Music Festival

Making Long Term Plans For Your Songwriting Career

How far into the future do you think about your songwriting? Where do you want to be and what do you want to be doing in a year’s time? It’s definitely worth thinking about, because if you’ve got no specific plan, it means that anything that happens with your songwriting will come down to random […]

Dick Clark - American Bandstand

When Negativity Attacks Your Sense of Creativity

I firmly believe that if The Beatles were a band of our decade trying to get a start in the business, they’d probably not have survived the onslaught of negative opinions and comments that come hand-in-hand with social media. There’s a really interesting video you can watch of young folks in 1967 — in their […]

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 […]

Rock Concert audience

Becoming More Noticeable in the Songwriting World

There are many reasons why people write songs, but almost all writers of music get into it for the same reason: as a means of personal expression. Some eventually enter the professional world, while others remain happily amateur, writing mainly for themselves, family and friends. Regardless of the eventual direction, composing songs requires the songwriter […]

Protest march

Is Music Just a Fancy Version of “Thoughts and Prayers”?

As a Canadian — and because this is a songwriting blog — I haven’t had a lot to say about American politics. And believe me, there’s a lot one can say. I align myself firmly with those who are deeply concerned about what is happening in the U.S. “Extreme vetting” is a dangerous doorway to the […]

Which Songs Are the Best Ones for Songwriters to Study?

Everyone knows that if you want to improve, you need to know what the masters know. And that applies to every area of endeavour. If you want to be a better painter, baseball player, plumber, politician, teacher, musician… you need to study the masters. We have what might be called an embarrassment of riches in […]