Tag Archives: Chris Oglesby

Write Like A Pro

There’s only ONE day left!

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SWP 4

The deadline for submitting a song to Songwriting Pro’s “Play For Publisher” event is TOMORROW (Saturday)!

If you’ve thought about submitting a song (or two or three) for the Play For Publisher event, you have until the end of the day tomorrow (Saturday the 24th) to purchase your ticket and reserve your spot.  Details and a link are at the end of the post.

In the meantime, here’s a encore of a recent blog post on the topic.  Thanks!

God bless,

Brent

I used to think my songs were pretty dang good.  Then I played them for a pro. 

Back when I was in Arkansas, writing songs and dreaming of getting cuts and hits, I thought I was a pretty good songwriter.  After all, my main cowriter, Tim Meitzen, liked our songs, and so did many of the people who came out to Tim’s gigs.  Tim just finished an album, and the studio owner / producer had good things to say about the songs – most of which I cowrote.  So I was feeling pretty good about myself.  (The phrase “as good as the stuff on the radio” might’ve been said once or twice.)

Then I played my songs for a pro.

I knew Danny Tate (a little) from back home.  His dad was the minister of music at my church.  Danny was a pro singer/songwriter who’d spent time in both Nashville and LA.  He’d gotten several cuts, his biggest being “Affair Of The Heart” for Rick Springfield in the ’80’s.  He’d also had a record deal and landed at least one video, “Dreaming'” on VH1 during my college days.  So he was no rookie.

Rick Springfield

I sent him some songs, and he was kind enough to listen.  He was also kind enough to be honest.  He gave me some valuable feedback, basically saying that “there’s a whole ‘nother level of songwriting” in Nashville.  Be told me my stuff was okay, but it didn’t meet professional standards.

Ouch.

By Little Rock, Arkansas, standards, Tim and I were doing strong work.  But by Nashville standards, we had a long way to go.  A later trip to meet Mike Doyle at ASCAP confirmed this.  I left that meeting encouraged but  reminded that the bar was set higher than I was reaching.

Those moments were NOT fun, but they were NECESSARY.

I appreciate Danny and Mike.  Their feedback was sometimes frustrating, but it helped me to reach higher.  Their feedback helped me turn pro.

It’s easy to let “the bar” slip down lower than it should.  It’s easy to start judging your work against what your cowriters or other amateurs are writing.  Having your friends and family like your songs and request them can lower the bar.  But “friends and family” is not where the bar is really set.

If you want cuts and hits, you can’t set the bar at “what mama likes.”

Set The Bar

So… how do you “re-set” the bar?  How do you raise your songwriting standards?  Here are a couple ways.

Go to great songwriter rounds.

Open mic nights don’t count.  I’m talking about hitting the later rounds where the pros play.  Yes, it’s fun to hear their cuts and hits.  But pay special attention to their songs that haven’t gotten cut yet.  You’ll hear songs that blow your mind- and it’ll blow your mind that those songs haven’t been recorded yet.  Those great songs?  That’s your competition.

Get professional feedback.

There are some places that offer song evaluations and coaching, and that’s great.  But I’ll be honest- I used to do a bunch of coaching sessions, and it’s easy to start grading on a curve.  A song may sound pretty good when it’s in the middle of a bunch of beginner coaching sessions.  That same song might sound very different if you’ve been listening to pro demos all day.

Your best bet to get an accurate assessment of your song is to get it in the ears of someone who is actively in the trenches.  Play it for someone who has their own songs (or the songs of their writers) judged by the highest standards on a regular basis.

Having a pro re-set your songwriting bar can be uncomfortable.  But it’s worth it.

If you’ve never played your songs for a pro, I encourage you to do it as soon as possible.  If it’s been a while, you’re due for a tune up.

So, how do you get to one of these pros?  Well, there are a few ways… but let me tell you about an event I have coming up.

In October, I’m hosting the first Songwriting Pro Play For Publisher (“P4P”) event.  This is YOUR opportunity to get YOUR song heard by a successful, active music publisher.  And we’re kicking off our first P4P event with a great guest: Chris Oglesby of BMG Chrysalis!  Chris is a 25-year music biz veteran, and he works every day with hit songwriters like Tony Lane, Brett Beavers, busbee, Hillary Lindsey, and more.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT THIS AWESOME OPPORTUNITY.

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.

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Do Business Like A Pro, P4P

You Might Not Believe This About Music Publishers, But…

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SWP 4

I wanna let you in on a Music Row secret.  No, it’s not Carrie Underwood’s phone number.  It’s a secret that can help your songwriting career get started.  Ready?  Okay, here it is:

Publishers actually WANT to like your songs. (It’s just that most songs aren’t good enough.)

I know it may not seem like it.  Playing your songs for a publisher for the first time can be terrifying.  Maybe you’ve heard horror stories about how they’ve said mean things to songwriters or how they never like anything.  Like… never ever.

Or maybe you’ve had your own song-babies called ugly to your face. Or your emails have gone seemingly ignored.  It can be easy to feel like publishers take some perverse joy in crushing songwriters’ dreams.

But I don’t think that’s really the case.

I think publishers are disappointed when they don’t like your song.  Why?  Here are a few reasons:

1. Great songs and songwriters help publishers keep their jobs.

A publisher earns his or her paycheck by getting songs cut.  And that is HARD.  So the more great songs and songwriters they can find and sign, the more their odds of getting hits increase.  They want your songs to be great so they can keep their jobs.

Pub Home Keep Job

2. Publishers don’t want to hurt your feelings.

Unless the publisher is a sociopath (or you’re an arrogant jerk and have it coming),  he takes no joy in leaving a boot-print on your heart.  Publishers know a ton of songwriters, and they know how much this stuff means to them.  Why would they enjoy hurting you?

