Worth a read but I have zero interest in defending what he wrote. Have at it.

https://www.bmi.com/news/entry/the-1-mistake-writers-and-artists-make

Bud

Brace yourself for another exciting episode of PG Music Retirement Village Rec Room debates!

That is funny stuff...laugh out loud!

Now, if someone would just wipe the drool off my chin and remind me what we are talking about...lol


Oh, now I remember.

If the BMI person is correct in all the assumptions, that is a pretty tall order to comply with.

But...

Let's just say for the moment that somehow I did that.

Let's just say that somehow I was able to convey my song idea to a super-skilled professional vocalist.

Let's just assume I was able to convey my musical ideas to highly skilled studio musicians.

Let's just say the BMI guy said WOW!!

Then what? What does that guarantee?

I wrote the song for Taylor Swift. What do you think the chances of her singing it are?

As you can see, there is a long and winding road to Nashville and the penthouse that she lives in there, or anyone else for that matter. There are an incalculable number of twists and turns on that road.

After all that immense amount of work and good luck, BMI still can not guarantee you have a hit on your hands.

The takeaway from the BMI video is writing great songs is anything but easy. Getting past the gatekeepers is difficult at best.

If you happen not to know, BMI has a website and there are many interesting articles on its home page.

bmi.com


Billy

https://irenejackson.com/songblog/how-much-money-does-a-songwriter-make/

https://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=513590

Now let me guess, if I pay to read this author's book, or go to a seminar, then I too can be one of the 75 people out of 50 million trying to get a cut???

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm........


And If I am not the artist's brother or producer the odds are............

.000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001???


Would I be better off as an Indie artist writing the best songs I can that I want to write and doing my own thing with shows and indie releases instead of dropping acid and thinking someone is going to take my whiskey song over at Warner Chappell???


Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm......

And I wonder if the percentages have dropped since Irene wrote her article?

Wait!

They have puddin' in the rec room!! I better get my walker and get shufflin,

I think I see my old buddy....John...think his name was John...John...John...John, John John,

Oh hell, not even he can remember, what did I say? Where is my pill!!!!!

ROFL!!! Reading debates between seniors in this forum is more fun than watching a Disney movie while drinking Bud Light.

I've actually had a sit down meeting with Jason back in 09 where he listened to my music. I won't recount here what he told me..... It wasn't bad....

I didn't, however, score a publishing deal out of it.

I think I have at least one of his books somewhere around the studio. I have Pattison, Rogers, Blume, Marino, Frederick, Anderson and a few others on my shelves for reference and reading. You can learn something from everyone.

Who decides what that "WOW" factor is in the song? I believe it is the audience, the listeners. Not necessarily the guardians of the gates.

If you haven't watched the movie "I can only Imagine".... you should. It goes along nicely with what JB is saying in the article. Mercy Me was a good band with good songs but when they played a showcase for the guardians of the gates in Nashville, they were told.... You're not good enough. Not interested. The option was.... get better or get out of the business. They came back with the song which is the title of the movie.... the rest,as they say is history. It only takes ONE SONG to make a career.

AS NSAI is fond of saying.... It Begins With A Song. The question is.... can you write it?

I am reminded of Sugarloaf’s other hit from 1975.

Don’t Call Us, We’ll Call You

For the youngsters, their massive hit from five years earlier was “Green Eyed Lady”.

According to Jason, the "#1 Mistake Writers and Artists Make" is writing a song that that's not exceptionally better than the competition.

Jason calls it the "wow" factor.

But according to him, it isn't a single thing. The opening line has to be exceptionally better than the competition. The lyrics have to be uniquely better than the competition. The concept has to be fresher than the competition.

The list goes on.

Certainly, there is useful information in the article.

But the title? Clickbait.

I went to the Billboard 100 List on Spotify to find something that was not horrible and was hoping to go on a rant...but wait!!!

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6UeSakyzhiEt4NB3UAd6NQ

Luke Combs wrote a great new song called Fast Car.

I can't say enough good things about it!

It is a REAL song! What a hook! Great lyrics! Mezmerizing. Like it was written by a PRO. It even has a slightly feminine touch to it. I can't explain. Just amazing.

Man oh man oh man, real songwriting is BACK.

Ain't it fantastic!

Who knew they would start writing great songs like this again!

What happened?? Is the music industry saved???

He sure didn't make any mistakes with this one.

In fact, he showed us how it is done!

Yes, Tracy Chapman wrote a great song in 1988. Billboard estimates that she's received over half a million in royalties from Luke Combs's cover.

I love Larry Klein's bass on that album.

The idea that there is little to no "good" music being written is not accurate.

First, the music that a lot of us disdain is highly popular with a large amount of people. Music continues to change like it always has.

There is music being written that adheres to our concept of what is "good." Luke Combs is only one example.

Thousands of songs are being written and it is a bit difficult to find the ones that meet a particular set of standards.

Here is a video of a young kid, perhaps 15 or 16 years old busking. This is Tim Newman. I have been following him since he was around 14.

https://youtu.be/VjSYlieqHiw

Here is one of his first original songs

https://youtu.be/LZWfPJOcJtU


He has gotten pretty well known and you can go google him to see what he is up to.

My advice to those of you who think all current music sucks is, go write a hit song that meets your standards.

Billy

Aw Billy, you need to relax and chill out son.

Get yourself another pull on that bottle of happy juice.

You'll be awright.

I started out on Burgandy but wound up on the harder stuff. "Happy juice" just doesn't cut it...lol

There was something on the nightly news about this eleven-year-old girl who thought Micheal Murphy sang like an angel. She did not know he was an old guy! She finally got to talk to him after the CBS news story.

Billy

Writing based on the rule book or writing to meet someone else's expectations are fine & dandy if that's where you want to be.
The Comb's cover is pretty much note for note though the addition of steel is unnecessary other than to connect with his genre touchstones - it lacks the great voice and sincerity of Tracy's original and he pushes his vocal distortion a bit too much but so long a TC gets some $ all is good.
Deep satire David, deep and missed by many.

Oh yea, she's real happy.

Yep. Go put your money where your mouth is.

Indeed.

I've just a few days ago come back from Swanage Jazz Festival here in the UK, which obviously informs my own tastes. Others will have quite different tastes. These were three bands from whom we bought CDs, much of their output is new compositions:
Invisible Apples
Yetii
Hip Harp Collective

I've never heard any on radio, nor seen any on TV but these and many others are out there in clubs and at festivals and concerts.

It's the local music scene where the innovation still exists. In this area of NC, there are 2 local original music playing bands that I am aware of. I know the guitarist and drummer in both of the bands. They are regularly appearing with other original bands at venues and shows. One of the bands is a heavy metal band.... they call it "sludge metal" and the other is more pop/progressive. Both appear to have a sizeable and growing cult following.

I'm sure that's a pretty sound observation.

From my own background, primarily in Engineering, but also with a good dusting of the sciences, another factor for innovation is cross-pollination of ideas. Ideas that come into one field, initially completely out of kilter with another field, and then a crazy idea becomes an exciting idea.

I've just realised that two of those groups are from the same city (Bristol, UK).

That there is some slick undercover slamming.

I didn't call them and they still haven't called me.... Go figure....