TuneCorner

Get Your Music Ready for the Holidays! by Jake Smith

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Jake Smith is a TuneCore Customer Support representative and editor of the weekly newsletter

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I'll come right out and say it - I love Christmas music.  People like me are the reason soft rock radio stations play "Santa Clause is Coming to Town" October 31st through New Years Day.  Yet, in my adoration of these songs there lies jealous anger.  All around the world, radio stations have "All I Want For Christmas" and "Baby Please Come Home" on rotation 10-20 times a day for 2 straight months, EVERY YEAR.  Add in direct sales, TV and movie placements, features on compilations, and royalties from cover versions and we're talking some serious cash.  It's hard to imagine why the songwriters behind these classics would do anything but swim in their coins like Scrooge McDuck.

What's to keep us from using our talents to cash in on the Holidays?

It may seem a bit strange to discuss Christmas songs in August, but I mention it for a few reasons.

• I just read an article from Billboard News confirming that Bob Dylan will release his first ever Christmas album this October to raise money for     Feeding America.  If Bob Dylan was able to get himself in a Christmas state of mind while recording in hot summer months, so can you!
• Writing, producing, mixing, mastering, uploading and delivering a track can take time so you should always think ahead.
• Holiday songs are not limited to Christmas - patriotic song sales spike around the Fourth of July, spooky songs get a big boost around     Halloween, and tunes about poultry and mashed potatoes go through the roof on Thanksgiving (that may not be true... but you never know).

I am no expert on this issue (I did do an independent study on Christmas music in college... just sayin'), but these are some things you may want to think about if you plan to release holiday music into the world.

    1. Mix covers and originals.  You'll often see holiday records where established artists will perform standards but also include one or two songs they wrote themselves.  I'll listen to anybody's version of "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" at least once - This might lead me the other songs on their album, which might lead me to other non-holiday songs they've released.

    2. If you plan to write an original holiday song, spend some time studying the ones that have stood the test of time.  You may notice certain chord changes, riffs, or key phrases that pop up in a number of holiday tunes.

    3. Look for a fresh angle.  Understanding what makes other songs popular does not mean you need to rip them off do what's been done 1,000 times before.  Maybe you should try the exact opposite.  Flip a classic on its head with a unique instrumentation, write an album of Hanukkah Hip-Hop songs, combine different holidays within a single EP or a single track, whatever!  Hit people with something they've never heard before and you could end up tapping a market no one has before.

Who of you out there already has holiday tunes online?  Do any of you plan on writing or covering a holiday song this year?  Does anyone think they have a unique approach to holiday music, the likes of which the world has never seen?  Share your thoughts here on the TuneCore blog.

Nashville vs. NYC Songwriting by Cliff Goldmacher

Cliff Goldmacher is a songwriter, producer, engineer and the owner of recording studios in Nashville and New York City.  When he’s not writing songs, Cliff is also a regular contributor to EQ Magazine and Pro Sound News as well as a number of online blogs.  He can be reached at cliff@cliffgoldmacher.com

 

As a transplanted songwriter from Nashville to New York City, I’ve had the chance to observe, up close, the approaches to songwriting and the songwriting communities in both cities.  While there are of course many similarities, there are also quite a few differences. By the way, I feel I should mention that the following observations are really more my impressions than hard facts.

Differences Within the Similarities:

In this article, I’ll start with a similarity between New York and Nashville as it’s readily apparent and then explain how, within that similarity, one city differs from the other.  One of the first similarities is that both cities have huge songwriting populations.  The depth and breadth of talent in both places encompass many more genres that the obvious country music for Nashville and pop and rock music for New York.  There are great pop writers in the suburbs of Nashville and extremely accomplished country songwriters living in Greenwich Village.

Finding the Songwriters:

One difference between the two songwriting communities is how easy they are to locate.  Because Nashville’s artistic community is predominantly made up of singers, songwriters and musicians, it’s much easier to find the music/songwriting community there.  New York, on the other hand, has a wonderful songwriter population, but it’s mixed in with the countless other artists and creative types that live there and is thus less obvious.  In other words, it takes a little more effort to find the songwriters in New York, but believe me, they’re there.
 
Before moving from Nashville to New York, I’d taken several writing trips a year up to New York and, by a process or trial and error, I found a core group of NYC songwriters that became my go to people on every trip.  This way, when I eventually moved to New York, I felt like I was instantly part of the community even though I had to discover it little by little.   I highly recommend this approach for anyone considering a move to New York as it eases the transition and makes the entire process much less overwhelming.
 
Cowriting:

Although both New York and Nashville have large numbers of songwriters, cowriting is much more a part of the day to day routine in Nashville.  It’s not unusual for a Nashville writer to have five cowriting appointments in a week where they meet with a different cowriter every day in a publishing company office on Music Row.  This happens for several reasons.  First of all, as a hired staff songwriter for a Nashville publishing company, you are given a yearly quota of songs that you need to fulfill. The more songs you write,  the more quickly you’ll fulfill your quota.  Publishers make a real effort to connect songwriters they think will work well together and go as far as to set up cowriting appointments for their writers.  As a result, it’s fairly common in Nashville to be set up on a “blind date” cowrite. Secondly, even though you’re only credited with half a song for a cowrite, it’s easier to motivate yourself to write if you’ve got someone to collaborate with.  The act of scheduling appointments and being expected to show up significantly eases the stress of having to create on a schedule.  This approach seems odd to a lot of New York writers who are either artists themselves and used to writing with their own bands or are songwriters used to working with artists whose schedules are much less predictable.

Lyrics:

Staying with the generality that you’re writing country in Nashville and pop or rock in New York,  I’ve noticed  that the rules of lyric-writing between these genres and cities differ significantly.  In Nashville, the story is king.  This means that the lyric has to make perfect sense, the images are concrete and the story has a logical flow from beginning to end.  There’s not a lot of room for poetic, impressionistic lyrics that don’t have the arc of a story.  New York, on the other hand, while it certainly has its share of great songwriter/storytellers,  has a broader tolerance in its pop and rock genres for words that “feel” and “sound” good together.  Please don’t misunderstand.  It takes just as much skill to write a great pop lyric where the words convey the emotion of the song and carry the nuances of the melody as it does to write a great story in a country song, but it’s a different skill set.  I’ve found that switching from one approach to the other can be creatively liberating and quite a bit of fun.  Also, it’s interesting to see how one city’s lyrical approach can bleed into the other’s.  In this way,  you can end up with country lyrics where the words in the story sound good next to each other or pop lyrics with the arc of a story to them.

Labels:

Speaking of artists, another similarity in the two cities is that they are both home to major record labels and their signed artists.  This alone attracts a huge number of songwriters to both cities.  The difference here is that country music artists are still largely dependent upon outside songs for their projects.  In New York, bands tend to write their own material and it is less common for these artists to go looking for outside songs.  Occasionally songwriters will be paired with these bands/artists in New York allowing the writers to end up with cuts on these acts.  Of course, all of these distinctions are lessening as more country artists write and cowrite their albums as well.

You Can’t Lose:

At the end of the day, both communities are great places to work and create.  Ironically, after living in Nashville, working as a staff songwriter and writing for the country market for twelve years, my first cut was with a New York writer and was recorded by an Irish tenor on Universal Records named Ronan Tynan.  In my opinion, it was the blend of our New York and Nashville songwriting sensibilities that came together to create that song.  What I mean by this is that somewhere between the soaring melody more suited to pop and the lyric that had more of a country attention to detail, we came up with a classical crossover song.  So, if you’re a Nashville writer thinking about working in New York (or vice versa) I’d highly recommend it.  Sometimes it’s the differences that create the best art. 

Questions or comments?  Share them here on the TuneCore Blog!

A Day In The Life (Touring with Paul McCartney)

by Rusty Anderson

Introduction (by Jeff Price)

A few weeks ago a gentleman named Rusty Anderson was in the TuneCore office - he was in New York for a few days on business, had an album he wanted to get into iTunes, but did not have the computer/net access to do it while he was traveling. As I was introduced to him through a mutual friend, I suggested he just stop by and have Taylor (head of Artist Support) help him out.

I met him here at the TuneCore office and asked him what business brought him to town.  He nonchalantly stated he was playing a gig in New York.  We talk a bit more and he mentioned that he was playing Citi Field.  I was not connecting dots and had no idea what Citi Field was, until two seconds later when Rusty says "You know, the new Shea Stadium".

