Study Songs and Writers: The Competition

[ande]

I'm working on a new www.SongWriterBlog.com article

I poked around myspace this morning
and below are a few of my favorite writers and songs.
All of us who are hoping to get cuts
need to hear the competition,
we need to know
how great their songs are and
how well they are produced

compare them to yours to theirs
if yours are in the same ball park
Great
if not
Step up your game
Our songs have to have an emotional impact
Feel free to comment on
the writers
their songs and
please add writers and songs that you think are awesome.

thanks, enjoy,

Ande


Play the One I Like
http://www.myspace.com/cheleytackettmusic

Bourbon
http://www.myspace.com/nicolewitt

Along for The Ride
http://www.myspace.com/matracaberg

God Shaped Hole
http://www.myspace.com/chuckcannonsongs

Life is Beautiful
http://www.myspace.com/markstephenjones

Those Wings
What Else You Got
http://www.myspace.com/dvincentwilliamslive

Inexpressible
http://www.myspace.com/chuckjonessongs

My Kind of Country
http://www.myspace.com/randyhouserband

Hard Way to Go
http://www.myspace.com/bergsong

I Miss You When You're Gone
http://www.myspace.com/chriswallin

When You Love Someone
http://www.myspace.com/karynrochellesongs

Whisky and a Gun
http://www.myspace.com/lisacarvermusic

Better Off Alone
http://www.myspace.com/austincarrollmusic
you'll find this song on American Idol runner up Katherine McPhee's CD

Sand And Water
http://www.myspace.com/bethnielsenchapman
in 1997 Elton John grew tired of performing "Candle in the Wind"
so he started performing "Sand and Water" in it's place
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&i...%22+elton+john

[eb]

You can also search for the names of famous writers and pull up their sites which often will list other famous writers (and wanna bes) among their friends. I've also found that looking under different genres on the music pages (americana, folk, etc) will lead you to writers.

It is a great tool to do as Ande says. I've been surprised at how many good songs are out there. By good songs, I mean songs that I like and sound cuttable to me. Some of the songs even seem great to me. It took me to a higher level with my writing I think--I had to get better if I really want to compete. I can't understand why some of the people aren't signed.

[Lijemtu]

I really enjoyed this one:

Hold On- Keith Larsen

www.cmt.com/asm/contests/nsai/cmt_choice/2007/

Scroll down, it's the next to last song

[The Moon In The Man]

I have 100 comments... discussions of the tunes you picked (some of the people are my friends) and we could make a 10 page thread... but I sat and thought...

My song posts get 10 pages of arguments, HOT as a firecraker from the first minute it's put up (even though the last one got deleted eventually)

But this one has 3 posts after 3 days...

Nobody wants to learn how to write here...

They want online entertainment.

So why bother.

My own post right now is proof that I'm part of the club.

LOL (guess I can't complain anymore)

what a riot.

(those of you who ARE here to learn- I know who you are- so don't get pissed- I wasn't talking about the small handful of you)

[carr]

Originally Posted by The Moon In The Man

I have 100 comments... discussions of the tunes you picked (some of the people are my friends) and we could make a 10 page thread... but I sat and thought...

My song posts get 10 pages of arguments, HOT as a firecraker from the first minute it's put up (even though the last one got deleted eventually)

But this one has 3 posts after 3 days...

Nobody wants to learn how to write here...

They want online entertainment.

So why bother.

My own post right now is proof that I'm part of the club.

LOL (guess I can't complain anymore)

what a riot.

(those of you who ARE here to learn- I know who you are- so don't get pissed- I wasn't talking about the small handful of you)

Al you are so full of it. You seem to post only to be provactive.

When you post a song you must hope like heck that someone offers a comment that can be construed in some way nagative so you can vent.

The worst scenario for you is that you get ignored.
Maybe the reason this one got only 3 comments in 3 days is cos there isnt a new posting of a song so ther is nothing to say and we were all waiting for you to open your mouth and let fly.

Have you reformed?

