Don’t Digg Baloney

As part of my research for writing this blog, writing my column for the Muse’s Muse and Twittering about songwriting tips, I tend to spend a lot of time online looking at other songwriting websites and blogs.

What I’ve noticed is that people mean well, but sometimes they are giving incorrect information or selling something as a “how to” write something, when it is clearly just “my way”.  It’s hard for a beginner songwriter especially to know what is true and what is simply someone’s opinion.

For instance, I read a blog just recently that stated that in a chorus, you must have two distinct phrases and then they should repeat.  The blogger also stated that you should also have the hook in the chorus.  Well, the truth is that this is not always the case!  You could simply go through a list of your favourite songs and find that most don’t follow these so-called “rules”.  Now this person is probably just trying to be helpful, but it would have been better for him to say:  “this is one way you might write a chorus”.  And that would be helpful!  And where did I find this tip for writing “better” songs?  On Digg.com.  That means that people are reading these blogs and deciding that they are important enough to "digg" them and pass them on to others.

Please do not take ANYONE’s tips (not even mine!) as gospel.  They should simply be thought of as one approach to your songwriting.  You should always be suspicious of someone who tells you “THIS is how you write a song.”  The internet is full of information, but you have to decide for yourself if the information is valid or simply someone’s idea of the truth.

Research.  Some will make statements that simply aren’t true, or use incorrect terminology or musical references.  There are legitimate sources for information on musical terms and music theory, for instance.  Find out what they are and double check when you’re not sure of something.

More is better.  If you see the same tip in more than one place, it’s probably because it’s a good tip.

Trust your gut.  If something doesn’t seem right to you, ignore it.  If it seems ridiculous, it probably is.

Everybody thinks they can tell you how to write a song.  Listen to their work if they have any online before you decide if they are worth paying attention to.  Check their references.  When they claim that they can guarantee you’ll write a hit, email and ask them to list their hits!  You can go to websites like BMI and ASCAP and check their names.  Have they even REGISTERED a song, let alone written a hit?

And last, but certainly not least, do not give money to someone before you have thoroughly researched their legitimacy.  I had a guy who sent me a letter from Nashville EVERY YEAR for 10 years, telling me how he was going to get my song (which he would incorrectly name every time!) to top artists in Nashville for the measly sum of several hundred dollars.  I laughed and dumped it in the recycling box every year.  I’m nobody.  Why would he want my song so badly?  Because he didn’t!  He wanted my MONEY so badly :-).

IJ

The Bridge – Somewhere Between Here and There

There are plenty of songs out there without a bridge that survive quite well, thank you very much.  However, let’s look at this special part of the song form and get an idea of how to make the best use of it in your songwriting.

First of all we need to identify what a bridge actually is, and one of the best ways to do that is by pointing out some more “famous” bridges in popular songs.  Think about the song from The Wizard of Oz called “If I Only Had a Brain”.

I could wile away the hours
Conferring with the flowers
Consulting with the rain
And my head I’d be scratchin’
While my thoughts were busy hatchin’
If I only had a brain

There are three couplets or rhymes in the verses:  hours/flowers, scratchin’/hatchin’ and rain/brain, and six lines in the verses, with shorter, more punctuated notes.

In the bridge, the notes are longer and the chord structure changes, even including a slight modulation or key change before going back to the original key:

Oh I-I-I could tell you why-y-y-y
The ocean’s near the sho-o-o-re
I could think of things I’d never thunk befo-o-ore
And then I’d stop and think some mo-o-ore

Although not as significant in this particular song, quite often the bridge creates a whole different perspective or “step back” from the rest of the song.

Let’s take a look at a more contemporary song;  Sheryl Crow‘s “My Favourite Mistake“.

This is a typical “break up” song:

I woke up and called this morning
The tone of your voice was a warning
That you don’t care for me anymore

Most of the verses detail the events that are taking place, the singer pointing out the evidence of an impending break up.  The bridge, in contrast, is more philosophical.