"Why are you playing at Shea Stadium?"

"I'm lead guitar for Paul McCartney."

I can now officially state I am one degree away from a Beatle.  Something even Kevin Bacon could not have provided (I think).

As we talked further, I learned about how he has played on albums and performed live with other artists such as Willie Nelson, Elton John, and others.

I also learned that he is using TuneCore to distribute his second solo album "Born on Earth" - think raging guitar work surrounded by Cheap Trick hooks and Beatles' harmonies.

Paul made a great choice.

In any event, I asked Rusty if he would be willing to write an article for the newsletter about what it's like to be on the road with Paul playing to tens of thousands of screaming people - A Day In The Life so to speak, and Rusty was kind enough to do so. 

Please meet your fellow TuneCore Artist, Rusty Anderson.

 

(Note from Jeff: the picture was taken by my father - I assume between his fits of high pitched screaming -  of the giant screens that flank either side of the stage at Paul's gig last week at Fenway Park in Boston).

About Rusty:

Rusty Anderson has supplied guitar pyrotechnics live and on recordings for everyone from Regina Spektor to Elton John, Willie Nelson to Gwen Stefani.  Most notably, he has been Paul McCartney's right hand man for the last eight years in the studio and on record-breaking world tours.

Rusty's second solo album, "Born on Earth" is available now on iTunes (distributed by TuneCore).

Check out Rusty's website, his Facebook or Myspace pages, or follow him on Twitter.

A Day in the Life

New York City. August 7, 2009, 11:45 am - today I’m tired as hell (probably a temporary food coma occurrence from a late breakfast). We played at Fenway Park last night and the night before. What a cool, antique atmosphere that venue has. A friend of mine was jealous that we were playing there strictly because he's such a Red Sox junkie. I’m still trying to identify that particular shade of green - I guess that would be Fenway green! Paul was in great voice last night. The high C he belted out on the last note of the last song made everyone in the band look up in amazement.

It appears that I’ll have to try and switch rooms today because my hotel rule of staying away from construction, elevators and babies whenever possible has now been amended to include no intermittent internet and/or phone reception (ah, the digital age!).

I have the next few days off, which is a welcome chance to gather a little moss after a relatively intense grouping of shows, travel and long sound-checking (I even have a chance to write this!). Yesterday I woke up in Boston, got a fantastic, painful & long overdue deep tissue massage. Years of slinging a guitar over one's shoulder has its repercussions. Peter Frampton , who I saw at a show a few years ago (I’m a big Humble Pie - Rockin’ the Fillmore fan), told me he did some sort of traction therapy employing a doorway and a water bucket all because of his 50's, black, 3 pick-up Les Paul custom.

Anyway, after the massage I took a shower, packed up my bags and met the gang in the lobby. I spy my band mates (Abe, Brian and Wix) as well as the fantastic team of seasoned professional tour managers, travel managers, security, etc. - I suppose it's a reflection of Paul’s awesomeness that everyone's happy to be there and rock ready. I also just finished reading Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath and I must say I feel extra-incredibly fortunate to be playing music for a living, much less with Paul McCartney!

We get into a few black SUV thingies and drive a short distance to the stadium. Fenway Park, built in 1912, is different because it's right off of Boylston Street, a main drag in Boston, and you have an historic area with shops and bars right next to the venue as opposed to the standard industrial environment set up for 18 wheel trucks, lights PA systems, etc. We drive past the super-fans trying to look thru the tinted windows to see who's in there. We'll usually say hello if it feels right.

We drive in, greet many friends and colleagues (as you could imagine it takes a small high school of people to run a show of this size), find the band dressing room, set our stuff down and go to catering. As tradition dictates, this is pretty much the most social area - even for accountants, lighting screen genius inventors and semi-reclusive musicians such as myself.  The food is all vegetarian and it's fantastic. Kate, the server and sometimes chef is a wonderfully fresh-faced Scottish lass - the perfect interface for "Eat Your Heart Out", the catering company.

I lollygag my way up to the stage and find the band there fiddling about. Sometimes we have a freeform jam, which is always a gas, and sometimes Paul gets there before we initiate improvisation. If I remember correctly, we did have a jazzy jam that morphed into the delta blues. Paul showed up and we hugged and chatted a little as usual. He likes to warm up with a bunch of songs that we mostly don’t do in the set to keep it fresh… testing and getting a sound on all our instruments (basses, drums, electric guitars, acoustics, pianos, etc.).

Except for the sun glaring at us (I’m a bit of a cockroach and prefer the dark cracks and crevices to direct sun) it was a fun and productive soundcheck, as usual. We then went our separate ways. But always seem to find each other in catering (one must be careful not to eat much before a show - in fact Paul doesn’t eat after breakfast on show days!). In most big cities, like Boston and New York, we all have friends and family lurking about that must be tended to. In this case it was one of my best friend’s sister and her man. We hung out a bit then I snuck in a chance to watch MGMT, the opening act, from the stage.  It was great chatting with them the day before…a great bunch of guys. I probably ended up speaking with Ben the longest - being that he is a keyboardist and into FX pedals we bonded over the joys of electronics. Their set was really great. I’m a big fan of their songwriting and it was interesting to hear a more guitar-y approach to the tunes. I thought it had more of a sixties vibe then their record.

After catching most of MGMT's set I ran back thru the crowd to stretch out and get dressed. We have our little rituals of tea and wine and whatever else. We do some vocal warm ups and Paul comes and joins us at some point. This time the stage was light years away from the dressing rooms so we sing and walk our way to the SUV. As we get in the vehicle the gate opens into the street and I see a girl walking and sort of pretending not to look in. And we hear her say, “I saw him! Oh, my god that was him!”

We’re around Paul so much that we sometimes forget the effect he has on people that have never met him. We drive to the stage and get out, walk up the black wooden stairs to the back of stage left. We assume the huddle position - arm over arm - and Paul leads us thru a homemade prayer. I can’t speak for Paul specifically but I would say that none us are particularly religious. Having said that, this ritual has become very important as it aligns us to a higher power and with each other. When Scott, the stage manager, gives us the signal we walk up yet more wooden stairs onto the stage, into the lights and a bunch of screaming concertiers.

Space-time is now altered for the next 2.5 plus hours. I’ve been playing with Paul now since 2001 so part of me is used to this … a stadium full of screaming people, a small club full of screaming people or hundreds of thousands in front of the coliseum (or wherever) screaming. It’s an experience unlike anything else I could imagine, and, believe it or not, part of me is still back in catering talking to the NRBQ guys about cats and Phoenix, Arizona.

Any performer doing big gigs will start to notice that it's sort of a schizophrenic existence because of the drastic energy shift of going from relative isolation to a huge crowd. Paul counts off the first song, “Drive My Car” - Brian and I play the opening guitar riff in unison, Paul joins in on bass, Abe fills and we're off! Wix is playing the cowbell with his foot; Paul and I sing the verse...the tempo's feeling great. I hear Abe and Brian singing on the chorus and Wix's piano riff - it's that great rock and roll feeling. Somewhere in the second song I notice that my mind is getting stuck in tangents. Does that ever happen to you? Sometimes I am 101 percent in the moment like the previous night. Tonight I start to get a little lost in my head. Making eye contact with everyone in the band then grounds me and I’m back in my skin... a great place to be.

The night goes on in good form. Having this caliber of people to work with is such a pleasure. We play some new songs, some old songs, some new old songs. Nice work if you can get it, I must say. Playing music in a band is like making love - it's active and reactive. When the elements are right it's magnetic and everything else disappears into a state of rock and roll bliss.

One thing I’ve noticed is that the explosions and sparks keep getting bigger! After “Live And Let Die” has ended, my adolescent pyro desires are fully quenched. Shakey, the pyrotechnician has outdone himself once again! Fortunately, there was a nice cool breeze after that one and we can breathe again!

As usual, there were lots of signs in the audience. Anything from "my mom saw you in 1964" to "Paul, please sign my bleep". Also, shout outs to band members - tonight I saw an ego-stroking "Rusty rules" sign. Part of me is still thinking about the Grapes of Wrath...so many different perspectives to have, and sometimes all at once!

After the third encore and Paul’s stellar vocal climax, we head to the bus, high-five the best crew in the universe and begin the cardio-slow down process. Mike and John pour the champagne/margy/etc. and we toast and enjoy the magic rock and roll moment along a few significant others. We stop at the airport. Wix and Abe stay in Boston for a few extra days. Brian and I go with Paul and make our way to New York City in the private jet. The sick thing is - part of me is used to all this and part of me wonders - how in Santa Clause's name did I end up here?

