Target writing

[ping]

Just a thought on this target writing idea.I just read the email I received from taxi on this.Yea it's good to have a plan but let's not forget thatmost of the songs we hear on the radio are wanting to put it nicely. I'm a country rock song writer but I have to tell you that I may be compelled to go out and buy 1 or 2 new Cd's a year!!Out of all the top 40 tunes released all year that's not saying much. The point is we all want to make some money but why emulate crap???Nashville is broken and there are big changes in the wind for the music industry future. I'll stick to writing from the heart and sell my music to the people who really believe in it, not to those who believe it fits the flavor of the month cookie mold.Dave Pingel

[coachdebra]

The point is we all want to make some money but why emulate crap???I don't believe that is what Michael is saying -- at all. This is a basic business principal. You are going to be more successful in ANY business if you know whether there is a market for your product. Identifying the market. Knowing what they want, need, desire. Understanding how your product uniquely fills that want, need, desire -- that's the point! Just following your muse is fine if you are creating for yourself alone, but if you want to make a prosperous living doing what you love -- that ain't gonna cut it!And frankly, being intentional in your writing choices, choosing your genre, choosing your subject matter, using language that speaks more profoundly to your particular audience for your lyrics, learning your art and craft and developing your skill level is going to guide you to create much more powerful and effective songs. And isn't that what true artistry is about?

[tedsingingfox]

Nicely said.

[Casey H]

Quote:I'll stick to writing from the heart and sell my music to the people who really believe in it.Dave PingelThat's just the thing... If you ARE able to do that and people are buying your music, then there is no problem. Casey

[coachdebra]

I actually wrote the following a few days ago to a friend with regard to his wife's struggle to market her poetry:Hmmm... The essence of marketing any product (both artistic and otherwise) is to find where your passion and creative expression cross what is wanted and needed by the people.And as an artist we have to decide - which is more important - creating the art I want to because I want to and to please myself, or, Making an impact in the world with my art. Ideally what you create does both - but it is truly a negotiation. And there is an art to that negotiation.Warm regards,Debra

[hummingbird]

Quote:Just a thought on this target writing idea.I just read the email I received from taxi on this.Yea it's good to have a plan but let's not forget thatmost of the songs we hear on the radio are wanting to put it nicely. I'm a country rock song writer but I have to tell you that I may be compelled to go out and buy 1 or 2 new Cd's a year!!Out of all the top 40 tunes released all year that's not saying much. The point is we all want to make some money but why emulate crap???Nashville is broken and there are big changes in the wind for the music industry future. I'll stick to writing from the heart and sell my music to the people who really believe in it, not to those who believe it fits the flavor of the month cookie mold.Dave PingelSpeaking as one who has been dragged, kicking and screaming, from the altar of “not selling out my artistry” to the reality of “artistry includes networking, marketing and business”… I am far more creative, far more industrious and far more successful now that I focus on making music for the market than I ever was when I made music for the sake of making music. And I challenge anyone to say that the music I make now is any less an expression of my artistry than before. If it’s so ‘easy’ to write the ‘crap on the radio’ and it’s so easy to ‘sell out’ and make money with your music… then show me. Just ‘sell out’ for a year and write cookie cutter songs, and show me how easy it is to get them cut by a top artist and get on the radio. The reality is that if you are in the BUSINESS of making music, then you have to embrace the business part of it. And that means writing commercially viable music that the market is interested in. That is no different from any other business where you are creating and marketing something and looking for the 'buyer'. and.... what Debra said:Quote:And frankly, being intentional in your writing choices, choosing your genre, choosing your subject matter, using language that speaks more profoundly to your particular audience for your lyrics, learning your art and craft and developing your skill level is going to guide you to create much more powerful and effective songs. And isn't that what true artistry is about? Hummin'bird

[squids]

Well, I'd hesitate to say anything in the top 10 right now is gonna impact the world.... but certainly some music has. It's a rare thing.As for the rest, I think there are probably a few lucky, lucky individuals who have the talent and a common 'sense' of what people want to combine them instinctively. There are several examples of that in history, literature, etc. Nearly all of them struggled with cold sweats wondering if they were insane, too, not exactly a comfortable way to live. The rest? Well, the rest can either write what makes their close circle happy and therefore themselves happy too or write what makes a wider majority happy and find happiness in it. That takes homework. Finding your market, staying ahead of it, anticipating, planning, thinking.If we're really lucky, we find success in larger numbers while finding happiness too.

[deantaylor]

No one says that you cannot do some of both. Write some songs for the 'market'. Write some for yourself.

[arkjack]

Its also one of those things that cut both ways. I've tried the targeted writing and agonized over trying to perfect a song, only to submit it and have it knitpicked to death even further to the point that I lost confidence of it being usable at all. I think once I get back into the groove I'll be focusing less on the targeting and focusing more on the creative, especially form the aspect of making recordings. It seems easier and more 'fluid' to prolifically create and then decide if the end result can find a home, than to pick a home and try to create something for it. Of course, my success ratio is dismal and doesn't speak for much, but I've tried all approaches.ArkJack

[timbehrens]

Bear in mind, this is a comment from someone who has not had a lot of success so far, but it would seem to me that one thing that makes music marketable and successful is that it has some element that people can relate to... something about it that strikes a chord, be it a hook, or the subject matter, or something as simple as a groove that gets everyone tapping their feet. I think the challenge is to write with those things in mind, and that the artistry comes from finding your own unique stamp to put on it. Something that people can still relate to, that is marketable, but is still definitively your own take... your own voice.