Breaking through as a Music Row songwriter.
Attending a couple of networking luncheons this week around the Nashville area, I was reminded of how many aspiring songwriters feel completely lost and locked out of the industry.
A Rutherford County banker approached me with that proverbial question, "How do I get my songs heard?" He has the home pro-tools studio and is applying his creative inspirations and whatever time and energy he has outside of his day-gig by expressing himself with his music. A female bank exec said that her husband was a shy, reclusive creative type who was struggling to find ways to expose his words and music to Music City pros. A young writer moving here from Texas is looking for some real connections.
In every case, I asked if they were a member of NSAI. Every response was negative. There is an obvious place to start. NSAI is the most potent advocacy organization on behalf of songwriters and provides regular opportunities for its membership to have their songs heard by industry pros.
But, what it boils down to is that most burgeoning songwriters are concentrating on the wrong things, seeking the least-likely paths to success. They're looking for publishers to hear and sign their songs. They want their songs pitched by song-pluggers, when they should be concentrating on making friends with young artists and producers, developing long-term relationships.
Over the last four decades, I've been blessed to have more than 200 of my songs recorded and released by both major and independent artists. Heart, Cheap Trick, Beach Boys, Tim McGraw, Indigo Girls, Vanilla Fudge, etc. I've also placed songs in about 15 feature films. I can almost count on my fingers and toes the number of those cuts came from a "pitch."
Over 90% of my success has come from relationships. In many cases, I wrote the song with the artist or the producer. Sometimes the production company was also the publisher. In other words, someone close to the project, a decision maker had something to gain by preferring my song over the hundreds of other comparable tunes submitted for that slot.
In 2001, a song of mine that had been gathering dust for well over a year caught the attention of Toby Keith. My List was one of maybe a half-dozen songs that were in my co-writer Tim James' "schedule A" when Tim signed to Toby's brand new publishing venture, Paddock Music. (BTW, schedule A songs, for those who don't know, are as-yet unpublished titles that a publisher signs at the commencement of a new songwriting contract). Tim James signing to Toby Keith's new company spelled a massive stroke of good fortune for me.
Being a smart businessman, Toby knew that by recording a Paddock copyright, he would prime the pump for the new Paddock venture. So, Toby recorded My List for his Pull My Chain CD. Then, his "people" gave me a jingle, "requesting" that I give them part of my ownership share of the copyright. Not having been born yesterday, I knew that 75% of a Toby Keith cut was worth a whole lot more than 100% of an unrecorded, unreleased song. So I negotiated a deal that gave Paddock 50% of my publisher's share - but only with the guarantee that the song would actually be released on the forthcoming album. The day after I signed the paperwork, My List was available as a free download as one of the three chosen singles from the DreamWorks album.
In the mid-'90s, when Mark D. Sanders broke big time as one of the elite Music Row tunesmiths, a journalist asked Mark what he was doing differently that his songs were achieving such a high level of success.
"Nothing different," said Sanders (I'm paraphrasing here). "It's just that my friends are now in a position to say yes." In other words, the co-writers, demo singers, young entrepreneurs with whom Mark had developed relationships over the last five or six years (or more) were now the hit writers, the recording artists, managers and executives that could make the difference between getting a cut or being locked out in the cold.
So relationships can be the most critical factor to your ultimate success. But, while you're building those relationships, it's also of immense importance to apply yourself to improving your craft - so that you'll be ready to play in the big leagues when you're finally drafted onto the team.
I encourage every aspiring writer I meet to seek out professional, objective, constructive feedback (from somebody other than Mom or a supportive spouse). You need to hear what's working and what might need improvement in your songs from people who are not afraid to tell it to you straight.
But, if you're that banker in Rutherford County or that new kid in town from Texas, where do you go to get that kind of feedback? Well, you could attend Songposium at NSAI or Jason Blume's monthly workshops at BMI. And there are some writer-relations people at the performing rights orgs who make themselves accessible. There are even some independent publishers and pluggers who will meet with you every now and then. All of those can be helpful ways to get perspective on your work.
But, each of these suggestions is kind of a pot-shot, an inconsistent, sporadic source of the kind of feedback that is so essential to your development as a writer.