- Rusty Anderson

Posted by TuneCore at 03:42 PM in Music, The Industry, Travel | Permalink | Comments (15) | TrackBack (0)

Taylor Simons is the director of Customer Support and Solutions.

I first tried out Jango Airplay back in April when I first heard about the service. I used my colleague’s group OMG!Michelle to create a free account since I am not in a band myself. The upload process was super easy and I didn’t have to make any changes or conversions to the MP3 I uploaded. I first purchased 1,000 guaranteed plays and found it pretty thrilling to watch the play count rise over the first few days.

The songs I uploaded were quickly being played side by side with songs from OutKast, Beyonce, Kid Sister, Usher, Snoop Dogg and tons of other legendary artists. I then started to receive comments on my band page like, “Do you have a my space??? I wanna collab on a track wit you if possible. I like your style :] hit me up!!!” from a user in Lompoc, CA. And “Stupid Song….” From Ralnesha in Roanoke, VA.

Hey, it's all feedback, I just may not be booking a gig for OMG!Michelle in Roanoke anytime soon!

I bought another 1,000 the second my first thousand ran dry. So with a total of 2,000 purchased plays, to date I have received 40 comments and acquired 46 fans with an extra 297 free plays coming from general rotation. What I found really cool was that the fans were coming from OMG!Michelle’s hometown, NYC, Cali, Europe, South Africa and more!

What’s even better is that Jango gives me a way to e-mail each fan directly from my Jango Airplay account. Jango also does a great job of providing you with reports by gender/age and which other artists your fans listen to. (See below).

All of this is really helpful because you can request that your song be played on stations that those relevant artists are played on as well. You can also target fans by geography, which may be a great tool for getting some extra promotion around your tour dates.

In addition, Jango provides you with an artist page that allows you to upload pictures and a bio and permits listeners to leave you comments. There are many other cool features with Jango such as targeting fans by gender, age and more. Take advantage of our great relationship with Jango by purchasing guaranteed airplay at heavily discounted rates.

My one complaint about Jango Airplay is that I personally find it to be a bit addictive and they have yet to include a “Got an Airplay addiction? Call this toll free number” on their site; so purchase plays at your own risk…

Wayne Cohen is a veteran multi-platinum selling ASCAP hit songwriter, producer, educator, and owner of publishing/production company Stand Up Songs.  He also teaches individual and group songwriting tutoring sessions at his NYC Stand Up Studio and via Skype.

Part I: To Co-Write or Not to Co-Write, that is the question...

...Whether it is nobler to toil by one’s self, or share your gift with another writer, thereby potentially exponentially expanding your songwriting and song networking reach. Well, the good news is that you can do both, which I like to do for several reasons.
 
I like to write by myself so that I feel I can really explore every aspect of an idea, so I won’t get lazy, and obviously, because it can be twice as lucrative if you write a hit alone.
 
But maybe you come up with a million melodies and no lyrics, or you have lyric ideas but no melodies, or maybe you’ve got a million melody and lyric ideas and can’t organize them enough to pull together a coherent song easily, or you’re a visionary producer/track writer/multi-instrumentalist but you need help with lyrics and or melodies; maybe you’re all of these and you just want a break from yourself. Have no fear, co-writing can be good for you.  At worst, it might be a good way to get out of your own face for a while.
 
So I co-write, because it can be invigorating and create surprising results, and there are some obvious advantages: it expands your network for pitching, and expands your mind about the kinds of songs you can write. For me the beautiful thing about co-writing is that I don’t have to be all the people in the band I’m not (the female singer, the drummer, the amazing guitarist, etc.), and still can come up with something to be proud of – something I could never have predicted, or that either of us might have written, without a collaborator.
 
These days co-writing can come in several forms:

• Melodist meets lyricist
• Melodist meets lyricist meets track writer
• Melodist/lyricist meets track writer

With who and how to co-write:
 
I’ve always found it wise to collaborate with people who complement what my strengths. As much fun as it could be to be in the room writing with someone who does what I do, I find it’s more productive if you work with someone who does NOT do what you do (although I have written great songs with people who share my same strenghts and weaknesses, so go figure).  The greatest thing about co-writing for me is that you generally can never predict what will come out of the experience.
 
An effective co-write requires mutual trust and respect between collaborators. To foster 'singing the same song’ with my collaborators, after years of co-writing, I’ve found it useful to develop some simple ground rules which I call the COLLABORATOR’S CODE.  Much of this is unspoken, but I find things go much better, and faster, if I have this in the back of my mind while working with a partner.  Here in part one I’ll give you a preview of the code, and in part two I will delve into more code detail, and examine options for how to demo a co-written song.
 
But before we get to the code, I wanted to mention that when I collaborate I always like to think of it like I’m going to a party (which my mother taught me I should never do empty handed).  So, rule number one is to always show up with an idea.  This could be a subject, a title, a lyric, a melodic fragment (a hook is always good), basically anything that you feel passionate about that could be the basis of a breakthrough song.  Having said that, I’ve shown up to plenty of co-writing sessions with an idea only to end up writing something completely unrelated. But it’s all good, ‘cuz if I don’t use an idea I just file it away, and the good ones always have a way of coming back to haunt me until they write themselves.  If they don’t come back to me they probably weren’t worth much in the first place.  But I find it’s better if you always bring SOMETHING to a co-write, even if you discard it.

This brings me to one of the trickiest, challenging, yet potentially rewarding aspects of co-writing, which is selling an idea to your co-writer.  He or she, in effect, is the first audience for your song idea.  It’s tricky because you want your co-writer to respect your ideas but to contribute as well.  So my suggestion is to start by having some respect for your self and your collaborator by bringing an idea to a co-writing session that YOU like, so you can get behind selling it to your co-writer.

If you’re, deathly afraid of sharing what you think are ‘stupid’, ‘irrelevant’, ‘inconsequential’ or the ‘only great ideas I’ll ever have’, or if you think you’re ‘too good’ to co-write, check your ego at the door and GET ON WITH IT. Because, here’s the deal, no matter whether you write a #1 single or another song that sits on a shelf, you will LEARN something from the experience. Keep in mind, your co-writer is probably just as insecure or as much of an egomaniac as you are, so don’t be shy, you will still be who you are after you leave the room. And if worst comes to worst if you’re not happy with the results of the co-write you are within your rights to say, politely, to your co-writer (preferably followed by acknowledgement from them) that you’re going to take your idea back so you can write it by yourself or with someone else.  So, even if all you learn is that you don’t want to co-write with that particular person again, you will gain an invaluable perspective on your place in the songwriting firmament, simply because you are sharing YOUR ideas with someone else who is listening and responding. But it’s also possible you will get something more from the experience, a great song.

But watch out, co-writing can inspire friendly (and sometimes not so friendly) competition.  Some of my best work has come from passionate yelling and screaming interactions with co-writers fighting over a particular lyric or melody phrase.  The right kind of creative tension can produce good work, but it has to have mutual respect at its' core, otherwise it ends up being a grandstanding session that DOES NOT work.

I’m willing to try any collaboration once, if I or someone I respect (like a publisher, manager, producer, A&R person, music supervisor or artist) has a positive instinct about it.  If you decide you want to co-write, I find it’s usually good to go with your gut about whether you think you’ll click with the other writer, however you should allow a small percentage of your co-writers to be with talents that you never thought would be compatible with yours, just to keep you on your toes. Some of the greatest records have resulted from unconventional hybrids, so for example, if you’re an acoustic singer/songwriter why not see if you can vibe with an urban track writer?  You may end up with a hit record that neither of you could have written by yourself.

When I was signed to Sony Music I was put together with lots of co-writers and artists. Most of these bore good-not-great songs, but I still believe ‘nothing ventured nothing gained’. You just need to be sensible about your choices, before you make them.

Even if you do all the ‘right stuff’ to prepare for a co-write, don’t be too hard on yourself.  There will be days when it just doesn’t happen, even if ‘on paper’ a co-write looks like it should work just fine.  I find that I usually know within the first 30 minutes whether it’s going to work.  A word to the wise: if it ain’t happening I think it’s better to politely say something like “It’s great to see you today, but I have to say I think we’ve both written better songs, so I’d like to call this complete, and move on to something else.”  Be smart and size up the situation in advance.   If you’re both track writers and neither of you write lyrics, it’s pretty clear that you either need to not collaborate, or to include a lyricist!