3. Bad songs create unpleasant work for the publisher.

If they don’t listen in front of you, the publisher may just not respond if it’s a bad song.  But if you’re sitting across the desk or in a room full of other people, they have to think of something to say.  In a hurry.  And we’ve already established that they don’t want to hurt your feelings.  That means they have to go through verbal acrobatics to be kind but honest without giving you false hope.  That’s stressful.  And NOT fun.

4. Average songs waste a publisher’s time.

As I’ve said, getting songs cut is hard.  And spending part of your day listening to un-cutable songs doesn’t make it any easier.  Finding a great song is 3:00 well spent.  Sitting through anything less than a great song is 3 minutes the publisher will never get back.

Pub Hope Waste Time

5. Publishers are people.  And people like to be liked.

Publishers know the fastest way to your heart is to tell you your song is awesome.  They also know the quickest way to offend you is to say that you made an ugly song-baby.  Publishers are people, too- and they’d rather be on your Christmas card list than your “I’ll-see-you-in-the-parking-lot-later” list.

Sure, some publishers believe in tough love and will be brutally honest.  Others may just be having a bad day and aren’t inclined to like anything on that day.  And most publishers probably expect that songs from unknown songwriters won’t be great, so you must overcome their expectations.  But I don’t see why a bunch of publishers would hear something great, know it’s great, but tell you it’s bad or just ignore it.  Why would a publisher do that?  How does that benefit them?  Sure, it may be great, and they’re just mistaken to think it isn’t… but why purposefully tell you it stinks when it doesn’t?

Yes, a good publisher has a very high standard for songs.  But they WANT to find great songs.

Do YOU have a song that a publisher should hear?  If so, I have an opportunity for you…

I’m hosting the next round of Songwriting Pro’s “Play For A Publisher” soon!  We have these awesome events- with legit hit music publishers- every quarter, and the deadline to submit your song is coming up quickly!  CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS GREAT OPPORTUNITY.

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.

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P4P, Write Like A Pro

Is your songwriting bar set high enough?

16 Comments

SWP 4

I used to think my songs were pretty dang good.  Then I played them for a pro. 

Back when I was in Arkansas, writing songs and dreaming of getting cuts and hits, I thought I was a pretty good songwriter.  After all, my main cowriter, Tim Meitzen, liked our songs, and so did many of the people who came out to Tim’s gigs.  Tim just finished an album, and the studio owner / producer had good things to say about the songs – most of which I cowrote.  So I was feeling pretty good about myself.  (The phrase “as good as the stuff on the radio” might’ve been said once or twice.)

Then I played my songs for a pro.

I knew Danny Tate (a little) from back home.  His dad was the minister of music at my church.  Danny was a pro singer/songwriter who’d spent time in both Nashville and LA.  He’d gotten several cuts, his biggest being “Affair Of The Heart” for Rick Springfield in the ’80’s.  He’d also had a record deal and landed at least one video, “Dreaming'” on VH1 during my college days.  So he was no rookie.

Rick Springfield

I sent him some songs, and he was kind enough to listen.  He was also kind enough to be honest.  He gave me some valuable feedback, basically saying that “there’s a whole ‘nother level of songwriting” in Nashville.  Be told me my stuff was okay, but it didn’t meet professional standards.

Ouch.

By Little Rock, Arkansas, standards, Tim and I were doing strong work.  But by Nashville standards, we had a long way to go.  A later trip to meet Mike Doyle at ASCAP confirmed this.  I left that meeting encouraged but  reminded that the bar was set higher than I was reaching.

Those moments were NOT fun, but they were NECESSARY.

I appreciate Danny and Mike.  Their feedback was sometimes frustrating, but it helped me to reach higher.  Their feedback helped me turn pro.

It’s easy to let “the bar” slip down lower than it should.  It’s easy to start judging your work against what your cowriters or other amateurs are writing.  Having your friends and family like your songs and request them can lower the bar.  But “friends and family” is not where the bar is really set.

If you want cuts and hits, you can’t set the bar at “what mama likes.”

Set The Bar

So… how do you “re-set” the bar?  How do you raise your songwriting standards?  Here are a couple ways.

Go to great songwriter rounds.

Open mic nights don’t count.  I’m talking about hitting the later rounds where the pros play.  Yes, it’s fun to hear their cuts and hits.  But pay special attention to their songs that haven’t gotten cut yet.  You’ll hear songs that blow your mind- and it’ll blow your mind that those songs haven’t been recorded yet.  Those great songs?  That’s your competition.

Get professional feedback.

There are some places that offer song evaluations and coaching, and that’s great.  But I’ll be honest- I used to do a bunch of coaching sessions, and it’s easy to start grading on a curve.  A song may sound pretty good when it’s in the middle of a bunch of beginner coaching sessions.  That same song might sound very different if you’ve been listening to pro demos all day.

Your best bet to get an accurate assessment of your song is to get it in the ears of someone who is actively in the trenches.  Play it for someone who has their own songs (or the songs of their writers) judged by the highest standards on a regular basis.

Having a pro re-set your songwriting bar can be uncomfortable.  But it’s worth it.

If you’ve never played your songs for a pro, I encourage you to do it as soon as possible.  If it’s been a while, you’re due for a tune up.

So, how do you get to one of these pros?  Well, there are a few ways… but let me tell you about an event I have coming up.

I’m hosting the next round of Songwriting Pro’s “Play For A Publisher” soon!  We have these awesome events- with legit hit music publishers- every quarter, and the deadline to submit your song is coming up quickly!  CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS GREAT OPPORTUNITY.

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.

cropped-SWP-2.jpg