There are some great online song-craft coaching programs that many developing writers are finding invaluable to improving their chops - and to making their songs more competitive. Take a look at SongU, Jasonblume.com, Writesongs.com, and MakinStuffUp.net for starters. After all, you are competing for attention with writers who have huge name recognition. Supposing you write a song that is just as good as a Jeff Steele, Rivers Rutherford or Craig Wiseman song. Which writer is liable to get the cut? It's a no-brainer, right.
So, while you're cultivating those critical relationships (the friendships that will one-day pay off big time in your eventual success), you need to be writing songs that stand out; songs that are more unique, more crafty, even more special than the songs being cranked out by that handful of writers who, at any given time, seem to be getting 90% of the cuts.
To sum up - get out there, go to writer's nights, meet the talented young artists bubbling under on the Music Row scene. Write songs with those people. Find the writers who've just signed or who are about to sign their first publishing deal. Write with them (maybe you'll get a song on their schedule A). Keep your eyes and ears peeled for demo singers that knock your socks off. Stay in touch and offer to write the songs with them that might launch their performing careers. One or more of these relationships may be the ticket into that exclusive, gated community called Hit City.
Join NSAI. Attend events, network, see and be seen on the Row. Be cheerful and joyous and fun to be around. People want to work with likable people. That's the simple truth.
Get professional, constructive feedback on your songs. And re-write, re-write, re-write!!!
Onward and Upward,
Rand Bishop
Grammy-nominated songwriter/producer/author with over 200 cuts
A Rutherford County banker approached me with that proverbial question, "How do I get my songs heard?" He has the home pro-tools studio and is applying his creative inspirations and whatever time and energy he has outside of his day-gig by expressing himself with his music. A female bank exec said that her husband was a shy, reclusive creative type who was struggling to find ways to expose his words and music to Music City pros. A young writer moving here from Texas is looking for some real connections.
In every case, I asked if they were a member of NSAI. Every response was negative. There is an obvious place to start. NSAI is the most potent advocacy organization on behalf of songwriters and provides regular opportunities for its membership to have their songs heard by industry pros.
But, what it boils down to is that most burgeoning songwriters are concentrating on the wrong things, seeking the least-likely paths to success. They're looking for publishers to hear and sign their songs. They want their songs pitched by song-pluggers, when they should be concentrating on making friends with young artists and producers, developing long-term relationships.
Over the last four decades, I've been blessed to have more than 200 of my songs recorded and released by both major and independent artists. Heart, Cheap Trick, Beach Boys, Tim McGraw, Indigo Girls, Vanilla Fudge, etc. I've also placed songs in about 15 feature films. I can almost count on my fingers and toes the number of those cuts came from a "pitch."
Over 90% of my success has come from relationships. In many cases, I wrote the song with the artist or the producer. Sometimes the production company was also the publisher. In other words, someone close to the project, a decision maker had something to gain by preferring my song over the hundreds of other comparable tunes submitted for that slot.
In 2001, a song of mine that had been gathering dust for well over a year caught the attention of Toby Keith. My List was one of maybe a half-dozen songs that were in my co-writer Tim James' "schedule A" when Tim signed to Toby's brand new publishing venture, Paddock Music. (BTW, schedule A songs, for those who don't know, are as-yet unpublished titles that a publisher signs at the commencement of a new songwriting contract). Tim James signing to Toby Keith's new company spelled a massive stroke of good fortune for me.
Being a smart businessman, Toby knew that by recording a Paddock copyright, he would prime the pump for the new Paddock venture. So, Toby recorded My List for his Pull My Chain CD. Then, his "people" gave me a jingle, "requesting" that I give them part of my ownership share of the copyright. Not having been born yesterday, I knew that 75% of a Toby Keith cut was worth a whole lot more than 100% of an unrecorded, unreleased song. So I negotiated a deal that gave Paddock 50% of my publisher's share - but only with the guarantee that the song would actually be released on the forthcoming album. The day after I signed the paperwork, My List was available as a free download as one of the three chosen singles from the DreamWorks album.
In the mid-'90s, when Mark D. Sanders broke big time as one of the elite Music Row tunesmiths, a journalist asked Mark what he was doing differently that his songs were achieving such a high level of success.
"Nothing different," said Sanders (I'm paraphrasing here). "It's just that my friends are now in a position to say yes." In other words, the co-writers, demo singers, young entrepreneurs with whom Mark had developed relationships over the last five or six years (or more) were now the hit writers, the recording artists, managers and executives that could make the difference between getting a cut or being locked out in the cold.