So, in summary, some advantages of co-writing:

Coming up with something you would never have thought of on your own and potentially expanding your creative and song networking scope.  If, for example, if you’re a country songwriter, you might be able to expand your song networking scope by writing with an urban music track writer.

And here at long last, in usual order of my experience is the…

COLLABORATOR’S CODE:

1) Come with an idea  (Preview and imagine the result)
2) Get (not too) comfortable, celebrate your differences
3) Discuss objectives (Why does this song need to exist?)
4) Collaborate on creation
    a) Present ideas (let them go first!)
    b) Decide who’s doing what?  (melody, lyrics, track)
5) Dig down, stir it up, prove your passion
6) Keep the ball rolling (“ideas are usually a whisper, not a scream…”)
7) Strive for a tangible result (I like to know that I at least have a complete melody when I walk out of the room, with a title, so it does not have to be a complete song, just something that you can build on in the next session.)
8) Steps for next time

And when the song is done:

9) Define collaborators’ contributions (songwriter splits)
10) Decide how to demo it

New Developments in co-writing:

Lately the internet programs like Skype have made it possible to get the benefit of instant feedback and the spark of collaboration without having to spend time and money to travel. For example, I’ve been working with Riccardo Foresi, an artist from Italy.  The first time we worked together he was in NY but lately he’s been back in Italy and we’ve been writing utilizing the video capability of Skype as if we’re in the same room. I find that it’s still better if you start the relationship (or the song) in the same room, but with our most recent song, the collaboration took place entirely online.  Riccardo sent me some melodies and a track that he had started in Italy, for which I wrote a hook, title and lyric for the melodies in NYC, and then we tweaked it together over Skype. Truly an amazing experience.

By the way, you can hear some of these Skype session results by clicking here. And we chose tunecore to get Riccardo’s music out.

Next week:

The COLLABORATOR’S CODE in greater detail, including how to define collaborator’s songwriting contributions, and options for how to demo the co-written song. 

Thoughts, questions or comments?  Share them here!

You can contact Wayne here or by writing to wayne@standupsongs.com

Wayne Cohen, veteran multi-platinum selling ASCAP hit songwriter, producer and educator, owner of publishing/production company Stand Up Songs, also teaches individual and group songwriting tutoring sessions at his NYC Stand Up Studio and via Skype.

Part II: Tools of the trade

When I write, it can take 6 hours or it can take a year to complete a song.  To me the key to a great song is all about capturing a universal emotional truth and a momentary spirit and then crafting it until you as the writer can justify the existence of every melodic and lyrical phrase in the song.  Any of those elements can come and go in a heartbeat, so you better be ready for it when it does. Oh and fyi, let it flow, don’t be too hard on yourself if you don’t write it all in 6 hours.  I find that after 30 minutes I usually know if I’ve got something worth pursuing. If you feel you don’t have that in 30 minutes, it’s probably time to call that complete and move on to greener pastures.

Here are some of my capture and craft tools of the trade that you may find useful if you want to write a breakout song.

1) Go on input – absorb the world in and outside of you.  It’s in the blog you’re reading, the conversation you’re eavesdropping on, the incorrectly heard snippet of someone else’s lyrics you just heard, it’s in how you feel about that person you can’t stop thinking about.

2) Listen to ten of your favorite #1 charting records 100 times, dissect what makes the melody and lyric special to you. I find it’s good to start by analyzing the structure of the overall song.  Is the song a verse/pre chorus/chorus, or chorus/bridge/chorus kind of thing, or some other structure? Then I like to look at the chorus melodies, usually to see what makes the melody so hooky, and then do the same for the verses, bridge, etc. Then look at the rhyme scheme of the chorus lyric. Are they AB or AA rhymes, or some other rhyme pattern?  Make a summary of the overall arc of the lyric story. What makes the lyric/story urgent, what makes it universal? What grabs the listener at the start of the song - is it a lyric, is it a melody, is it a beat?  Which of those is most effective? Once you’ve done that, you should be pumped up enough to get in touch with your inner warrior so you can say to yourself  “gee I can write something as good as that..”.

3) Get a lyric writing book and write down every idea you have that you think is a universal emotional truth, the first building block you need for a breakthrough song. If you’re passionate about it write it down, don’t judge it. You never know how a lyric idea can develop into a full-blown song.

4) Get a digital voice recorder.  There are a lot of them out there, I happen to prefer the Olympus WC-331M. Same idea here as with the lyric writing.  It’s all about capturing those moments you sing that melody idea, or play something you didn’t even remember playing, that can get your breakthrough song started.

The story goes that it worked for Keith Richards, who back in the day had a cassette recorder by his bed, woke up in the middle of the night recorded the intro riff for ‘Satisfaction’, fell back to sleep and when he woke up had no memory of it.  Good thing he recorded it huh?

5) Have something you can build a simple beat with. GarageBand, any of the Apple loops jam packs are great, Pro Tools, Logic, Abelton Live, Digital Performer all now have software loops players, any kind of drum machine (Akai MPC is my old skool fave), are all options.  I find I end up programming most beats as opposed to using an existing loop because I want a very elemental beat so as not to distract from the writing process. I find the more lo-tech the better, just make sure it is something that programs or loops easily. To make that breakthrough song come to life it’s not just about the beat. It’s about what the melody and lyric are doing in conjunction with the beat. You can always spruce up the beat if necessary, when you produce the song..    

6) And remember, there is a songwriter inside of you.

Thembisa S. Mshaka is a 17-year veteran of the entertainment business. She is also the author of the comprehensive career guide Put Your Dreams First: Handle Your [entertainment] Business, available at www.putyourdreamsfirst.com.

There are few things I love more than a great question. Questions that are new to my ears and give me pause; taking my brain beyond thoughts provoked to truth spoken to power. Questions like these are right up there with Haagen Dazs on a perfect summer day.

Jake, the editor of this newsletter graciously invited me to contribute to this week’s issue. He posed a very thought-provoking question to me.

‘Have women been able to use these tools [including MySpace and YouTube] to their advantage or have they simply increased the pressure to fit a particular mold?

I had to read this repeatedly and turn it over in my head for over a week. Initially, it led to more questions: had self-doubt and second-guessing many women experience borne of institutional sexism found its way to the internet too? Or can women be who they want to be in cyberspace instead of embodying a patriarchal stereotype?

The more I thought about it, the more I arrived at  certain answers. Two challenges that all sites face are those of being personal and connected: to establish a bond that sticks, and lasts, with whoever logs on. Be grateful for the progressive men in your virtual world and social networks; they are making the Internet a better place one guy at a time (hats off, gents!). The bad news is, until sexism is wiped from the planet, it will continue to be practiced on the Internet. Cyberspace contact remains the ultimate cold call. At times,  virtual and impersonal nature of the medium even lends itself to furthering the objectification of women.

The more I thought about it, the more I arrived at certain answers. Two challenges that all sites face are those of being personal and connected: to establish a bond that sticks, and lasts, with whoever logs on. Be grateful for the progressive men in your virtual world and social networks; they are making the Internet a better place one guy at a time (hats off, gents!). The bad news is, until sexism is wiped from the planet, it will continue to be practiced on the Internet. Cyberspace contact At times, virtual and impersonal nature of the medium even lends itself to furthering the objectification of women.

The good news is women artists and entrepreneurs now have Web 2.0 on their side: With social networking and  user generated content, the Berlin Wall that stood between artists and consumers has in many ways fallen. Distribution, sales, professional development, instant marketing, instant feedback - All available to you. All digital.

So even though there are misogynist morons are still logging on, you can be whoever you want so long as you’re not infringing on the identity of another of course…and yes, you can be yourself. You can tailor and target your message (most likely your music or your business proposition) with laser-like efficiency. Don’t wear makeup? No problem. Is your monster budget more like the size of a mighty (albeit diminutive) action figure? In the land of homemade tracks and videos, your campaign can stand out because of the substance of your product—and how you roll it out instead of how much you spend. The constraints of connecting directly with your audience have been removed, but the work is now up to you build and sustain the fans that labels used to bring to you. Pop sensation Colbie Caillat is a bona fide MySpace discovery. She didn’t have to glam up or strip down to appeal to her audience. Colbie had this to say in her bio about the leverage the Internet afforded her in her negotiations with labels:

"Nothing much happened for a few months," she remembers. "Then I wrote this song called ‘Bubbly’ and put it up there and it got this huge reaction. I mean thousands and thousands of hits every day." In the end, she became the number one unsigned artist on MySpace for four successive months, garnering an almost unbelievable 10 million plays. Record labels started courting her and she signed with Universal Republic because, she says, they offered her total creative freedom. "The great thing about MySpace is that you can build up an army of fans and then when you go to a record company, there's no point in them trying to change what you do because it's already been tried and tested," she points out.

