August 15, 2017 Hit Songs Deconstructed recently released its Top 10 Hit Songwriting Trend Report, which details the compositional trends of the songs that chart in the Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 during a specific quarter across 28+ categories, including song length, genres and influences, instruments, first chorus occurrence, tempo, key and more.
July 26, 2017 Caught in a daze, I found myself staring at my computer screen at a large list of music titles from my “Indie Chillout” Spotify playlist when I had a keen observation. Song number one, length = 3:21, song two, length = 3:25, song three, length = 3:43, so on and so forth. A similarity among all the track titles, a majority of them ranging roughly from approximately 3 minutes and 15 seconds to 4 minutes and an average song length of all 100 tracks of 3 minutes and 50 seconds (a minimum length of 2:24 and a maximum length of 6:10). It isn’t just happenstance that this is around the average song length time for almost all major genres of music. In fact, there are several reasons why most songs fall within this time range as explained below.
Music Business, Songwriting tagged music business, recording, song, songwiting, timing | 6 References May 26, 2017 By Rorie Kelly, Co-Executive Director of GoGirlsMusic.com
It can be tough to find time to sit down and write songs with all the career-building tasks musicians have these days. On top of that, switching gears is hard and writers’ block is real. What do we do when we’re no longer beginners but we still want to grow, or need to rekindle that love affair with musicmaking? For those who are sick of the usual advice, here are five out-of-the-box ways to hone your songwriting craft.
Advice, Songwriting tagged DIY, Lyrics Writing, Songwriting Tips, songwriter, writing May 8, 2017 There are at least a hundred ways for every singer/songwriter to improve his or her chances of success, but these are the five I already know that need to be addressed without even seeing your show. They are inherent the performance of virtually all aspiring (and sadly many seasoned) singer/songwriters.
Advice, Songwriting tagged Advice, DIY, Songwriting Tips, singer, songwriter, songwriting November 18, 2016 This article originally appeared on Soundfly’s Flypaper
The goal of many a songwriter is to find artists to sing our material. And there are few things more thrilling than when you hear your music come to life. The first time you get to hear an artist’s take on a song you spent hours on, all alone in your writing room, is truly magical. The feeling exists somewhere in between hearing a very personal cover, and the ephemeral act of co-writing or collaborating with someone.
Songwriting tagged DIY, publishing, recording, songwriting October 14, 2016 By Thomas Scherer, EVP US publishing and international writer services at BMG
We’re in the middle of a golden age of collaboration in the music industry. The digital age has removed barriers for artists and writers teaming up to work together, contributing parts, ideas, lyrics and so much more. In the past twelve months, some of the biggest hits in our catalogue - such as DJ Snake’s “Let Me Love You” ft. Justin Bieber and Florida Georgia Line’s “H.O.L.Y.” - have been co-created by amazingly talented writing and production teams. Yet all of this creativity is underpinned by an unsung role that has never been more important within the music industry - the song plugger.
Songwriting tagged Digital, music collaboration, publishing, songwriting October 7, 2016 In this webinar on October 22, 2016 presented by SongwriterLink and Songwriting magazine, Friedemann Findeisen will share the proven formulas and songwriting tools you need to write strong hooks every time.
Songwriting tagged hooks, songwriting, webinar September 14, 2016 Have you ever noticed that the music you love to write, always ends up being the music people hate? Yet, your worst written songs, the songs you said “I can’t believe I wrote this POS” are somehow, magically, the ones everyone loves? What’s up with that?
Songwriting tagged Music, hit, how to be a music success, money, songs, songwriting, william tait | 1 Reference July 15, 2016 The NMPA and other songwriter and music publisher organizations have come out strongly against the recent decision by the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) which dealt a massive blow to America’s songwriters. After a two year review of the consent decrees that govern ASCAP and BMI, career lawyers who were never elected nor confirmed to their positions, led by a lawyer who previously worked with Google, determined that songwriters should have even fewer rights, less control over their intellectual property and be treated more unfairly than they already are being treated. The DOJ ignored the voices of copyright experts, members of Congress and thousands of songwriters and delivered a huge gift to tech companies who already benefit from egregiously low rates.
July 13, 2016 Do you write lyrics that could be considered unintelligible or nonsensical based on the laws of English? If so, you’re certainly not alone. Elvis Presley, who is undoubtedly one of the greatest artists to have ever lived, is famous for spitting lyrics that defied natural language or comprehension, but resonated with millions of fans around the world.
Songwriting tagged Lyrics Writing, elvis presley, singer, songwriting June 7, 2016 The lyrics in a song are much more than just content. Constructing well-timed and well-placed lyrics is an art, which can set apart great songwriters from the average.
Songwriting tagged Creativity, Lyrics Writing, songwriter, songwriting May 4, 2016 When you write for a living, every now and then you will fall into that infuriating slump known as writer’s block. Writer’s block isn’t only for authors or bloggers; musicians can also find themselves lacking words and inspiration.
Inspiration doesn’t always easily fall into your lap, and sometimes you have to seek it or recognize it in different ways. Next time you find yourself lacking the words you’re looking for, try one of these solutions to spark that next song.
March 30, 2016 In creating songs, one of the best things you can do is to keep your songwriting as simple as possible. Keeping it simple does not mean lightweight or nonsensical or adding a lot of fluff, it simply means maintaining clarity so that your listeners don’t have to be doing mental gymnastics to keep up.
Songwriting tagged Creativity, Lyrics Writing, Songwriters, Songwriting Tips, lyrics, songs February 22, 2016 Touting his supreme confidence, Ice Cube once said, “If It was all about me, I’d do a whole lot of pop records, make a whole lot of money.” For Ice Cube, and many other people who share this belief, producing a popular song is a choice. From this perspective, some musicians have decided to make pop music, while others have chosen more alternative routes.
Songwriting tagged Artist, Hit Song Science, pop 