Well maybe nothing lasts forever
Even when you stay together
I don’t need forever after
But it’s your laughter won’t let me go
So I’m holding on this way

In this particular bridge, not only is it quite distinctive musically, but it’s a great example of how the lyrics take a step back and give a over all view of the rest of the song.  However, bridges don’t have to have lyrics either.  Sometimes a musical bridge that takes off in a new direction has the same effect as a lyrical bridge.  One example of a music-only bridge is in Coldplay‘s song “Viva La Vida“.  It changes chord progressions and then the only vocal you hear is “oh, oh, oh, oh, oh”.  (Well, they’re NOT lyrics :-)).  Then it comes back to the last chorus.  And the famous song “Dust In The Wind” has a musical bridge featuring a string section!

So the main purpose of a bridge is to provide musical and lyrical contrast, and sometimes to set things up lyrically for the end of the song.

Years ago I took a weekend songwriting workshop through The Songwriter’s Association of Canada where one of the workshop leaders, a songwriter who had had success on his own and with a band, said he hated bridges and didn’t see the point of using them.  Many songs do just fine by having a middle-eight or musical break using the same chord progression as the verses or chorus. And while many famous bands and artists over the years have only rarely used bridges in their songwriting, I think they can be quite effective in the right song.

If your song is feeling a little repetitive after a couple of verse and choruses, try to experiment with a change in chord progressions and lyrics (if you like!) and see if you can come up with your own bridge.

IJ

Signing To a Major Label Ain’t What It’s Cracked Up To Be

 

For many years now, the deepest desire of many bands and artists has been to find themselves signing a contract with, say, Warner Music or one of the other “big five” record labels in the US, and walking home with a pocket full of dough and a bright future ahead.

On every music site on the web, independent bands and artists are asked if they want to be signed to a label and you can bet your bippy that most of them click off the “yes” box.  Signing a major label contract is the holy grail of many an artists’ life.  And most of them have no idea what it means.

I speak, of course, from the outside because I have never signed a contract myself.  However, I personally know people who have, and from the artists’ perspective, I can tell you that it ain’t always a sweet deal.

It is a well-known fact now that record labels made a whole lotta cash from old blues artists and their music years ago, hardly sharing a penny with those who actually wrote the songs or performed on the recordings. A lot of these blues men ended up poor and on the streets because they were only given a very small lump sum to sign away the rights to their music.  Many of them couldn’t even read or write, let alone understand that they were being taken advantage of.  In the meantime, these record labels made millions from them.  And as labels themselves over the years have swallowed up smaller labels and have turned into big, belching conglomerates making millions and millions from their artists and bands year after year, it appears that they’ve gotten greedier.

First, let me explain to a degree how an artist or band contract works.  This would not necessarily apply to older contracts with well-established artists, as contracts get re-negotiated over time.  But for newer bands and artists, it works something like this:  you sign over the rights or part of the rights to your songs and they give you a few million dollars.  Sounds good, eh?

Actually, they don’t give you a few million dollars in the end, because every time you record or do a tour or need promotion, etc., they take that out of your few million.  And then they expect you to pay it all back.  So you really don’t have much control over the money they “give” you, and in fact, it’s more like a loan.  In the end, what they are really doing is putting some money towards your career and then expect you to pay it all off.  In the meantime, you have to live off that money.  If there are, for instance, five of you in the band, that’s five people who need food, clothes, a place to live, and every other ordinary expense you can imagine, all coming out of that one lump sum of money.  That’s besides the cost of recording, touring, promotion, etc.  That few million runs down pretty quickly.  And you OWE it back to them.

So not such a hot deal, eh?

But wait a minute.  You’re making money off the tour and the record sales, right?  But the label decides how much of it goes towards your “loan” and how much they stuff their coffers with.  And now, as it turns out, there are even cases where if you make money from downloads, they take almost all of it.  An example is in a story on Wired Magazine‘s website where Tim Quirk, who knew a little bit more about digital music services than the average joe, found out that his band’s label, Warner Music, was doing just that.  While he figured out that his band made some $12,000 from albums distributed digitally, Warner Music only paid them $62.47.  That’s right, sixty-two dollars and forty-seven cents.

It’s no wonder that record labels have built themselves such a crappy reputation with the general public.  They are seen as bloated and greedy.  And they are.  Unfortunately, the bands and artists signed to them are stuck with a contract and a big loan to pay off.  So if you are not signed to a big label, count yourself as lucky.

Just my humble opinion, of course 

IJ