Not that a major label deal has to be the objective; R&B vocalist Mykah Montgomery is also building her story from the virtual ground up, with her single “I Just Wanna Go Outside” from her debut album Me & U on iTunes and a self-produced music video streaming online all as an independent (ME Records) without traditional, terrestrial distribution. Les Nubians have a comprehensive site for their creative endeavors, Nubiatik.com, and sell their catalog and merchandise there while they keep their global fanbase up to date on new music and performances.

But know this: direct access is no substitute for a solid product. In fact, it’s easier to spot a fraud online. Don’t let limited resources handcuff your presentation. Bad music or shoddy production is painfully obvious in the virtual space. MySpace and YouTube are the tip of the iceberg. As an artist, a presence on MySpace is vital until your following grows large and loyal enough to migrate them to your own social network, for example. As for YouTube, I even have a channel there, and I’m an author.

YouTube.com/ThembisaMshakaTV houses my original content, from press clips to my self-produced commercial—plus content from other sources related to my book.

On this new web, niche is queen, and it’s all in how you spin your silk. Oh yeah, Jake also asked me to offer up advice for new artists, managers and producers. Next issue, I’ll share some direct insight from women in my book that will give you the affirmation you need to make like a Black Widow and kill ‘em out there.

For Part II of this article, please click here.

Cliff Goldmacher is a songwriter, producer, engineer and the owner of recording studios in both Nashville and New York City.  Cliff is also a regular contributor to EQ Magazine and Pro Sound News.  He can be reached at cliff@cliffgoldmacher.com.

Let’s assume that along with releasing your music online, you’re also a budding recording engineer and would like to record your music with you as the acoustic guitarist.  Here are a few tips that I’ve gathered in my years of doing exactly that.  Like a lot of musicians, I tend to wear several hats in the recording studio.  Along with engineering and production, I do a lot of my own acoustic guitar work.  The issue here is that in order to effectively engineer and play acoustic guitar at the same time, I’m forced to record in the control room so that I can run my Pro Tools rig.  Over time I’ve cobbled together an approach to help me get a clean, full and detailed acoustic guitar sound without using an isolation booth or bringing in another engineer. 

As there are a lot of details to cover, I think it might be best to split this article up into two parts with the more technical information coming in part two.

To Plug In or Not to Plug In?

While it may seem like the obvious way to go, I’m not a fan of using on-board pickups in acoustic guitars when I record.  While it’s true that plugging in a 1/4” cable to your guitar and plugging the other end straight into your DAW will effectively remove all room noise from the recording, the sacrifice you make in tone is too great to justify.  There are quite a few great-sounding piezo electric pickups on the market these days and when run through a live PA, they can sound full, clear and even woody.  However, a large part of the sonic beauty of the acoustic guitar lies in the way the instrument pushes air out of the sound hole.  A plugged-in guitar is only translating the vibration of the strings and loses the essential “acoustic” nature of the sound.  On top of that, because acoustic guitar pickups are often designed with stage performance in mind there’s the likelihood of a slight hum or buzz which while unnoticeable on stage in a live venue can be extremely distracting when scrutinized in a studio recording.  All this to say, unless you’re consciously going for the particular sound that a plugged-in acoustic guitar gives, avoid the easy way out and try a few of the tips I’m suggesting below.

The Room

Let’s face it; there is no trick or secret that can take the place of a quiet room for recording. So let’s start with the obvious.  Do everything within your power to control the environment in the control room before you even get started.  You might want to put up some sound absorbing panels on the walls nearest your set up.  You can even go as far as to put sound diffuser panels on the ceiling above you.  Essentially, you’re trying to deaden the environment closest to you so you won’t be recording a lot of room sound with your acoustic.  While it’s fairly easy to add reverb to simulate different spaces once the guitar is recorded, it’s practically impossible to remove the sound of the room you’ve recorded in if it’s too present in the recorded sound.  The one place I like a hard surface is the floor.  There’s something bright and clear about the tone of the acoustic when the mic is picking up some of the reflections of the sound coming up off of the floor.   Also, distance yourself as much as possible from your computer to minimize the volume of the fan noise.  Of course, since you’ll be recording yourself, you’ll need to keep your computer within reach but you can always improve the odds by facing the microphone towards your acoustic and away from the computer.  And speaking of microphones…

Mic Choice/Placement

There are many, many microphone choices you can make when recording an acoustic guitar and each has its own merits.  For my ear, a large diaphragm condenser mic set in a cardioid pattern and pointed at an angle where the guitar neck meets the body at a distance of about six inches works best.  There are several reasons for this.  First of all, I like the broader spectrum of tone I get when I use a large diaphragm mic as opposed to a pencil mic. Secondly, the cardioid pattern focuses the recording field which helps remove the questionable environment of the control room. Finally, by not pointing the mic directly at the guitar’s sound hole, you get the fullness of the tone without all the low mid “woof.”  The proximity of the mic to the guitar also enables you to get a much higher direct sound to reflected sound ratio. As I mentioned above, make sure to angle the mic so that its back is toward your computer in order to minimize what is probably the loudest piece of gear in your control room.  If you’ve got a bit more budget than most when you put together your studio, you can also consider some sort of isolation cabinet for your computer but it’s not essential.

Check back for part II next week!

Jake Smith is a TuneCore Customer Support Representative and editor of the weekly newsletter

I am a big fan of the T.V. show, "Flight of the Conchords, so after hearing rumors that this season would be the show's last, I was more eager than ever to catch them live.  Unfortunately I couldn't get online until late in the evening, and by the time I got to Ticketmaster the seats were sold out.  Ticketmaster informed me tickets were still available through "Ticketnow," a resale company owned by Ticketmaster.  Here, the cheapest tickets I could find were being sold for three times the original price.  You snooze you lose, right?

Now, I've been going to concerts for a long time and I am no stranger to the scalping process.  If you want good seats (or any seats at all) and hope to pay anything close to face value, you might end up finding yourself sleeping in a tent on the sidewalk by the local box office in the pouring rain.  However for those of us who need to keep our jobs, that may not be an option. I am aware of sites like StubHub where people make their living buying and immediately reselling tickets for hot shows.  But for a company that already makes money from 11 types of "convenience" charges to also own an additional store where you are encouraged to scalp the tickets you just bought from them is just wrong.

Many of you have probably already heard the populist anger over this, with many big-name musicians getting behind the bullhorn.  Bruce Springsteen, The Smashing Pumpkins, and David Byrne are among the artists who have spoken out against Ticketmaster's latest antics, demanding their fans be reimbursed in full or part of the drastically increased prices.  Ticketmaster is facing a U.S. Senate judiciary committee investigation and $500 million in class action lawsuits in Canada (in Ontario it is illegal to resell tickets for higher than their original value).  Will anything come of the angry threats and pleas for justice?  It depends on whether or not scalping is illegal, which can vary from state to state and gets complicated when transactions take place online.

You'll be hard pressed to find much online defending these resale companies, but at the very least it is interesting to hear them try to justify themselves.  In an article from Canadian Business Magazine, a StubHub official makes this argument:

"Do you call the beer vendor at the ball game a beer scalper or the restaurant that sells you lobster at the 'market price' a shellfish scalper?  Of course you don't, though those entities are selling a consumer good for a markup over what they paid for it.  What makes tickets any different?"

Author Andy Holloway gives his own reasons for why he finds this statement bogus, but I would like to add that once Ticketnow and StubHub start including butter sauce, Old Bay and cartoon lobster bibs with every order they can charge me whatever they want.

Bob Lefsetz wrote an article about something we're likely to see a lot more of in the future - artists teaming up with retail giants and selling tickets exclusively in store.  Bon Jovi and Wal-Mart have recently struck up such a deal.  That's awesome for them, but won't that make it even harder for people who actually want those tickets to get them before they're gobbled up and regurgitated on StubHub?

Trying to think of solutions to this problem gives me a headache.  How can you tell what a person's intentions are when they buy tickets?  Do more safeguards to protect against scalping just mean more fees from services like Ticketmaster?  Are there any specific theories you have or examples you see as signs of hope for the future?  Share your thoughts here.

