Songwriter's Tip Jar

I need the practice

Do you wait for the muse before starting to write a song? How’s that working out for you?

When I wait for the muse, it can be months between writing sessions and I know that’s not enough writing for me. I need the practice. So I no longer wait for the muse. I try to invoke the muse and try to be the muse, but most of all, I just try to write more and more often.

Regular writing in itself seems to attract the muse. But it also strengthens the creative muscle. Just like sports and piano lessons, it’s better to practice regularly than to save it up for one long session (i.e. 7 daily one-hour sessions instead of one grueling seven hour session).

Something about the daily repeated action of engaging the creative mind and putting words (or melody) to paper is the perfect practice for writing songs. Writing songs takes practice. But instead of playing scales or doing crunches, a good way to practice writing songs is to actually write a song.

A side benefit is that if you tell yourself you’re writing a song as practice, the pressure is off to create your masterpiece. And when the pressure (usually self-imposed) is off, creativity is freed.

If you’re only writing when inspiration strikes, try writing as a regular practice. And post a comment here to let me know how it works.

Random pic of a guy on a motorboat guitar

Wha?

This may be just the ‘kick in the pants’ I need

OK, a little background is in order. Two years ago I bought Ariel Hyatt’s book Music Success in Nine Weeks after hearing her speak at the Taxi Road Rally. I read through most of it, but skipped the exercises that accompany each chapter. You know how it goes, other priorities pop up, time goes by, and I sort of forgot to go back and do the exercises. I kept the book on the top of the pile, so it was always nearby, where I could see it out of the corner of my eye when I was sitting in my home office/music studio/spare bedroom.

Cut to a week ago, when I read about Ariel’s Music Success in 9 Weeks Blogging Challenge. I thought, ‘this may be just the kick in the pants I need.’ The rules are minimal: read the book, one chapter a week, do the exercises and blog about it, one blog entry per chapter. In order to qualify for the contest, all you need to do is create nine blog entries, taking your readers through your experience and blog about what you are learning, how it is helping, where you where you are getting stuck, etc. etc. This is the 2nd time she’s run this challenge. You can read comments from previous participants here.

The rules are minimal: read the book, one chapter a week, do the exercises and blog about it, one blog entry per chapter.

The artist who has come the furthest using the techniques in the book will receive a complimentary Headliner Cyber PR campaign for three months. This campaign is worth $1,595 and will get your music into the hands of bloggers, podcasters and online radio station DJs.

So how did my first week go? Well, I got to page 16, including the reading and the exercises, which is about halfway through chapter one. Already behind! The reading goes quickly, but it’s very thought provoking and the exercises are even more so. I have some major work to do (goal-setting exercises) before I can move on to chapter 2.

The good news is, with just the first 16 pages, I have committed to doing 5 things a day that need to be done and will impact my music career. (Maybe doing the exercises can count as one of the 5 things). That is no small potatoes, given the day job, the night gigs, the songwriting and the home life. If I can even keep this much going, I can foresee big changes.

Some examples of the 5 little successes I achieved this week – nothing to write home about individually, but they add up and build on each other: sent a song to a Broadjam film opportunity, worked with my bandmates, graphic designer and CD manufacturer to finalize the cover graphic for our next CD (lots of back and forth emails and phone calls), sent an mp3 of a children’s song I co-wrote to several people who are in the position to use it and share it, hooked up some musicians to back me up at an upcoming gig, finalized the gig with the promoter and made cold calls to find some new bookings. Like I said, none of these are earth-shaking in and of themselves, but the trick is to keep doing it. And it is a bit of a mind trick – a little extra motivation.

Next post, I’ll let you know how week 2 goes.

Judy Collins on Over the Rainbow

Judy Collins was interviewed about the song Over the Rainbow on On Point. She recently recorded it for a CD that accompanies a children’s book also titled Over the Rainbow. She sings the verse, which was missing from the movie and from most other renditions. In the segment, they play a wide variety of versions of Over the Rainbow, with her commenting, plus lots of Judy Collins songs.

Listen to the entire thing here.

Business cards for musicians

Read article with savvy advice for an effective business card for musicians.

360 deals

What do you think of 360 deals? Fast Company wrote about them in their latest issue, an article titled Take Us to the River.

How to become a singer

Always inspiring and always in a new way, Derek Sivers, the musician who created CD Baby, has once again hit the nail on the head, this time about becoming a singer. OK, becoming a singer is only the surface of what this post is about.

Read his latest blog post.

David Wilcox – Crude Greed

Bobulate for intentional organization

“Music is the pleasurable overflow of information.” Jonah Lehrer.

Design is shifting from the creator to the consumer, yet it’s the place in the middle, the place where they play off one another, where new meaning is created.

From a blog called Bobulate (opposite of discombobulated) comes a riff on Miles Davis and improvisation.

The post is called Designing for Improvisation and it starts with Miles Davis and jazz and branches out from there to talk about creative acts of all sorts. Read the entire post here.

Country music bucking the industry downturn

Despite the gloomy news for most sectors of the traditional music industry, here’s a bright spot. According to Emilia Benton of Fast Company,

last year radio use climbed to 93% among country fans (from 79% the year before) and most listeners tune in for an impressive 9.9 hours a week.

This is also good news for songwriters who write for that genre. For those of you who have never written a country song, would you consider trying it? Do you write in more than one genre? Why or why not?

Lady Gaga tops Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative

See Fast Company’s 100 most creative people in business in 2010. Lady Gaga ranks #1 in this intriguing list, which includes other musicians, inventors, architects, marketers, entrepreneurs, designers, CEOs, CIOs, scientists, a chef, and people in non-profit, military and government positions. Ryan Murphy, producer of Glee is #5.