J

[ande]

kind of surprising to me
i thought there would be more comments
i thought people might comment on particular artists or songs or
offer up artists and songs people think are amazing

ande

here's a comment I posted in another thread

a reader wrote:

"I notice some of those names, Ande, are not exactly up and comers. I recognize established writers. Like Matraca Berg? Chuck Cannon?

What I mean is... you might as well compare your songs to what's on the radio. Those are hit songwriters."

and my response was:

and if you want cuts
that's whos songs you're competing against

but the further problem for up and coming writers is
there's people who have been in Nashville for years,
writers who have friendships with artists, producers, and A&R reps,
people who play in artist bands,
writers who've been in nashville for years and perform out several times each week ...

Let's call this category Those with an Inside Track

so if you're not in Nashville,
if you're not networking in Nashville
if you're not cowriting in Nashville
if your songs are represented by Nashville publishers
you're an outsider


now you want to play their game


if your songs aren't as good as songs written by inside trackers,
you won't get a cut

if your demos don't sound like demos done by professional Nashville writers
you won't get the cut, or even past the first level of screening

if your songs are as good as songs written by inside trackers, you probably won't get a cut, the decision maker will give it to their friends.

so for outsiders
there's really only one slot available
your demos have to sound like they were done by professional Nashville writers
and your songs have to be AWESOME, so the person who decides drop a friends song off the project to add a better song can say
This is business, this song is a hit,
if we don't cut it someone else will

the other choice is to become an insider

but the answer for most people is to step up their game

better songs
better demos
better relationships

an interesting thing that happens is once a writer finally breaks through, artists producers and A&R become very interested in that writers catalog of songs, they'll go through it to see if they have any other hits

ande

Originally Posted by The Moon In The Man

I have 100 comments... discussions of the tunes you picked (some of the people are my friends) and we could make a 10 page thread... but I sat and thought...

My song posts get 10 pages of arguments, HOT as a firecraker from the first minute it's put up (even though the last one got deleted eventually)

But this one has 3 posts after 3 days...

Nobody wants to learn how to write here...

They want online entertainment.

So why bother.

My own post right now is proof that I'm part of the club.

LOL (guess I can't complain anymore)

what a riot.

(those of you who ARE here to learn- I know who you are- so don't get pissed- I wasn't talking about the small handful of you)

[Lijemtu]

Finally made it through all of them. Beth was out here in Utah a couple of summers ago with Annie Roboff and Steve Seskin, and she did Sand and Water. Such a moving song, expecially with her doing it. Chuck Cannon is a genious with words. They were all good, but I liked some better than others. Knowing that so many terrific uncut songs are out there just makes me madder every time I hear crap getting cut for "political" reasons You know what, though? You could put together a pretty decent song list from our Nashville Bound/ Song of the Month sections, too.

Bill

[eb]

You know where I learn about writing songs these days? From listening to webcasts from NSAI and SongU and live lectures attended in person. Certain things keep coming up. Here are some things I've heard several times from producers, publishers, pickers, pluggers, performers, and writers* about writing "hits":

• It's a crap-shoot. Roll the dice!
  
• There are no rules, only tools.
  
• You have to have what the decision maker thinks is a good song.
  
• The people we would call the greatest writers in the world don't produce great songs every time but they do it more often than the rest AND their not so great songs get listened to.
  
• For country, being in Nashville is an advantage.
  
• When writing up, have some good ideas ready. A good idea may be nothing more than a title the more experienced writer can run with.
  
• A good song may not be discovered for years.
  
• One hit probably won't set you up for life but it will make you better known and that can set you up.
  
• No one knows the final answer to the question "full demo" or "guitar-vocal."

* couldn't think of a word that started with "p" for writers. That would have really been cool with all the alliteration, wouldn't it!
.
.

[Gina]

Just wanted to throw in a comment that I love Matraca Berg. I have the album "Sunday Morning to Saturday Night" which is the album that "Along for the Ride" is on. It's fantastic. I particularly love a song on there called "Back When We Were Beautiful," a song about an old woman reminiscing about her younger life. Wow.

[Thisoldhouse]

Some of these songs are really good, others are no better than some of what I hear posted here. Thanks for these links.