Jake Smith is a TuneCore customer support representative and editor of the TuneCore Newsletter

After 6 years, iTunes has announced that they will begin selling their entire catalog without DRM protection.  This raises a number of questions, and it is important to start discussing now what these changes could mean for all of us in the music industry.

DRM, or "Digital Rights Management", is proprietary code encoded in certain types of files to control where and how they can be used.  If you've ever purchased a song on iTunes before and tried to play it on a different computer, a message will come up saying that the computer is not authorized to play the file.  iTunes currently allows 5 computers to be authorized for any one iTunes account.  DRM protection reaches much further than just iTunes and digital music.  Movies, computer software, and video games often incorporate some types of digital rights protection.  For example, DRM stops (or attempts to stop) you from ripping DVD movies to you computer or by requiring you to enter a serial number before using a new program you've installed.

From the stand point of the music consumer, there is really no downside to iTunes removing DRM protection.  In addition to being able to move music more freely from computer to computer, music purchased in the iTunes store will no longer be limited to the iTunes library or iPods.  Files will be compatible with Windows Media Player, non-Apple based MP3 players, video game consoles and more.  From the label/artist stand point, the loss of DRM may seem good or bad depending on your personal philosophy.  Does it help your career in the long run by making it easier for fans to share, or is it simply less money coming to you for your hard work?

Realizing that the decision to drop DRM protection would be a controversial decision, and in an effort keep ahead of the rapidly growing Amazon store, iTunes announced they would sweeten the deal for labels by finally allowing labels to set price tiers for individual tracks.  We are waiting on iTunes to give us more specific information about this and we will make the details known as we receive them.

If you're looking for a more in depth look at these changes, I'd recommend this article from the staff of Macworld (http://www.macworld.com/article/138000/2009/01/drm_faq.html).  Some highlights include:

• iTunes DRM free files vs. Amazon MP3, which has always been DRM Free
• What happens to music purchased before the DRM change?
• Will the change affect TV Shows and Movies?

Reports say that this change will be taking place by June.  What do you think about this?  Was the DRM drop inevitable or is iTunes biting the hand that feeds it?  Let us know your thoughts.

My experience with Jango Airplay by Taylor Simons

Taylor Simons is the director of Customer Support and Solutions.

I first tried out Jango Airplay back in April when I first heard about the service. I used my colleague’s group OMG!Michelle to create a free account since I am not in a band myself. The upload process was super easy and I didn’t have to make any changes or conversions to the MP3 I uploaded. I first purchased 1,000 guaranteed plays and found it pretty thrilling to watch the play count rise over the first few days.

The songs I uploaded were quickly being played side by side with songs from OutKast, Beyonce, Kid Sister, Usher, Snoop Dogg and tons of other legendary artists. I then started to receive comments on my band page like, “Do you have a my space??? I wanna collab on a track wit you if possible. I like your style :] hit me up!!!” from a user in Lompoc, CA. And “Stupid Song….” From Ralnesha in Roanoke, VA.

Hey, it's all feedback, I just may not be booking a gig for OMG!Michelle in Roanoke anytime soon!

I bought another 1,000 the second my first thousand ran dry. So with a total of 2,000 purchased plays, to date I have received 40 comments and acquired 46 fans with an extra 297 free plays coming from general rotation. What I found really cool was that the fans were coming from OMG!Michelle’s hometown, NYC, Cali, Europe, South Africa and more!

What’s even better is that Jango gives me a way to e-mail each fan directly from my Jango Airplay account. Jango also does a great job of providing you with reports by gender/age and which other artists your fans listen to. (See below).

All of this is really helpful because you can request that your song be played on stations that those relevant artists are played on as well. You can also target fans by geography, which may be a great tool for getting some extra promotion around your tour dates.

In addition, Jango provides you with an artist page that allows you to upload pictures and a bio and permits listeners to leave you comments. There are many other cool features with Jango such as targeting fans by gender, age and more. Take advantage of our great relationship with Jango by purchasing guaranteed airplay at heavily discounted rates.

My one complaint about Jango Airplay is that I personally find it to be a bit addictive and they have yet to include a “Got an Airplay addiction? Call this toll free number” on their site; so purchase plays at your own risk…

To Co-Write or Not to Co-Write? Part I by Wayne Cohen

Wayne Cohen is a veteran multi-platinum selling ASCAP hit songwriter, producer, educator, and owner of publishing/production company Stand Up Songs.  He also teaches individual and group songwriting tutoring sessions at his NYC Stand Up Studio and via Skype.

Part I: To Co-Write or Not to Co-Write, that is the question...

...Whether it is nobler to toil by one’s self, or share your gift with another writer, thereby potentially exponentially expanding your songwriting and song networking reach. Well, the good news is that you can do both, which I like to do for several reasons.
 
I like to write by myself so that I feel I can really explore every aspect of an idea, so I won’t get lazy, and obviously, because it can be twice as lucrative if you write a hit alone.
 
But maybe you come up with a million melodies and no lyrics, or you have lyric ideas but no melodies, or maybe you’ve got a million melody and lyric ideas and can’t organize them enough to pull together a coherent song easily, or you’re a visionary producer/track writer/multi-instrumentalist but you need help with lyrics and or melodies; maybe you’re all of these and you just want a break from yourself. Have no fear, co-writing can be good for you.  At worst, it might be a good way to get out of your own face for a while.
 
So I co-write, because it can be invigorating and create surprising results, and there are some obvious advantages: it expands your network for pitching, and expands your mind about the kinds of songs you can write. For me the beautiful thing about co-writing is that I don’t have to be all the people in the band I’m not (the female singer, the drummer, the amazing guitarist, etc.), and still can come up with something to be proud of – something I could never have predicted, or that either of us might have written, without a collaborator.
 
These days co-writing can come in several forms:

• Melodist meets lyricist
• Melodist meets lyricist meets track writer
• Melodist/lyricist meets track writer

With who and how to co-write:
 
I’ve always found it wise to collaborate with people who complement what my strengths. As much fun as it could be to be in the room writing with someone who does what I do, I find it’s more productive if you work with someone who does NOT do what you do (although I have written great songs with people who share my same strenghts and weaknesses, so go figure).  The greatest thing about co-writing for me is that you generally can never predict what will come out of the experience.
 
An effective co-write requires mutual trust and respect between collaborators. To foster 'singing the same song’ with my collaborators, after years of co-writing, I’ve found it useful to develop some simple ground rules which I call the COLLABORATOR’S CODE.  Much of this is unspoken, but I find things go much better, and faster, if I have this in the back of my mind while working with a partner.  Here in part one I’ll give you a preview of the code, and in part two I will delve into more code detail, and examine options for how to demo a co-written song.
 
But before we get to the code, I wanted to mention that when I collaborate I always like to think of it like I’m going to a party (which my mother taught me I should never do empty handed).  So, rule number one is to always show up with an idea.  This could be a subject, a title, a lyric, a melodic fragment (a hook is always good), basically anything that you feel passionate about that could be the basis of a breakthrough song.  Having said that, I’ve shown up to plenty of co-writing sessions with an idea only to end up writing something completely unrelated. But it’s all good, ‘cuz if I don’t use an idea I just file it away, and the good ones always have a way of coming back to haunt me until they write themselves.  If they don’t come back to me they probably weren’t worth much in the first place.  But I find it’s better if you always bring SOMETHING to a co-write, even if you discard it.

This brings me to one of the trickiest, challenging, yet potentially rewarding aspects of co-writing, which is selling an idea to your co-writer.  He or she, in effect, is the first audience for your song idea.  It’s tricky because you want your co-writer to respect your ideas but to contribute as well.  So my suggestion is to start by having some respect for your self and your collaborator by bringing an idea to a co-writing session that YOU like, so you can get behind selling it to your co-writer.

If you’re, deathly afraid of sharing what you think are ‘stupid’, ‘irrelevant’, ‘inconsequential’ or the ‘only great ideas I’ll ever have’, or if you think you’re ‘too good’ to co-write, check your ego at the door and GET ON WITH IT. Because, here’s the deal, no matter whether you write a #1 single or another song that sits on a shelf, you will LEARN something from the experience. Keep in mind, your co-writer is probably just as insecure or as much of an egomaniac as you are, so don’t be shy, you will still be who you are after you leave the room. And if worst comes to worst if you’re not happy with the results of the co-write you are within your rights to say, politely, to your co-writer (preferably followed by acknowledgement from them) that you’re going to take your idea back so you can write it by yourself or with someone else.  So, even if all you learn is that you don’t want to co-write with that particular person again, you will gain an invaluable perspective on your place in the songwriting firmament, simply because you are sharing YOUR ideas with someone else who is listening and responding. But it’s also possible you will get something more from the experience, a great song.

