Guitar - chords - songwriter

Top 5 Important Bits of Advice For Songwriters

You could fill a book with advice for songwriters, and because of that it’s sometimes hard to sift through all the information to determine what’s most important. Because everyone’s writing style is different, and because everyone has their own reason for being a songwriter in the first place, certain bits of advice will be important […]

James Taylor

Stealing (Not Stealing) Songs

A number of years ago I wrote a blog post called “Deliberately Sounding Like Your Songwriting Hero.” In it, I advocated pretending that you were your favourite songwriter, trying to write a song that would sound to everyone else that it was written by that person. The reason was a simple one: It would focus […]

Songwriting

Looking Inward to Get the Best Advice On Your Songwriting

Social media makes it easy to seek advice on your songwriting. In fact, it doesn’t just make it easy — it makes it likely that you’re going to play your newly written song for others and then ask opinions. Take a look at today’s Songwriting Reddit and see how many are asking for help. If you’re […]

guitarist - songwriter

5 Important Lessons I Learned Over the Years as a Composer of Music

Like anyone who writes music, I could probably write a book regarding advice I’ve been given over the years — advice that’s helped shape the musician I’ve become. The best lessons I’ve learned have come from individuals, not necessarily from the pages of a book. That’s not because books aren’t good; it’s more because I […]

Singer-songwriter-guitarist

Polishing Songs Has a Limit

Scott Borchetta is an American record executive, known mostly as the founder of Big Machine Label Group. You may not know who he is, but suffice it to say that he’s spent a lot of his career working in the business end of music. He started Big Machine Records, and his first major client was […]