A collection of articles from the Disc Makers blog that relate to songwriting, including tips on the craft of songwriting as well as publishing and licensing advice.
One of the most important jobs I have as a teacher is to identify and share the common elements I observe in successful songs while steering students clear from the pitfalls in songs that fall short. If you want to learn how to write a country song, here are some of the biggest lyric pitfalls to avoid. Read more.
A song demo is trying to accomplish one thing: sell your song to the listener. While there’s no magic formula for rising to the top, these 9 tips will help you avoid sinking to the bottom of the pile. Read more.
Five For Fighting’s John Ondrasik exploded onto the music scene with the release of “Superman” in 2000. Having written thousands of songs in his youth, the public adoration of “Superman” stunned his mother – a way to actually make money songwriting and playing music! Ondrasik’s father was less surprised, recognizing he had dedicated 45,000 hours into honing his craft. Read more.
A soulful vocalist and innovative keyboardist, singer, songwriter, and producer Rachael Sage has become one of the busiest touring artists in independent music, performing 150+ dates a year with her band The Sequins throughout the US, UK, Europe, and Asia. Sage’s own MPress Records released her 10th album, Haunted By You in 2012. Read more.
Growing up in Lexington, KY, Kent Blazy became musically inspired when he heard Roger McGuinn playing “Mr. Tambourine Man.” By the mid-70s, Kent was band leader, playing guitar and touring with Canadian legend Ian Tyson. A first place win in a national songwriting contest persuaded him to move to Nashville in 1980, and in 1987, Kent was introduced to Garth Brooks. The first song Garth and Kent penned together was “If Tomorrow Never Comes,” which became their first #1 song. Read more.
Songwriters – or more correctly, copyright holders – have always been compensated for the use of their songs, whether it was via traditional radio or new streaming services. With the rise of more and more new outlets for music consumption, master rights are an essential asset to leverage for artists and labels to earn money. Read more.
Are you a songwriter who needs to co-write, but don’t take the time to do it on a regular basis? Is there a group of songwriters in your community facing the same songwriting dilemma? Songfinishers is a songwriting workshop idea that may be right for you and your community of writers to help build friendships, encourage one another, and co-write songs. Read more.
“Don’t infringe on copyrights!” If your forte is creating beat-driven masterpieces that use other people’s work as source material, how do you ply your craft and share your art without getting in trouble? Let’s dive into the murky waters of legality and copyright ownership. Read more.
If you’ve ever tried building hip hop beats on your own from the ground up, you know that producing something propulsive, gutsy, fresh, and original is not a simple science. We brought in one of the genre’s founding experts to offer some advice. Read the post.
If I told you to do 350 things for your music career this year, you’d say I was crazy. It’s not, if you do one thing a day to reach your music career goals. Breaking your goals into smaller tasks will make the impossible seem easy. Do one thing a day to promote your music career and you’ll be on the right path. Read more.