But watch out, co-writing can inspire friendly (and sometimes not so friendly) competition.  Some of my best work has come from passionate yelling and screaming interactions with co-writers fighting over a particular lyric or melody phrase.  The right kind of creative tension can produce good work, but it has to have mutual respect at its' core, otherwise it ends up being a grandstanding session that DOES NOT work.

I’m willing to try any collaboration once, if I or someone I respect (like a publisher, manager, producer, A&R person, music supervisor or artist) has a positive instinct about it.  If you decide you want to co-write, I find it’s usually good to go with your gut about whether you think you’ll click with the other writer, however you should allow a small percentage of your co-writers to be with talents that you never thought would be compatible with yours, just to keep you on your toes. Some of the greatest records have resulted from unconventional hybrids, so for example, if you’re an acoustic singer/songwriter why not see if you can vibe with an urban track writer?  You may end up with a hit record that neither of you could have written by yourself.

When I was signed to Sony Music I was put together with lots of co-writers and artists. Most of these bore good-not-great songs, but I still believe ‘nothing ventured nothing gained’. You just need to be sensible about your choices, before you make them.

Even if you do all the ‘right stuff’ to prepare for a co-write, don’t be too hard on yourself.  There will be days when it just doesn’t happen, even if ‘on paper’ a co-write looks like it should work just fine.  I find that I usually know within the first 30 minutes whether it’s going to work.  A word to the wise: if it ain’t happening I think it’s better to politely say something like “It’s great to see you today, but I have to say I think we’ve both written better songs, so I’d like to call this complete, and move on to something else.”  Be smart and size up the situation in advance.   If you’re both track writers and neither of you write lyrics, it’s pretty clear that you either need to not collaborate, or to include a lyricist!

So, in summary, some advantages of co-writing:

Coming up with something you would never have thought of on your own and potentially expanding your creative and song networking scope.  If, for example, if you’re a country songwriter, you might be able to expand your song networking scope by writing with an urban music track writer.

And here at long last, in usual order of my experience is the…

COLLABORATOR’S CODE:

1) Come with an idea  (Preview and imagine the result)
2) Get (not too) comfortable, celebrate your differences
3) Discuss objectives (Why does this song need to exist?)
4) Collaborate on creation
    a) Present ideas (let them go first!)
    b) Decide who’s doing what?  (melody, lyrics, track)
5) Dig down, stir it up, prove your passion
6) Keep the ball rolling (“ideas are usually a whisper, not a scream…”)
7) Strive for a tangible result (I like to know that I at least have a complete melody when I walk out of the room, with a title, so it does not have to be a complete song, just something that you can build on in the next session.)
8) Steps for next time

And when the song is done:

9) Define collaborators’ contributions (songwriter splits)
10) Decide how to demo it

New Developments in co-writing:

Lately the internet programs like Skype have made it possible to get the benefit of instant feedback and the spark of collaboration without having to spend time and money to travel. For example, I’ve been working with Riccardo Foresi, an artist from Italy.  The first time we worked together he was in NY but lately he’s been back in Italy and we’ve been writing utilizing the video capability of Skype as if we’re in the same room. I find that it’s still better if you start the relationship (or the song) in the same room, but with our most recent song, the collaboration took place entirely online.  Riccardo sent me some melodies and a track that he had started in Italy, for which I wrote a hook, title and lyric for the melodies in NYC, and then we tweaked it together over Skype. Truly an amazing experience.

By the way, you can hear some of these Skype session results by clicking here. And we chose tunecore to get Riccardo’s music out.

Next week:

The COLLABORATOR’S CODE in greater detail, including how to define collaborator’s songwriting contributions, and options for how to demo the co-written song. 

Thoughts, questions or comments?  Share them here!

You can contact Wayne here or by writing to wayne@standupsongs.com

Wanna break through? Write a breakthrough song, Part II

Wayne Cohen, veteran multi-platinum selling ASCAP hit songwriter, producer and educator, owner of publishing/production company Stand Up Songs, also teaches individual and group songwriting tutoring sessions at his NYC Stand Up Studio and via Skype.

Part II: Tools of the trade

When I write, it can take 6 hours or it can take a year to complete a song.  To me the key to a great song is all about capturing a universal emotional truth and a momentary spirit and then crafting it until you as the writer can justify the existence of every melodic and lyrical phrase in the song.  Any of those elements can come and go in a heartbeat, so you better be ready for it when it does. Oh and fyi, let it flow, don’t be too hard on yourself if you don’t write it all in 6 hours.  I find that after 30 minutes I usually know if I’ve got something worth pursuing. If you feel you don’t have that in 30 minutes, it’s probably time to call that complete and move on to greener pastures.

Here are some of my capture and craft tools of the trade that you may find useful if you want to write a breakout song.

1) Go on input – absorb the world in and outside of you.  It’s in the blog you’re reading, the conversation you’re eavesdropping on, the incorrectly heard snippet of someone else’s lyrics you just heard, it’s in how you feel about that person you can’t stop thinking about.

2) Listen to ten of your favorite #1 charting records 100 times, dissect what makes the melody and lyric special to you. I find it’s good to start by analyzing the structure of the overall song.  Is the song a verse/pre chorus/chorus, or chorus/bridge/chorus kind of thing, or some other structure? Then I like to look at the chorus melodies, usually to see what makes the melody so hooky, and then do the same for the verses, bridge, etc. Then look at the rhyme scheme of the chorus lyric. Are they AB or AA rhymes, or some other rhyme pattern?  Make a summary of the overall arc of the lyric story. What makes the lyric/story urgent, what makes it universal? What grabs the listener at the start of the song - is it a lyric, is it a melody, is it a beat?  Which of those is most effective? Once you’ve done that, you should be pumped up enough to get in touch with your inner warrior so you can say to yourself  “gee I can write something as good as that..”.

3) Get a lyric writing book and write down every idea you have that you think is a universal emotional truth, the first building block you need for a breakthrough song. If you’re passionate about it write it down, don’t judge it. You never know how a lyric idea can develop into a full-blown song.

4) Get a digital voice recorder.  There are a lot of them out there, I happen to prefer the Olympus WC-331M. Same idea here as with the lyric writing.  It’s all about capturing those moments you sing that melody idea, or play something you didn’t even remember playing, that can get your breakthrough song started.

The story goes that it worked for Keith Richards, who back in the day had a cassette recorder by his bed, woke up in the middle of the night recorded the intro riff for ‘Satisfaction’, fell back to sleep and when he woke up had no memory of it.  Good thing he recorded it huh?

5) Have something you can build a simple beat with. GarageBand, any of the Apple loops jam packs are great, Pro Tools, Logic, Abelton Live, Digital Performer all now have software loops players, any kind of drum machine (Akai MPC is my old skool fave), are all options.  I find I end up programming most beats as opposed to using an existing loop because I want a very elemental beat so as not to distract from the writing process. I find the more lo-tech the better, just make sure it is something that programs or loops easily. To make that breakthrough song come to life it’s not just about the beat. It’s about what the melody and lyric are doing in conjunction with the beat. You can always spruce up the beat if necessary, when you produce the song..    

6) And remember, there is a songwriter inside of you.

This Tangled Web Is Yours To Weave

Thembisa S. Mshaka is a 17-year veteran of the entertainment business. She is also the author of the comprehensive career guide Put Your Dreams First: Handle Your [entertainment] Business, available at www.putyourdreamsfirst.com.

There are few things I love more than a great question. Questions that are new to my ears and give me pause; taking my brain beyond thoughts provoked to truth spoken to power. Questions like these are right up there with Haagen Dazs on a perfect summer day.

Jake, the editor of this newsletter graciously invited me to contribute to this week’s issue. He posed a very thought-provoking question to me.

‘Have women been able to use these tools [including MySpace and YouTube] to their advantage or have they simply increased the pressure to fit a particular mold?

I had to read this repeatedly and turn it over in my head for over a week. Initially, it led to more questions: had self-doubt and second-guessing many women experience borne of institutional sexism found its way to the internet too? Or can women be who they want to be in cyberspace instead of embodying a patriarchal stereotype?

