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.

FREE GIFT

Hey, ya’ll! At the bottom of today’s post, I’m going to let you know about some free stuff I’m giving away to all of you great Man vs. Row subscribers. Now, on to today’s post…

Gaining access (and keeping access) to an artist is kind of like rock climbing- you always want to have more than one point of contact with the mountain. It’s a dangerous thing to be hanging by one hand- if that one rock gives way or that hand slips… bye, bye.

Likewise, if your only point of contact with an artist is her producer, what happens if she switches producers? What happens if you have a light point of contact with the artist herself, but she starts letting her A&R person book all her cowrites because she’s too busy out on the road? Bye, bye. You might’ve just fallen off the mountain.

This kind of stuff has happened to me, so I’ve learned the hard way not to rely on only one point of contact with the artist. Nowadays, if I’m targeting an artist or a project, I try to secure multiple points of contact. If I know the A&R person, I try to develop a contact with the producer as well. If I’m writing with an artist, I’ll suggest a 3-way cowrite with one of her other regular cowriters. Bascially, I want to surround the artist. I want to dig in deeper than a tick in a dog’s ear so there’s no way they can scratch or shake me off!

Of course, you want to balance the time you spend surrounding one artist with taking time to develop other points of contact in other artists’ camps. Just like you want to have more than one point of contact with an artist, you want to be in more than one artist’s camp. Think of it as diversifying your portfolio. After all, most new artists aren’t very successful. What happens if the ONE artist you’ve invested all your time in fails? Bye, bye.

God Bless,

Brent

MAN VS. ROW… LIVE!

I’m excited to be speaking on song idea discovery and development at the 2014 Songwriting And Music Business Conference in Nashville, TN! Click the image below to find out more. I’d love to see you there!

FREE GIFT

As a way to say “thank you” to all of you who subscribe to Man vs. Row by email, I’m going to give away some cool stuff in July (2014). If you subscribe to MvR, I’ll send you a free report, “10 Things The Pro Knows.” I’ll also send you the guitar/vocal of “Crickets,” which is the title track of Joe Nichols’ current album. You’ll get to hear the song as Joe heard it when he decided to record it. You’ll also receive the lyric file of the song- and this lyric file includes “Baxter’s Boneyard” – all the lines that DIDN’T make it into the song (see if you agree with our choices). It’s something nobody else has seen, and I think it’s pretty cool. But, again, this gift is only for those who subscribe to Man vs. Row by E-MAIL. These gifts will be sent by email, so if I don’t have your email address, I can’t send it to you. God Bless!

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.

FREE GIFT

Hey, ya’ll! At the bottom of today’s post, I’m going to let you know about some free stuff I’m giving away to all of you great Man vs. Row subscribers. Now, on to today’s post…

You may hear about songwriters trying to get into an artist’s “camp.” What does that mean? Well, it’s not a place to unroll a sleeping bag and sing your songs around a campfire, that’s for sure.

An artist’s camp is made up of the people in the artist’s inner circle- those who have access and influence. For each artist, the mix may be a little different, but an artist’s camp usually includes the artist, producer, A&R point-person, and favorite cowriters. The camp may also include the artist’s publisher or other friends in the music biz.

Each artist has his or her own camp, and it’s often hard to know who really has the artist’s ear. For example, the A&R person for Artist A may be a big influence on what gets cut, but Artist B may not care at all what his A&R person thinks.

Think of it like a dart board. The artist is the bullseye (usually- though sometimes the producer or label head REALLY makes the final decision on what gets cut). The members of the artist’s camp occupy the various concentric circles around the bullseye. The closer to the bullseye, the more influence that person has over the project.

If you’re looking to get into an artist’s camp, it’s good to figure out the layout of his dartboard if possible. And remember, nothing gets you in a camp like GENUINE friendship. If you’re just using the artist, it’ll be really hard to get past the outer edges of the dartboard. Good luck!

God Bless,

Brent

MAN VS. ROW… LIVE!

I’m excited to be speaking on song idea discovery and development at the 2014 Songwriting And Music Business Conference in Nashville, TN! Click the image below to find out more. I’d love to see you there!

FREE GIFT

As a way to say “thank you” to all of you who subscribe to Man vs. Row by email, I’m going to give away some cool stuff in July (2014). If you subscribe to MvR, I’ll send you a free report, “10 Things The Pro Knows.” I’ll also send you the guitar/vocal of “Crickets,” which is the title track of Joe Nichols’ current album. You’ll get to hear the song as Joe heard it when he decided to record it. You’ll also receive the lyric file of the song- and this lyric file includes “Baxter’s Boneyard” – all the lines that DIDN’T make it into the song (see if you agree with our choices). It’s something nobody else has seen, and I think it’s pretty cool. But, again, this gift is only for those who subscribe to Man vs. Row by E-MAIL. These gifts will be sent by email, so if I don’t have your email address, I can’t send it to you. God Bless!

YOU VS…