m here to help you get the cuts – and avoid the bruises.  CLICK HERE TO START 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.

SWP 4