PG Music Home Forums General Discussion Off-Topic Getting Published

Hey Ya'll,

I am about to publish a blog regarding this very same topic as an NSAI (Nashville Songwriters Association International) chapter coordinator, but it is currently being reviewed by them so it is not ready for prime time. But I can cite a few things. All of this comes from pros I know and have interviewed, not me.

1.) Herb (who is in my NSAI chapter and who introduced me to Band in a Box for which I will be forever grateful) is right about so much in what he said that I can't add much to it. There is an opportunity in placing songs for film and t.v., but your sound has to be way over the top. Go to www.musicbed.com and study the production norm. Bookmark it and try to learn from it. That's the way you have to sound. Here is a young lady who goes to my church. She is one of the "lucky 600":

https://www.musicbed.com/artists/samantha-ray/7950

or

http://noisetrade.com/samantharay

The new BIAB Xtra styles will help you with some of these sounds (there is some stuff that sounds like this in singer-songwriter) but you will have to stone cold master the mixing board in your DAW, and spend many painstaking hours EQing each track. Again, this level of quality is about meticulous listening and mastering of each individual track. Pay careful attention to the reverb and EQ.


2.) There are 3 types of songs.

A.) Songs you put on your own album. These can sound however you want. However soundcloud does not lie, neither does this forum. If you post your song on BIAB and ask for honest feedback you will get it. If everyone raves about the sound production and you get hundreds of listens in a month, you know you are doing something right. It means people are replaying or forwarding your stuff to friends. So keep doing that. If people say "interesting" and you get 10 listens stop doing that.

B. Filler songs for major albums. There is a zero chance here. They have enough of those to last until Jesus comes back.

C. Hit singles that will pay the bills for publishers and labels.

Believe it or not, but it is not impossible for you to get a song cut if you know how to write a hit, the song that will become the single. Much has been written on this. If you write the catchiest song a publisher has ever heard and your demo is professional (good singer, especially) you do have a chance, because people are still hungry for "hits" where ever they come from. But you have to know what a hit is. The short definition is that a Hit is a song that is about 5 times catchier and more awesome than your own favorite song.

Try and write THAT--if publishing is your goal.

But as Herb said, just have fun along the way, and stay happy, because it is a process. Frustration will do you no good. Play for the fun of it, and for the love of it, and try and write something 5 times catchier than your own favorite song--and have a blast doing it.

And listen to the stuff on musicbed for a reference.

One thing you have going for you is Band in a Box. It gives you a long head start if you learn how use it, but you have to master it, and you have to master production in your DAW.

Have fun!!!!