erybody wants to be a pop star. Everybody wants to escape the day job for the red carpet, being interviewed alongside mates like Amy, Christina, Noel and Liam. That’s the celebrity lifestyle (so they tell us) but behind every celebrity there are a group of wannabes called songwriters and producers. At best these people are excellent craftsmen/women with a nerdish eye for emotion and detail who often also play a mean game of pool. Would’nt it just be great to be one of those people? You may be over 30 (and can forget about pop stardom) but hey, you’ll get to hang out with the stars and if you’re lucky you may even get paid. So what does it actually take to be a songwriter? As a music producer it’s a question I often get asked by wannabe songwriters and my answer is simple: 1) You write a great song 2) You find a publisher or an artist who likes your song 3) The publisher places your song with a famous singer 4) You get paid. It’s simple yet complex, especially if you start at stage 4. But let’s for fun look at stage 1 ‘writing a great song’. Assuming we’re talking pop music, a song generally has a short intro, a verse, a bridge, a chorus, verse2, bridge2, chorus 2 and then……….a mid 8 which is that part in the middle of the song where you sort of change chords and sing something like ‘DON’T YOU SEEEEE BABYYY’ or ‘I’VE BEEN MISSSINGGGGGGGGG YOUUUUUUU’……..you get the drift, and then a final chorus. Ideally each verse and chorus has the same amount of bars and we’re not talking ‘all bar one’ here. If you can follow these simple guide lines then you’re well on your way to the Ivor Novellos. Strangely enough I’ve found a lot of writers find it difficult to follow these simple rules but that’s another story. Now that you’ve got a structure you need to fill it with notes and words. Close your eyes, let your imagination go, write about the lover who dumped you 5 years ago for your best friend. Really let your feelings take over, say it in a new way but in a way where you come out on top the land where hope lives (remember we’re talking pop music here, not Bob Dylan). Notice that on most hit songs the melody tends to go up on the chorus. If the chorus could speak it would say ‘yesssss’ or ‘hallelujah’, this is the part that gives people hope and also the part that gets you paid so really work it until you’ve got the best combination of notes and rhythm. You also need a strong lyric and by strong I don’t mean Shakespeare just something that says it all and something which isn't too clichéd. If in doubt copy someone else’s song and move the words around a little. O.k so now you’ve got a structure and a melody otherwise known as a song. It exists, but only in your head and beautiful as it may be it is now time to marry reality with imagination. This point can be difficult for artists and if it is you may need someone to hold you to it. Somehow you need to find a producer and a singer who can help you record your song. Producers come in several varieties, the enthusiastic school leaver who dreams of being the next Timbaland and the more seasoned spectacle wearing nerd who has been through the system and come through it alive. So there you have it. I know who I would choose but I’ll leave that decision to you. Session singers are easy enough to find. If you have a cheque you’ll also have a singer, in that field the world is your oyster, enjoy! If you’ve come this far it time for a few words of wisdom. As the old saying goes, ‘you can’t polish a t**d’ and this in my experience holds a great deal of truth when it comes to music. Even the best producer in the world cannot turn a poorly written song into something workable. I am not talking about songs like ‘Aga doo doo doo’ which we may not like but they do actually work. I am talking about songs that don’t work, so for your song to build like a hit record you’ll need to ask yourself: ‘does the melody build? Are there enough hooks? After you’ve recorded your song it’s time to put on your sales cap (don’t turn it the hip hop way, only works in America). Let’s sum it up: you are, (in the eyes of the music biz) a novice songwriter, so what can you expect from the business? If you’re lucky Warners will knock on your door with a suitcase full of money and you live happily ever after and while you should try all options it may be worth pitching a little lower. Say you go to a songwriter event and you meet a fellow songwriter. He listens to your demo, likes it and the two of you start a songwriting partnership. You write about 20 songs over the next 2 years, most of them second rate but song number 19 happens to catch the ear of a local promoter whose aunt is married to a shrink who councils a recovering addict A&R man from from one of the major labels. He loooooooves your song and wants to put it on an album by a couple of spotty upstarts he’s just signed. It looks promising and you can’t believe it when you wake up one morning and you hear your song on the breakfast show. It sounds a little different, it’s seems they’ve changed the chord structure a tad and in the middle there's a kid rapping over your carefully crafted melody. Just think of the money. "It’s a smash!" shouts the DJ, "The best track to come out of Britain since the Beatles!" (o.k maybe I am getting carried away here but it’s important to dream). Bottom line, you’ve done it, no more dayjobs, no more being pushed around by ‘THE MAN', you can sit back and have a cigar for 5 mins. But wait……. You’re only as good as your last hit and the tide is turning……….artists are beginning to write their own material and if you don’t get on the bandwagon quick it may be too late. And you already know that your newfound fame is no longer enough, it needs to be bigger and better. START WRITING NOW!
"I love it it was just the sound I was after. I have made a contact with a company who make videos and they want to make a video to go with chaos theory for free"
-Tracey Mann
Article for songwriters. This is an article I wrote for online magazine: Ogzine. Enjoy!
