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Tips & Resources by Brent Baxter, Songwriting Pro on October 21, 2019
Here's great songwriting advice from a hit music publisher.
Joe Dan Cornett is a Creative Manager at Daywind Music Publishing, one of the most successful gospel music publishing companies in existence. Joe Dan also leads up Billy Blue Publishing, which focuses on bluegrass and Americana music. He also working in country & film/tv music.
Joe Dan was a recent guest on Frettie.com's "Know The Row," and he shared some great, real-world advice for songwriters.
Here is a bit of Joe Dan's advice (paraphrased):
The reason I network all the time is so that I’m not “cold pitching” to the person. And, in Country especially, you may only get one shot to impress them. So you better bring your A-game.
Southern Gospel is a rare thing in that you can actually go to a show and hand a song to an artist at the merch table. Be sure you have your contact info on there, in case they love it and want to record it.
In Southern Gospel, relationships are king. But you (as an unsigned writer) can make those relationships, too. And it’s kind of a dying breed to be able to pitch directly to an artist like that.
Bluegrass often blurs the lines between Bluegrass and traditional Country. It's not "just" Bluegrass songs.
Bluegrass artists, overall, don’t mind recording covers- songs that have been recorded before by other artists. That’s not often the case in Country or Southern Gospel. So a Bluegrass cut can have some long legs.
I love being able to sign a songwriter and just let them write- whatever they write that day- because we have relationships in several genres.
The last writer I signed was recommended to me by a major Bluegrass writer. We met, and he’s a hilarious guy who’s been around the industry a while. I loved his songs, and we signed him to Billy Blue, our Bluegrass publishing company. When you sign a deal with a publisher, you are a team at that point. My job as a publisher is to serve songwriters.
The last Country songwriter I signed, I met through an NSAI event that showcased unsigned writers (I was actually going to see a different writer). This guy started the round, and my jaw hit the floor. It was about a year process of “dating” this writer. Dating, meaning both sides are feeling each other out. During this process, I usually set up cowrites to see where the writer's strengths and weaknesses are.
What separates our very-successful Southern Gospel writers from others? Commercialism. You can't just write a song for Southern when you’ve never heard Southern before. Our top writers study, they study, and they study the market some more.
If you want to write for a particular genre, you can’t study it enough. You need to listen to it so much that you dream it. Pull up the charts and study the hits. See if you can determine what makes those songs hits.
Hey, do you have a question you'd like ask a hit songwriter or a hit music publisher? If so, I have TWO great opportunities coming up for you... and they're FREE. On November 18, I'm hosting a "Know The Pro" event with pro music publisher, Butch Baker of Mojo Music & Media. Butch has mentored hit songwriters including Dean Dillion (George Strait, Kenny Chesney, etc.) and Phil O'Donnell (George Strait, Blake Shelton, etc.) Then, on November 19, we have another "Know The Pro" event with hit Christian songwriter, Michael Farren. He's penned hits for Lauren Diagle ("Come Alive [Dry Bones]" & "Trust In You"), Michael W. Smith ("Let It Rain") and others. And you can ask these pros YOUR questions. And it's an online event, so you can join us from anywhere in the world.
This is YOUR chance to sit down face-to-face (online) with two real-deal music professionals, and I hope you won't let it slip away.
Here's the best part: these events are FREE for Frettie subscribers! So if you're already a Frettie subscriber, you'll receive an invitation to these events. If you are NOT a Frettie subscriber... what are you waiting for? Heck, it's only $5 a month!
CLICK HERE TO GET ALL THE DETAILS AND JOIN FRETTIE AND THESE EVENTS!
God bless,
Brent
PS- Thanks for stopping by Frettie! I appreciate it. As a matter of fact, I want to give you a special little something just for your visit. It's my FREE ebook "Think Like A Pro Songwriter," and it reveals valuable I-learned-it-the-hard-way-so-you-don't-have-to tips to help you succeed at the art, craft and business of songwriting. You can download it at www.GiftFromBrent.com.