So relationships can be the most critical factor to your ultimate success. But, while you're building those relationships, it's also of immense importance to apply yourself to improving your craft - so that you'll be ready to play in the big leagues when you're finally drafted onto the team.
I encourage every aspiring writer I meet to seek out professional, objective, constructive feedback (from somebody other than Mom or a supportive spouse). You need to hear what's working and what might need improvement in your songs from people who are not afraid to tell it to you straight.
But, if you're that banker in Rutherford County or that new kid in town from Texas, where do you go to get that kind of feedback? Well, you could attend Songposium at NSAI or Jason Blume's monthly workshops at BMI. And there are some writer-relations people at the performing rights orgs who make themselves accessible. There are even some independent publishers and pluggers who will meet with you every now and then. All of those can be helpful ways to get perspective on your work.
But, each of these suggestions is kind of a pot-shot, an inconsistent, sporadic source of the kind of feedback that is so essential to your development as a writer.
There are some great online song-craft coaching programs that many developing writers are finding invaluable to improving their chops - and to making their songs more competitive. Take a look at SongU, Jasonblume.com, Writesongs.com, and MakinStuffUp.net for starters. After all, you are competing for attention with writers who have huge name recognition. Supposing you write a song that is just as good as a Jeff Steele, Rivers Rutherford or Craig Wiseman song. Which writer is liable to get the cut? It's a no-brainer, right.
So, while you're cultivating those critical relationships (the friendships that will one-day pay off big time in your eventual success), you need to be writing songs that stand out; songs that are more unique, more crafty, even more special than the songs being cranked out by that handful of writers who, at any given time, seem to be getting 90% of the cuts.
To sum up - get out there, go to writer's nights, meet the talented young artists bubbling under on the Music Row scene. Write songs with those people. Find the writers who've just signed or who are about to sign their first publishing deal. Write with them (maybe you'll get a song on their schedule A). Keep your eyes and ears peeled for demo singers that knock your socks off. Stay in touch and offer to write the songs with them that might launch their performing careers. One or more of these relationships may be the ticket into that exclusive, gated community called Hit City.
Join NSAI. Attend events, network, see and be seen on the Row. Be cheerful and joyous and fun to be around. People want to work with likable people. That's the simple truth.
Get professional, constructive feedback on your songs. And re-write, re-write, re-write!!!
Onward and Upward,
Rand Bishop
Grammy-nominated songwriter/producer/author with over 200 cuts
Tags: Grammy-nominated, get-songs-heard, hit-songwriter, on-Music-Row, songwriters, strategy, talks
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Myrus Jones on -
BRILLIANT!!!! This is such a great discussion. I believe what u are saying is some of the most valuable info around. Its all down to facilitating relationships, not because you want to "make it", but because you enjoy being around like individuals, you don't mind paying dues, LISTENING, and learning. If you are a decent human being, people you study under, or work with are bound to take you somewhere. Simply by talking about you on the grounds that "you're a good kid."
Let's make it happen!
MJ
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Permalink Reply by Rand Bishop on -
I've worked a lot in L.A. and Montreal, some in New York and London. Here's another fact about Nashville: The talent pool here is so deep that the pros in this town can't afford to get a reputation as difficult.
On a triple-scale session in L.A. back in the early '80s (tracking for my own record) I asked a guitarist to take a little distortion off of his amp settings. His reply was, "You hired me. This is my sound."
If a guitar player in Nashville ever failed to respond cheerfully and immediately to the request of his client, he wouldn't work much. There are at least ten guys who are just as talented and twice as nice waiting for the call. That's why tracking sessions in Nashville are among the most joyful experiences on earth. Musicians and engineers realize that they are a service industry. If the writer/artist knows what he or she wants, and is capable of asking for it in language a musician or engineer can understand, everyone will be happy. And, isn't that what the players and recordists want - happy clients who keep coming back?
Like the burgeoning songwriter, being a successful studio player also requires the kind of personality that others want to hang with for three hours or more. And that's another reason why Nashville is the best music town on the face of the planet.