Everybody wants to be a pop star. Everybody wants to escape the day job for the red carpet, being interviewed alongside mates like Amy, Christina, Noel and Liam.
That’s the celebrity lifestyle (so they tell us) but behind every celebrity there are a group of people called songwriters and producers. At best these people are excellent craftsmen/women with a nerdish eye for emotion and detail who often also play a mean game of pool.
Would’nt it just be great to be one of those people? you’ll get to hang out with the stars and if you’re lucky you may even get paid.
So what does it actually take to be a songwriter? As a music producer it’s a question I often get asked by budding songwriters and my answer is simple:
1) You write a great song
2) You find a publisher or an artist who likes your song
3) The publisher places your song with a famous singer
4) You get paid.
It’s simple yet complex, especially if you start at stage 4. But let’s for fun look at stage 1 ‘writing a great song’. Assuming we’re talking pop music, a song generally has a short intro, a verse, a bridge, a chorus, verse2, bridge2, chorus 2 and then……….a mid 8 which is that part in the middle of the song where you sort of change chords and sing something like ‘DON’T YOU SEEEEE BABYYY’ or ‘I’VE BEEN MISSSINGGGGGGGGG YOUUUUUUU’……..you get the drift, and then a final chorus. Ideally each verse and chorus has the same amount of bars and we’re not talking ‘all bar one’ here.
If you can follow these simple guide lines then you’re well on your way to the Ivor Novellos. Strangely enough I’ve found a lot of writers find it difficult to follow these simple rules but that’s another story.
Now that you’ve got a structure you need to fill it with notes and words. Close your eyes, let your imagination go, write about the lover who dumped you 5 years ago for your best friend. Really let your feelings take over, say it in a new way but in a way where you come out on top, in the land where hope lives (remember we’re talking pop music here, not Bob Dylan). Notice that on most hit songs the melody tends to go up on the chorus. If the chorus could speak it would say ‘yesssss’ or ‘hallelujah’, this is the part that gives people hope and also the part that gets you paid so really work it until you’ve got the best combination of notes and rhythm.
You also need a strong lyric and by strong I don’t mean Shakespeare just something that says it all and something which isn't too clichéd. If in doubt copy someone else’s song and move the words around a little.
O.k so now you’ve got a structure and a melody otherwise known as a song. It exists, but only in your head and beautiful as it may be it is now time to marry reality with imagination. This point can be difficult for artists and if it is you may need someone to hold you to it. Somehow you need to find a producer and a singer who can help you record your song. Producers come in several varieties, the enthusiastic school leaver who dreams of being the next Timbaland and the more seasoned spectacle wearing nerd who has been through the system and come through it alive. So there you have it. I know who I would choose but I’ll leave that decision to you. Session singers are easy enough to find. If you have a cheque you’ll also have a singer, in that field the world is your oyster, enjoy!
If you’ve come this far it time for a few words of wisdom. As the old saying goes, ‘you can’t polish a t**d’ and this in my experience holds a great deal of truth when it comes to music. Even the best producer in the world cannot turn a poorly written song into something workable. I am not talking about songs like ‘Aga doo doo doo’ which we may not like but they do actually work. I am talking about songs that don’t work, so for your song to build like a hit record you’ll need to ask yourself: ‘Does the melody build? Are there enough hooks?
After you’ve recorded your song it’s time to put on your sales cap.
Let’s sum it up: you are, (in the eyes of the music biz) a novice songwriter, so what can you expect from the business?
If you’re lucky Warners will knock on your door with a suitcase full of money and you live happily ever after and while you should try all options it may be worth pitching a little lower. Say you go to a songwriter event and you meet a fellow songwriter. He listens to your demo, likes it and the two of you start a songwriting partnership. You write about 20 songs over the next 2 years, most of them go unnoticed but song number 19 happens to catch the ear of a local promoter whose aunt is married to a shrink who councils a recovering addict A&R man from one of the major labels. He loooooooves your song and wants to put it on an album by a couple of spotty upstarts he’s just signed.
It looks promising and you can’t believe it when you wake up one morning and you hear your song on the breakfast show. It sounds a little different, it’s seems they’ve changed the chord structure a tad and in the middle there's a kid rapping over your carefully crafted melody. Just think of the money.
"It’s a smash!" shouts the DJ, "The best track to come out of Britain since the Beatles!" (o.k maybe I am getting carried away here but it’s important to dream big). Bottom line, you’ve done it, no more dayjobs, no more being pushed around by ‘THE MAN', you can sit back and have a cigar for 5 mins. But wait……. You’re only as good as your last hit and the tide is turning……….artists are beginning to write their own material and if you don’t get on the bandwagon quick it may be too late. And you already know that your newfound fame is no longer enough, it needs to be bigger and better.
START WRITING NOW!
"I have enjoyed the session with Peter very much. He puts all his professionalism and creativeness into the song and that makes the session so easy and joyful.