Accept credit cards offline

Until today, I thought I had found the best solution for indie musicians who want to accept credit card payments for CDs and merch at shows: CD Baby.

CD Baby has a sweet deal, way better than any merchant account you get from a bank. And my band, Soulpajamas, has been using CD Baby’s credit card solution for years. It works and it’s a fair deal. Check it out for yourself.

But today I read about a slick new player in the market, called Square. It’s also geared toward small businesses that can’t afford minimum monthly fees.

With Square, you get a tiny card reader that plugs directly into any device with an audio input jack (like your iPhone). No monthly or hidden fees, no contract or merchant account required. The buyer signs on the touch screen of your smart phone. Receipts can be emailed to the customer.

Don’t get me wrong, Soulpajamas is still selling our CDs and downloads online using CD Baby. They offer great services for independent recording artists and we have no plans to leave. But for credit card payments at gigs (and anywhere else we sell CDs in person) we’re now testing Square.

Why isn’t every indie musician doing this?

Government grants for singer/songwriters

Government grants for singer/songwriters

Does that headline sound like a scam or what? It’s for real and it’s all good news for singers, songwriters, performers and other artists.

Last night I attended a workshop sponsored by the Songwriters Association of Washington (so I knew it was completely legit from the get-go). The workshop title was “Taken for Granted: Uncovering Grant Opportunities for Songwriters in the DC Metro Area”

Maureen Andary described how she was able to get several grants from the DC government and explained it all in detail. She had even researched the surrounding counties and municipalities (Montgomery and Prince Georges in Maryland, Arlington, Fairfax and Alexandria in Virginia) so she was able to speak about them all and help audience members with their location-specific questions.

The biggest surprise to me is that there actually IS grant money available even to singer/songwriters and bands. If you are an organization or partner with one, there are other grants available (in bigger amounts).

She explained that even though the grant world may be a strange new planet for (non-classical) musicians, it’s not that difficult to apply and not that difficult to win a grant. Further, the grant officer was very helpful to her in the process, so you’re not on your own.

I’m looking forward to implementing some of her advice and I’ll report back with my experiences. Wish me luck.

3 simple keys to success

The full title is The Three Surprisingly Simple Keys to Success by Sonia Simone, from her blog copyblogger. And the cool thing is, you only need two out of three to reach your goals. Find out what she means.

Thanks to Bob Baker for turning me on to this post.

Sell single song downloads

I am a recording artist, and if you’re reading this you are too, most likely, or aspiring to be one.

When we released our first EP way back when, we wanted to sell it online, but the internet was new (insert joke here about how dinosaurs still roamed the earth) and there weren’t many options. So I did my homework and learned that CD Baby was the best, by far, and certainly the best fit for me. They had a great reputation then and they still do.

With each subsequent CD we’ve released, I’ve done the legwork again to make sure that there wasn’t a new upstart doing a better job than CD Baby. There wasn’t.

Now CD Baby has introduced a new capability. Artists can sell single song downloads on CD Baby, not just the physical CDs and full CD downloads (as in the past). Read the CD Baby DIY Musician blog to see how this small shift can help you promote your music more easily and more consistently and generate some revenue in the process.

See Soulpajamas, my band’s CD Baby page.

PS. Required reading – free advice for musicians from Derek Sivers, founder of CD Baby. Here’s a sample:

Proudly exclude some people

Proudly say what you’re NOT: “If you like Celine Dion, you’ll hate us.” …and people who hate Celine Dion will love you, or at least give you a chance.

You can’t please everyone in this world. Recklessly exclude people.

Almost like you’re the doorman at an exclusive club that plays only your music. Maybe you wouldn’t let in anyone wearing a suit. Maybe you wouldn’t let in anyone without a suit!

But know who you are, and have the confidence that somewhere out there, there’s a little niche of people that would like your kind of music. They may only be 1% of the population. But 1% of the world is 65 million people!

Loudly leave out 99% of the world. When someone in your target 1% hears you excluding the part of the population they already feel alienated from, they’ll be drawn to you.

Write down a list of artists who you don’t like, and whose fans probably wouldn’t like you. Use that.

a gift from Jane Siberry

Download all Siberry music.

It is free, a gift from Jane. Take good care of it and ‘pay if forward’ to others.

THESE ARE FULL CDS. includes artwork. downloads directly to your computer.

mp3 are small, standard size files. aiffs are studio quality and about 10x larger.

any questions or feedback: jane

Songwriting tips by Jermaine

Pat Pattison master class: melodic & lyric rhythm

Master Songwriter Pat Pattison’s insights into songwriting with this Master Class session.

A songwriting camp like no other

What makes the REO Songwriters retreat different from any other songwriting camp? Start with an incredible setting right on the edge of a beautiful jade-green river canyon. Add rushing rapids, snow-capped mountains, wildflowers and wilderness. Then add four of the best songwriting mentors on the planet; a low instructor-to-student ratio to enhance the intimacy and one-on-one time with our instructors and other songwriters; a private critique session with your choice of instructor/mentor; daily social hour, open-mic and co-writing sessions. Finally, choose an optional whitewater rafting (exciting) or scenic float rafting (relaxing) adventure on the Nahatlatch or Fraser Rivers. Join songwriters from around the world for a truly amazing week!

Amy Speace on Songwriting

The Independent Music Awards Presents: Story Songs at Symphony Space. Amy Speace talks about becoming a songwriter and how songwriting is like making a movie. To learn more about The IMAs, visit The Independent Music Awards.