Personally, I miss the days of the professional song writer. From Tin Pan Alley to the Brill Building era, countless great songs were penned and given to singers who could really put them across.

Then we got into the singer-songwriter era where the songwriter is supposed to sing his or her own songs. The problem is that although there are some great singers who can write songs, there are also some songwriters who can't sing well and some great singers who can't write songs. This robs the public of some great music.

But things change, and survival goes to those who can adapt to the changes. Whether it means nude photos, Internet networking, free performances, or anything else, you need to do something the public is interested in purchasing and promote it in a way that reaches them.

When the MADD mothers started their campaign against drunk driving and Leilani and I were having personnel problems in the 5 piece band we were in together, I decided to make our own backing tracks and go duo. At the time other musicians were saying, "You are putting musicians out of work with those things."

I replied, "I'm putting two musicians to work with these things. We play smaller venues that would never hire more than a single or duo, we just sound better than other singles and duos."

I'm not a songwriter by trade, so I never stopped to think about how to adjust to this changing marketplace. That's the challenge, and I suppose there are many different ways to do it.

Insights and incites by Notes

Bob "Notes" Norton smile Norton Music
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