Brent is a hit songwriter with cuts by Alan Jackson, Randy Travis, Lady Antebellum, Joe Nichols, Gord Bamford, Ray Stevens, and more.  He’s written a top 5 hit in the US and a #1 in Canada… so far.

It’s hard to quit.  Society says, “never quit.”  Maybe you’ve invested so much in whatever it is that you feel it’s too late to quit.  Pride doesn’t want you to move on.  But sometimes, the only way to win is to quit.  Here are 5 things songwriters should quit doing.

1. Toxic relationships.

If you have “friends” or cowriters who habitually belittle your dreams or always point out why something won’t work, it might be time to find new friends and cowriters.  Yes, we need people that love us enough to be honest with us even when it’s unpleasant.  But some people are energy vampires who will only drag you down.  Figure out who’s who, and act accordingly.

2. Whining.

Don’t be somebody else’s toxic relationship.  A negative attitude not only drives away positive people, it blinds you to opportunity.  If you always focus on the closed door, you might miss the open window.

3. Misaligned cowrites.

You want to write hit country songs, but she wants to write niche novelty songs.  Or you both want to write hits, but his songs sound like 1952 and he refuses to update his sound, meet with publishers, rewrite, or pitch his songs.  Those might be fine “hobby writes,” but you should quit thinking they’re “hit writes.”

4. Lazy artists.

An aspiring artist may have a great voice and be a good writer, but if they don’t want it badly enough, it doesn’t matter.  If they don’t take their career seriously, you can’t take their career seriously, either.

5. Demoing & pitching mediocre songs.

Mediocre songs will not change your life.  But they can take your time and money if you demo them.  Then, if you make a habit of pitching them, you’ll be known as a mediocre writer.  (You don’t always know before writing your song if it’ll be mediocre.  That’s fine.  But you should know it’s mediocre before you demo it.)

Part of the advantage of quitting is that it makes room in your life for better things.  Negative relationships can be replaced with inspiring relationships.  Misaligned cowrites can be replaced with properly-aligned cowrites.  Lazy artists can be replaced with serious artists.  The time and money you spend on mediocre songs can be spent finding, writing, and demoing better songs.

Win by quitting.

God Bless,

Brent

PS…

Brent is a hit songwriter with cuts by Alan Jackson, Randy Travis, Lady Antebellum, Joe Nichols, Gord Bamford, Ray Stevens, and more. He’s written a top 5 hit in the US and a #1 in Canada… so far.

I believe there are four cornerstones to professional songwriting success. You can remember them by the acronym, “W.R.A.P.” They are:

1. Writing

This one’s pretty obvious. We’re songwriters, aren’t we? If you’re a writer… write. If you don’t write, there’s nothing to get recorded. And it’s not enough to just write every once in a while. Write hard, write consistently.

2. Recording

It’s not enough to have scratchy worktapes if you want someone else to cut and release your song. You have to get a good recording of your song- one that presents it in a good light. This could be a guitar/vocal, a full demo, or something in between.

3. Accessing

A great demo does you no good if you can’t get it into the hands of someone who can do something with it. Accessing is building relationships and otherwise gaining accesss to singers, publishers, labels, producers, etc.

4. Pitching

You have to ask for the cut, as simple as that. You have to give publishers, artists, etc. the opportunity to say “yes” to your song.

Note that each of these are cornerstones – you won’t have a stable, well-functioning career if you neglect one or more of them. I’m not saying you should spend equal hours on each of these areas, but you should give them the proper amount of time based on your particular situation.

WRAP is also good for helping you focus on what’s important. If an opportunity comes up, compare it to WRAP. If that activity doesn’t fall into one of those categories, it might not be a wise use of your time.

Brent

YOU VS…

Brent is a hit songwriter with cuts by Alan Jackson, Randy Travis, Lady Antebellum, Joe Nichols, Gord Bamford, Ray Stevens, and more.  He’s written a top 5 hit in the US and a #1 in Canada… so far.

Zig Zigler is known for saying, “You can have anything you want out of life as long as you help enough people get what they want out of life.”  Sounds a little counter-intuitive, right?  But it’s true- all of a songwriter’s success is based on helping others get what they want.  Here are a few examples of what people want:

     A great lyricist wants a cowriter with great melodies.

     A great melody writer wants a cowriter with great lyrics.

     An artist who is a new writer wants a cowriter who can bring their thoughts to life without making the artist feel self-conscious.

     An artist wants a hit song.

     Radio wants fun, uptempo songs.

     Radio listeners (largely) want songs that make them feel good.

     Record labels want songs that sell records.

It’s not about getting an artist to help YOU by recording YOUR song that YOU like.  It’s about writing and pitching a song that THE ARTIST has been looking for, that THE ARTIST wants to sing and will help THE ARTIST take their career a step forward.

I don’t think anyone has ever asked me to write or cut one of my songs only to help ME out.  People write with me and cut my songs to help THEMSELVES out.  And, hey, if the result of them getting what they want is that I also get good cowrites and cuts, I’m fine with that.

So I encourage you to ask yourself, “How can I be of maximum service with my songwriting?”  “Is there something in my writing that I can develop into something that people want or need?”

Songwriting is a service business.  Improve your service, and you improve your odds of success.

God Bless,

Brent

YOU VS…