Rand Bishop
songwriter/producer/author Makin' Stuff Up, secrets of song-craft and survival in the music-biz
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Permalink Reply by Roy Vogt on -
It's interesting-substitute playing for writing and this could just as well be advice I've given to many aspiring musicians here. You will get hired from your peers, not from those one or two rungs above you. The guard changes every 5-10 years and if you've done your networking and established relationships you will be there with them.
Prescription for success as a player in Nashville:
Network, hang out, sit in, network, hang out, sit in, take any gig, network, hang out, sit in, take any gig
(repeat as needed)
Also, in the words of Nathan East:
"Your attitude determines your altitude."
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Permalink Reply by Bret Teegarden on -
I would add, help as many other people as possible (as long as they have great attitudes too).
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Permalink Reply by Todd Warren on
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Thanks for the info and all the practical knowledge. I'll be checking out NSAI.
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Permalink Reply by Stan Munsey on -
Very well said..
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Permalink Reply by Michael Gudan on -
Thanks for setting the "RECORD" straight. Helpfull indeed.
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Permalink Reply by Shabaz DeBongs on
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I'm glad i came to read about this discussion. I recently moved to Nashville and my approach towards success is driven by relationships. I agree with you and I think the Bling has clouded many minds of aspiring songwriters.
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Permalink Reply by Mark Chesshir on -
Great info and encouragement! Steve Grossman (former member of the Gibson Miller Band) does a great job with a blog called "Why I FAILED" http://www.whyifailed.com - He has incredible suggestions, articles, links, etc., for those wanting to be and or stay in the music business...and most important is his experience in success and failures to keep you focused on working your dream.
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Permalink Reply by Rand Bishop on
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Thanks for mentioning Steve Grossman's blog. Grossman offers a very generous concept -- BUT, his approach does seem preoccupied with his own personal savior. I would find his pragmatic advice and observations more acceptable if there wasn't a presumption that all readers are ready to give their potential success over to Christ. I much prefer to keep the faith issue out of the business arena. (Morals and ethics, of course, are another subject altogether.) There are many paths to a moral, responsible, fulfilled and successful life. I get a little turned off by the JC references in every other sentence. But, that's just me.
If you find encouragement there, that's fantastic. We all need a place to go to recharge our batteries.
Nobody ever said this business was easy. We all know that we've endeavored on a trek across a treacherous jungle, with predators and traps around every bend. But that's the risk we accept in exchange for the privilege of developing and utilizing our creative gifts. It's a wonder that so many of us continue to do it with a smile, especially considering that it seems to get tougher every year. Optimism, I guess, is the nature of us creative types. And, what I love about this town is one can't afford to be an A-hole -- there's always somebody nicer (and more talented) ready to step in and replace anybody who cops a 'tude.
I just keep tryin' to focus on the positive, express gratitude for the many opportunities I've been given and the innate talents that have allowed me to survive (and even thrive every once in awhile) for these 4 decades as a music-biz pro.
Cheers to all my brothers and sisters who continue to make the music that brings joy to the world.
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Permalink Reply by Mark Chesshir on
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"I much prefer to keep the faith issue out of the business arena."
You would have made a great President or A&R director in the Christian Music business! Can't tell you how many times I heard that faith issues don't belong in the business area!
Fact is that the morals and ethics that you want to keep in are based upon faith issues. Whether you believe in Jesus or you believe you are god or there is no god...faith in whomever or whatever you choose has permeated society.
It's great to be positive, express gratitude, and I do appreciate your concern for those who are trying to make it in the biz...but faith and hope is what drives all of us to do what we do.
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Permalink Reply by Rand Bishop on
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Faith and hope are very different concepts. And faith is not restricted to Christian faith. One cannot pursue a career in music without faith in his or her own abilities and value in the marketplace. And, we all thrive on the hope that our work will find an audience, and that we will be rewarded for it. Whether or not any individual chooses to embrace Christ as a personal savior is not a criterion for success. (Whereas, it seems as if Grossman operates on those terms. Fine for him. Not for me.)
I know what you mean about Christian record companies. A lot of them try really hard to avoid the artists and songwriters getting their hands dirty on all that filthy money. They prefer to hold on to it for safe keeping. Because of that, I wouldn't be a very good exec at a Christian label, because I feel strongly that every creative participant should be rewarded generously for their contribution.
Anyway, let's not get into a religious discussion here. We're all in this big music-biz boat together. It will take each of us manning an oar to make it across this great divide.
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