Writing Up: The Biggest Mistake Aspiring Songwriters Make

[@thesongwritersjourney]

One of my first mentors (through another group) told me I needed to look at writing out, not writing up. I was confused at first, frustrated, felt like I just got hockey checked into the penalty box, etc. He basically explained "you all need to come up together." As I struggled through my first year of writing (on my own) and understanding the business, it became very clear that "there is no golden ticket." This was going to be a lot of hard work and its gonna take time. I've made some good peer connections since then and have a great co-writer with whom I write most of the time - we are at very similar places in our journey. Can't wait to become that overnight success.....10 years from now.

[@revenantband1]

I wrote my first song when I was 8, and it was a bubblegum pop song. By the time I started making any money at all as a writer(and it wasn't a lot), my comfort level was in writing ballads until I had another musician tell me that I should challenge myself more and step out of that comfort zone. Best advice I ever got! I can now write fairly well in genres that range from Pop to Goth to Hard Rock, Funk and Country to name some of the genres I've written in. Rather than just aspiring to write wih someone more successful, which will usually make people think that you just rode their coattails for whatever reason, study the craft of writing. When you start to understand the craft, you get really valuable tools to use in writing.

[@markushassel2737]

This channel is pure gold. Thank you so much for doing this, guys. There's tons of production channels, but rarely any good songwriting channels. Forever the underrated dicipline lol

[@SongTownUSA]

Glad you enjoy it! Write on! ~CM

[@landonmatthew]

Golden content, thanks for the encouragement. Just makes me appreciate my peers that much more.

[@ronnyskaar3737]

You guys are so straight and relatable. Great!

[@SongTownUSA]

thanks!

[@TAYLORHARTMSC]

Y'all, thank you for doing this podcast! I found it this week and have watched at least 10 of them! Such great and credible insight!

[@SongTownUSA]

Does our hearts good to hear that. ❤️ Write on! CM

[@TAYLORHARTMSC]

@@SongTownUSA Will do! I was checking out your site and membership. I’d imagine a lot of the community is geared toward country, but I see you’ve got Mike Murray on the coach team. I’m writing in the Christian space. Do you have a lot of other CCM/Worship-only writers in the community?

[@SongTownUSA]

@@TAYLORHARTMSC We do. Check out our Christian Edge group that has members working monthly with a top publisher. You write for artists in that space. If you nail an assignment you can get your song pitched. songtown.com/edge-groups/christian/

[@TAYLORHARTMSC]

@@SongTownUSA Very cool!

[@daveandthebox8119]

Great segment here. Makes so much sense. Thanks for sharing this information. Thank you both for what your doing for us 🤙🏼😊

[@SongTownUSA]

Glad it’s helping. Write on! Clay

[@QBellowMusic]

I've gotta start forming that group to come up with, thanks guys!

[@EricJohnson-qo7nz]

Always refreshing hearing you guys chat! Thanks for the continued encouragement and wisdom!

[@SongTownUSA]

Love reading this! CM

[@jimmystuckeysongs3859]

Thanks Marty & Clay for this huge truth nugget...key here for me at least is what Marty said..."You Haven't Earned That Yet"...this is the ingredient many of us forget to use in our cooking...including yours truly. Writing something our peers notice as exceptional is the magic recipe, then writing in stronger rooms will come organically. Just Sayin' Y'all..!

[@SongTownUSA]

When you're working towards a goal and you are ready, the door has a way of opening.

[@dandtintennessee7675]

I have to admit that I'd love to sit down and write with Vince Gill. In my opinion that guy is in a league all his own. He stored at the storage place I worked at when I worked in Nashville but I always missed him by just a few minutes.. lol..

[@JoshSimpson-u9j]

I get that and definitely you should have to earn to get in that room. But at the same time I personally have a lot of admiration and respect for people that are successful but I never get nervous bc I honestly don’t look at anyone as better than me. If your a nervous person have a drink and have fun. But even if your around someone famous they started out somewhere as well. Be confident in who you are, but always be teachable.

