Should Songwriters Put Their Songs Out There?

One of the questions I get most from beginning songwriters is whether there’s any risk or problem with getting their songs out there on social media, streaming services, websites or any other ways that songs can be heard by (hopefully) large numbers of people. It’s an interesting concern to me because, in my experience, the
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What You Can-and Can’t-Do with Your Finished Song Demo

Running a recording studio for the past two decades, I’ve recorded songwriting demos for GRAMMY-winning songwriters, major music publishers all the way down to first-time songwriters. One of the things I’ve noticed is that for newer songwriters there’s often confusion about what a demo can be used for. Strictly speaking, your professional song demo is
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How Songwriters Can Pitch To Publishers Who Don’t Accept Unsolicited Material

One of the seeming ironies of the music business is that we’re told music publishers are constantly looking for great songs but, at the same time, most major music publishers have a policy of NOT accepting unsolicited material. As an up and coming songwriter, this can seem at the very least confusing and worse yet,
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Four Advantages for Songwriters Starting Their Own Record Labels

Above and beyond the wailing and gnashing of teeth that accompanies most conversations about the changes in the music industry, it’s worth mentioning that it has never been easier to make and distribute your own recordings. Choosing the glass half full perspective, I’ve decided to focus on some of the exceptional advantages available to you
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Four Reasons Why Every Songwriter Should Visit Nashville

For any songwriter interested in furthering their professional career, the “industry towns” that come to mind are New York, Los Angeles and Nashville. The reason Nashville stands apart in my mind is that while New York and Los Angeles have a high concentration of songwriters, they also happen to have a high concentration of many,
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Three Ways To Make Being Your Own Publisher Make Sense

So often as songwriters we hold the publishing deal out there as some kind of holy grail. I understand the mindset as so much of our work is solitary and the kind of industry acknowledgement that a publishing deal represents can be a very tempting proposition. In fact, signing with a publisher is a business
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Three Things To Do Before Your Meeting With A Music Publisher

For songwriters early on in their careers, getting a face to face meeting with a music publisher can represent the first major step towards connecting with the music industry. Not knowing how to prepare for a meeting like this can create genuine anxiety. To help you avoid this, I’m going to suggest a few things
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All Good Things…

Whelp… After over 150 posts on songwriting, studio work and the music business, I’ve decided to step away from my blog to purse new avenues for my songwriting and teaching. That being said, I’ve worked very hard to make sure that most, if not all, of these posts have what they call “evergreen” information. This
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