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Marketing Your Songs PEACE AND GOOD WILL SONGS...DONATE THEM? GETTING HEARD IN A "NO UNSOLICITED MATERIAL" WORLD TEN WAYS TO GET YOUR SONGS RECORDED DEMOS: QUALITY ISSUES PITCHING SONGS IN L.A. PRESENTING YOUR DEMO CASTING CONTESTS MARKETING YOUR LYRICS |
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By John Braheny THE RIGHT SONG FOR THE RIGHT ARTIST "Alanis (or Celine, Ricky etc.) could really sing this song great!" This statement, and the ignorance behind it, has been the cause of countless unnecessary rejections of songs. Though it's certainly not the only one, it ranks right up there with poorly crafted songs. But for the sake of this article, let's say both the demo and song are excellent, so we get right down to the focus of this article (and the next) and talk about whether the song is appropriate. It's not a question of whether they could do it. They could make the phone book sound good. But, from their point of view, it's about whether they need to record your song. If you're writing for yourself in a band or solo artist context and don't think this information applies to you, don't stop reading just yet. The history of pop music is filled with songs written by self-contained artists who had no idea their songs could be hits by other artists. Someone had the skills I'll discuss here to recognize that those songs were right for those other artists. Wouldn't it be better to develop them yourself rather than reward skillful publishers/managers with a substantial percentage of your income for it? The skill is called "casting," knowing which song is appropriate for which artist. First, there's a process of elimination. Forget about artists who write their own songs. Not that they wouldn't ever record a song they didn't write, but generally speaking, they're not motivated to record "outside" songs (written by someone other than themselves or their producer). At 7.55 cents per song per unit sold and substantial royalties for airplay on a hit, they'd rather fill their CD's with their own songs. Who Not To Pitch To Playing the Odds So if you're playing the odds, you'll leave self-contained artists 'til last. First, you'll go to the Billboard charts to find those artists who record "outside" songs. How can you tell? You go to the "Hot 100" chart and your favorite genre chart: "Hot R&B," "Hot Country" or "Hot Latin Tracks" (The other charts don't list writers.) You look to the left under the name of the song, and the first name is the producer's, the second (in parentheses) is the name(s) of the songwriter(s). If the same name is in both places, the producer is the writer, then if you see, in the column to the right, that the artist's name is the same as the writer, you know the odds are bad. You may have a hard time telling who wrote songs when the artist is a group (though if there are 4+ writers listed you can often assume the group did or they're using samples of other songs.) Check it out by going online to their record companies and look up their bios. If they wrote the songs they'll want everybody to know it. Anyway, you'll end up with a list of about 25% of the hits (on the "Hot 100") on which the artist sings an "outside" song. About 2/3 of those will be Country, at least in the past couple of years. On the Hot Country chart about 60-70% are "outside" songs. Check the charts periodically. Tape "countdown" radio or cable shows (MTV, BMT CMT) of current hits so you can listen more than once and analyze them without having to stay tuned all day. Keep your Billboard handy for reference. Doing the Research A critical step in casting is to get all the information possible about the artist to preserve your credibility and save yourself the embarrassment of pitching something totally wrong. Your best move is to buy the CDs of any artist in your style who records outside songs (those not written by the artist or producer). Listen to each cut on the album with special emphasis on the successful singles and determine the following:
A good example of a valuable article was a Whitney Houston interview by Elysa Gardner in the 7/28/99 Los Angeles Times. You would have learned that: 1. Her musical direction and career moves are strongly influenced by her husband, Bobby Brown. 2. Her change in direction away from her big ballads and toward working with hip-hop writer/producers Missy Elliott and Rodney Jerkins was successful and she felt good about it. So we got an indication from that she, and maybe Arista Records (former) President Clive Davis, didn't feel they had to rely as much on those big ballads for hits anymore even though some of her fans were disappointed because they love that kind of song. 3. She loves passionate love songs. 4. Likes songs that lift her up and inspire her. Another level of casting expertise involves projecting, based on past success and artist image, where you feel the artist could go. This is a common strategy of writer/producer/arrangers who can conjure a vision of the artist's next step and, in the process, become the artist's producer, at least on the producer's own songs. This requires a thorough knowledge of the artist and, in the best case, the ability to produce tracks that would provide the artist with a fresh sound. There is a point in a very successful career where an artist looks for a stretch away from the too familiar and into adventureland. You can either anticipate that move or help to create it. Regardless of all the homework you do on an artist, you can still strike out though the odds will be in your favor. A major benefit of doing the research, however, is that you now have a great frame of reference when you talk to the manager, record company A&R rep for the artist or the new producer who may be taking the artist in a different direction. In my experience, those people speak to and listen to tapes from so many writers who are clueless about their artists that they welcome a conversation with someone who knows what makes their artist special. It also gives you a level of confidence in that call or meeting that communicates that you should be taken seriously. Good luck! This article appeared in John's column," Song Sense," in Music Biz Magazine |
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WRITING FOR FILM & TV - SONGWRITER RESOURCES - INTERVIEWS WITH SUCCESSFUL SONGWRITERS
THE LOS ANGELES SONGWRITERS SHOWCASE - SITE MAP