Is "Good Enough" Good Enough?

[wta]

I've got a GREAT book by Jason Blume called "Six Steps to Songwriting Success", if you don't have this book, get it, if you know a songwriter that doens't have it, get it for them for Christmas as its industry standard and required reading by many A&R folk AND Taxi screeners if I'm not mistaken... The follow is a quote from Justin Wilde who has cuts with Ray Charles, Loretta Lynn and many others... While working A&R for RCA he would listen to tapes on his long drive home from work and this is what he had to say... "This was all the time I needed to assess the sound of the demo and the opening two lines of lyric and melody. In these few seconds I could pretty much decide if I was listening to something special enought to bring to my boss' attention." I reread this today and thought that not only does Justin think like this but EVERYBODY thinks like this. If the song doesn't come out with a BIG BANG I'm hitting the forward button, channel changer or whatever to move to the next song. It's ruthless and without an ounce of concern for how much time and effort the artist put in to the song. Not an OUNCE of concern for anything except does this song grab me... I thought this might be a good reminder as we trudge through the trenches of music writing, recording and production because it is all for not if we can't break through the first barrier of gaining interest with the openings of our music... wta

[hummingbird]

It is an excellent book, and when I read it I wished I had read it years earlier - but perhaps I wouldn't have listened... because I was totally in love with my work and thought every word and note was gold because that's the way it came to me. It took me a long time and a lot of rejection to realize that songwriting is a craft that I needed to learn. I recommend it often.If we're lucky, Jason will be at the Road Rally again this year

[ggalen]

It's true.When I listen to songs, I realize my mind works like that: if I don't feel something good within the first chords, I get wary and give it a few more seconds, and if nothing changes, I stop and move on.I bet we all do that, unless we a listening as a favor to a friend.

[toddt]

Maybe I'm different, but it's all about the chorus for me, so I'll at least give it til then...+1 on Jason Blume's book though wta - it's a great starter.

[ggalen]

On further reflection, I'd have to say that I do listen longer when the artist has delighted me in the past, or has a great reputation.And I am even less patient when the song comes from a musician whose music generally doesn't do anything for me.

[wta]

I used to be more likely to listen to a whole album if I liked the band or artist but I'm not like that anymore and I wonder if its just me or if the world if getting faster and less patient. Maybe artists just put out albums in the old days but it seems since the late 80's albums were "singles" wrapped in "filler". I reminise with Led Zepplin's first album, ah.. any album, the Beatles, Pink Floyd... man I miss the old days. Today I am sckeptical of anything that's released knowing it could be hit or miss. Maybe I'm just more picky? Maybe I just am around music SO much that I'm numb, who knows but I am VERY thankful for my songwriting friends and fellow music producers who can give me honest feedback on when my work is less than excellent. I'm still aiming at the bulleye with an honest heart and I've found Blume's book and advice to be of top value. If its label A&R or Taxi screeners there is one goal, find those who produce excellence. Why? Because the compitition is to serious those who need music will only take the very best. Why? Because what they choose is a reflection on them and that is the bottom line in my mind... Can I make industry people excited to stand beside my music as a reflection of them... This is the bottom line...

[gongchime]

The verse doesn't need to be as compelling as the chorus but it needs to be compelling enough and you can tell if someone has their songwriting chops together if they've written a good enough verse. If they can't write a good enough verse how the hell are they going to pull through for you with a brilliant chorus? And before the verse? What indicators are there that someone hasn't got it together? Making me wait through more than 4 measures of intro or worse a double/triple/quadruple intro divided into separate sections. And one more thing, if you're still trying to break in, you've got no business writing a double verse before the first chorus either unless you enjoy shooting yourself in the foot.

[toddt]

Aug 27, 2009, 4:45am, gongchime wrote:The verse doesn't need to be as compelling as the chorus but it needs to be compelling enough and you can tell if someone has their songwriting chops together if they've written a good enough verse. If they can't write a good enough verse how the hell are they going to pull through for you with a brilliant chorus? And before the verse? What indicators are there that someone hasn't got it together? Making me wait through more than 4 measures of intro or worse a double/triple/quadruple intro divided into separate sections. And one more thing, if you're still trying to break in, you've got no business writing a double verse before the first chorus either unless you enjoy shooting yourself in the foot.I'm a late convert to the last point, but hear hear.

[wta]

I'm from the school of thought that the intro, verse, chorus, bridge and outra all has to be top notch and each being compelling, expressive and making the listener want not only to get to the next part but to rewind the song and listen to it all again. How long a part is is only relevent to that unique part, if a verse needs to be a double verse because its so amazing then it needs to be irrelevent of if the person has "made it" or not in the industry. Most people haven't the foggiest clue what a good intro, verse or chorus really is, they just know if what they're listening to is compelling. We need to look at each part from an industry perspective without doubt but the mindset that one part of the song is more important than the other is why there's so much middle of the road music, imoh. thats what I love about Blume's book. He doesn't call out any "hard and fast" rules but gives advice while leaving room for his readers to decide what is going to be best for each specific song. He's a proven teacher with a truckload industry time in and repected by many of the top record companies. The thing that qualifies a teacher in my head is who in the industry is backing him and Blume is stacked with top music industry leaders and the folks who have contributed with info in his book are some of the top hit makers in the world. Can you tell I love this book?

[BraveNote]

OK, so, I'm reading the TAXI Custom Critique with all it's standards and preferences for melody, lyric, structure, etc...etc..... I can't help but ask why TAXI, I mean, with all the years and information TAXI and it's full time members have accumulated from the needs and wants of Maj. labels, can't become a hit making machine itself....Here, it's really not about formula because formula is what the movers and shakers of the industry already know and have. It's what they preach every day.I think everybody on this thread and just about any long standing member of TAXI could tell you what ingredients make for a great Pop/Rock or Country song. We've all heard it before. Let's take a couple of decent musicians with good chops and maybe a few fmle vox, do a little homework and submit the goods. How could it loose? Then the question would be, submit them to whom? And when? Don't any body here forget payola. Yes, bribery. Remember ? and The Misterians? 96 Tears? What about Frank Sinatra? We're part of a machine in existence that produces top rate music for film and video and "hit songs" as well. The payola part of the equation has, through the years evaporated on most avenues of the industry and that's in essence one of the reasons hit songs aren't as plentiful.As a community, we can no longer view the markets and industry the way it has worked mechanically in the past. even the recent past of say, five years ago. The Pop icon has become transparent and even non-existent with the exception of a handful of major artists signed to only a few gargantuan record companies.The industry has gone global and has fractured itself into splinters and pockets of controlled entities. The song writer/artist has been swallowed up into a big meritocracy of alsorans. It takes big investments on behalf of the RC's to groom an act/artist/band/songwriter and like the banks, are unwilling to initiate commitment the way they did in the recent past.If we don't start fires on the grass-roots levels, I believe there's little or no hope for the industry as we know it today. Song themes need to change to appropriate and reflect what's going on socially, politically and economically. Writers need to forge relationships with investors who can marry with the same principals that the artist/songwriter has. Not visa-versa. The strength, persistence and tenacity of the songwriter must not buckle under to the whims of the establishment (music industry) no mater what the lure to fame and recognition. We need to remind ourselves, the music making community, how important our responsibility is against the often whimsical and fickle industrial establishment.Enough for now.