[@SongTownUSA]

Great approach. Write on! CM

[@levongraymusic]

Learned this lesson the hard way. Even tho I got a hit quicker than people usually do, It still didn’t mean people knew me or thought I had paid my dues. Truth is, I knew nothing lol

[@SongTownUSA]

I think you knew more than you think! That was a great song Levon! CM

[@levongraymusic]

@@SongTownUSA lol thanks man fr 🙏🏾

[@rodbarker6598]

Ive been watching a lot of these videos for me Im just an old guy with a hobby of writing ai generated songs, so Im nobody as a songwriter, now one of the obstacles I have a hard time getting around is I think there are two sides to a song, the lyrics and the sound, and in my view, the delivery and sound trumps the lyrics every time even though its a dance of the two, its seems to me writers put so much emphasis on the power of the lyrics when I feel if it is not delivered in hit song style it's dead basically becoming a poem how it is sung in what arrangement is what makes the lyrics good, Ive looked at a bunch of hits and the lyrics don't say much at all in so many of them. Having said that I don't really understand the grading of writers, is it they are just witty and know a lot of words, are they word-perfect poets writing elaborate stories, I feel you can learn technique and structure in a classroom, but wit and connecting words from your imagination is where hit songs are formed and then delivery seals the deal, ai generators really show this as the same lyrics can be sung in 20 different styles and in one cut its hooky great and the other 19 sound like the lyrics are bad because they are sung totally different, its all interesting as when I research what guys are saying are great lines often they look like another line to me. Anyway, enjoying the videos and picking up what I can.

[@aledojustajones]

😊

[@rexchiquine6049]

I must be doing something right,,,i play tennis also happy new year boys,,,

[@BobBeckley-by2sy]

Clay, when you tell your Sara Davis story, you never mention the person who came up with the hook, produced the record, and probably came up with a lot of the melody. I forget his name right now, but Sara did mention him in an interview on SongTown. To be fair, he was the one writing down.

[@SongTownUSA]

Gayle had a publishing/development record deal at that point. So, I wouldn’t say that Dave Pittenger was writing down. Most staff writers want to write with signed artists and other staffwriters. That's a smart strategy. My story was about how Sara and Gayle met and moved up together. Starting at ground zero. We have a full interview with Sara on the SongTown website you can watch with more details than I could cover in this short discussion. Also Sara and Gayle are both great melody writers. I couldn’t assume who came up with what. Also, abcdefu was produced by Pete Nappi . He was not a writer on the tune. :) -CM

[@BobBeckley-by2sy]

@@SongTownUSA Thanks for clearing that up. Interviews don't always bring in all the facts.

[@SongTownUSA]

@@BobBeckley-by2sy Thanks for asking so we can reveal more!

[@DB-rr1eo]

I'm curious about how you deal with having your ideas and lines shot down and shot down over and over? How do a group of writers get on the same page? Is there a protocol of some sort?

[@SongTownUSA]

That could be a couple things. Hard to know from the outside. But some people want to be in control and shoot down ideas they don't come up with. Or maybe your ideas need to be better. Or maybe your ideas are good but they don't see it. Either way, it doesn't sound like that situation is one you'll flourish in. Write with more people and find people you click with. SongTown press has a book on cowriting if you think that could help. Write on! CM

[@shanelanford]

This confirms what I have thought intuitively since joining Songtown earlier this year. Good stuff.

[@rexchiquine6049]

They gave me a write up at my job at the car wash Vegas airport,,, actually they just fired me with no warning,,,

[@SongTownUSA]

Ha!

[@TCOBaG]

Couldn't "writing down" be a little like playing music with someone who's not at your level? Meaning, everyone has something to offer, something different, that might be helpful - not Federer/Marty different levels, but for me at least, I have had fun playing with others who aren't at my level (TBC not all that high either!) and have learned and grown from either something they shared or from showing them stuff which helped me gain more confidence and feel good about helping. I feel I need more practice at co-writing in general to prepare for any "writing up" opportunities. All that said, wanna cowrite? ;-)

[@SongTownUSA]

Great points. I think we have the most fun and get the best results most of when we are writing with others we respect and appreciate. I think the big takeaway I learned after years in the business, is that you don't have to write with someone that is already having major success in order to find it for yourself. :) ~CM

[@TCOBaG]

@@SongTownUSA a great lesson to learn, and thanks for passing that along. It gives me hope.

[@PaulZimmerman-t4k]

Avril Lavigne was ABCDEFU a hundred times better 20 years ago