The more I thought about it, the more I arrived at  certain answers. Two challenges that all sites face are those of being personal and connected: to establish a bond that sticks, and lasts, with whoever logs on. Be grateful for the progressive men in your virtual world and social networks; they are making the Internet a better place one guy at a time (hats off, gents!). The bad news is, until sexism is wiped from the planet, it will continue to be practiced on the Internet. Cyberspace contact remains the ultimate cold call. At times,  virtual and impersonal nature of the medium even lends itself to furthering the objectification of women.

The more I thought about it, the more I arrived at certain answers. Two challenges that all sites face are those of being personal and connected: to establish a bond that sticks, and lasts, with whoever logs on. Be grateful for the progressive men in your virtual world and social networks; they are making the Internet a better place one guy at a time (hats off, gents!). The bad news is, until sexism is wiped from the planet, it will continue to be practiced on the Internet. Cyberspace contact At times, virtual and impersonal nature of the medium even lends itself to furthering the objectification of women.

The good news is women artists and entrepreneurs now have Web 2.0 on their side: With social networking and  user generated content, the Berlin Wall that stood between artists and consumers has in many ways fallen. Distribution, sales, professional development, instant marketing, instant feedback - All available to you. All digital.

So even though there are misogynist morons are still logging on, you can be whoever you want so long as you’re not infringing on the identity of another of course…and yes, you can be yourself. You can tailor and target your message (most likely your music or your business proposition) with laser-like efficiency. Don’t wear makeup? No problem. Is your monster budget more like the size of a mighty (albeit diminutive) action figure? In the land of homemade tracks and videos, your campaign can stand out because of the substance of your product—and how you roll it out instead of how much you spend. The constraints of connecting directly with your audience have been removed, but the work is now up to you build and sustain the fans that labels used to bring to you. Pop sensation Colbie Caillat is a bona fide MySpace discovery. She didn’t have to glam up or strip down to appeal to her audience. Colbie had this to say in her bio about the leverage the Internet afforded her in her negotiations with labels:

"Nothing much happened for a few months," she remembers. "Then I wrote this song called ‘Bubbly’ and put it up there and it got this huge reaction. I mean thousands and thousands of hits every day." In the end, she became the number one unsigned artist on MySpace for four successive months, garnering an almost unbelievable 10 million plays. Record labels started courting her and she signed with Universal Republic because, she says, they offered her total creative freedom. "The great thing about MySpace is that you can build up an army of fans and then when you go to a record company, there's no point in them trying to change what you do because it's already been tried and tested," she points out.

Not that a major label deal has to be the objective; R&B vocalist Mykah Montgomery is also building her story from the virtual ground up, with her single “I Just Wanna Go Outside” from her debut album Me & U on iTunes and a self-produced music video streaming online all as an independent (ME Records) without traditional, terrestrial distribution. Les Nubians have a comprehensive site for their creative endeavors, Nubiatik.com, and sell their catalog and merchandise there while they keep their global fanbase up to date on new music and performances.

But know this: direct access is no substitute for a solid product. In fact, it’s easier to spot a fraud online. Don’t let limited resources handcuff your presentation. Bad music or shoddy production is painfully obvious in the virtual space. MySpace and YouTube are the tip of the iceberg. As an artist, a presence on MySpace is vital until your following grows large and loyal enough to migrate them to your own social network, for example. As for YouTube, I even have a channel there, and I’m an author.

YouTube.com/ThembisaMshakaTV houses my original content, from press clips to my self-produced commercial—plus content from other sources related to my book.

On this new web, niche is queen, and it’s all in how you spin your silk. Oh yeah, Jake also asked me to offer up advice for new artists, managers and producers. Next issue, I’ll share some direct insight from women in my book that will give you the affirmation you need to make like a Black Widow and kill ‘em out there.

A DIY Acoustic Guitar Recording Primer (Part I)

For Part II of this article, please click here.

Cliff Goldmacher is a songwriter, producer, engineer and the owner of recording studios in both Nashville and New York City.  Cliff is also a regular contributor to EQ Magazine and Pro Sound News.  He can be reached at cliff@cliffgoldmacher.com.

Let’s assume that along with releasing your music online, you’re also a budding recording engineer and would like to record your music with you as the acoustic guitarist.  Here are a few tips that I’ve gathered in my years of doing exactly that.  Like a lot of musicians, I tend to wear several hats in the recording studio.  Along with engineering and production, I do a lot of my own acoustic guitar work.  The issue here is that in order to effectively engineer and play acoustic guitar at the same time, I’m forced to record in the control room so that I can run my Pro Tools rig.  Over time I’ve cobbled together an approach to help me get a clean, full and detailed acoustic guitar sound without using an isolation booth or bringing in another engineer. 

As there are a lot of details to cover, I think it might be best to split this article up into two parts with the more technical information coming in part two.

To Plug In or Not to Plug In?

While it may seem like the obvious way to go, I’m not a fan of using on-board pickups in acoustic guitars when I record.  While it’s true that plugging in a 1/4” cable to your guitar and plugging the other end straight into your DAW will effectively remove all room noise from the recording, the sacrifice you make in tone is too great to justify.  There are quite a few great-sounding piezo electric pickups on the market these days and when run through a live PA, they can sound full, clear and even woody.  However, a large part of the sonic beauty of the acoustic guitar lies in the way the instrument pushes air out of the sound hole.  A plugged-in guitar is only translating the vibration of the strings and loses the essential “acoustic” nature of the sound.  On top of that, because acoustic guitar pickups are often designed with stage performance in mind there’s the likelihood of a slight hum or buzz which while unnoticeable on stage in a live venue can be extremely distracting when scrutinized in a studio recording.  All this to say, unless you’re consciously going for the particular sound that a plugged-in acoustic guitar gives, avoid the easy way out and try a few of the tips I’m suggesting below.

The Room

Let’s face it; there is no trick or secret that can take the place of a quiet room for recording. So let’s start with the obvious.  Do everything within your power to control the environment in the control room before you even get started.  You might want to put up some sound absorbing panels on the walls nearest your set up.  You can even go as far as to put sound diffuser panels on the ceiling above you.  Essentially, you’re trying to deaden the environment closest to you so you won’t be recording a lot of room sound with your acoustic.  While it’s fairly easy to add reverb to simulate different spaces once the guitar is recorded, it’s practically impossible to remove the sound of the room you’ve recorded in if it’s too present in the recorded sound.  The one place I like a hard surface is the floor.  There’s something bright and clear about the tone of the acoustic when the mic is picking up some of the reflections of the sound coming up off of the floor.   Also, distance yourself as much as possible from your computer to minimize the volume of the fan noise.  Of course, since you’ll be recording yourself, you’ll need to keep your computer within reach but you can always improve the odds by facing the microphone towards your acoustic and away from the computer.  And speaking of microphones…

Mic Choice/Placement

There are many, many microphone choices you can make when recording an acoustic guitar and each has its own merits.  For my ear, a large diaphragm condenser mic set in a cardioid pattern and pointed at an angle where the guitar neck meets the body at a distance of about six inches works best.  There are several reasons for this.  First of all, I like the broader spectrum of tone I get when I use a large diaphragm mic as opposed to a pencil mic. Secondly, the cardioid pattern focuses the recording field which helps remove the questionable environment of the control room. Finally, by not pointing the mic directly at the guitar’s sound hole, you get the fullness of the tone without all the low mid “woof.”  The proximity of the mic to the guitar also enables you to get a much higher direct sound to reflected sound ratio. As I mentioned above, make sure to angle the mic so that its back is toward your computer in order to minimize what is probably the loudest piece of gear in your control room.  If you’ve got a bit more budget than most when you put together your studio, you can also consider some sort of isolation cabinet for your computer but it’s not essential.

Check back for part II next week!

Scalping Tickets in the Digital Age

Jake Smith is a TuneCore Customer Support Representative and editor of the weekly newsletter

I am a big fan of the T.V. show, "Flight of the Conchords, so after hearing rumors that this season would be the show's last, I was more eager than ever to catch them live.  Unfortunately I couldn't get online until late in the evening, and by the time I got to Ticketmaster the seats were sold out.  Ticketmaster informed me tickets were still available through "Ticketnow," a resale company owned by Ticketmaster.  Here, the cheapest tickets I could find were being sold for three times the original price.  You snooze you lose, right?

Now, I've been going to concerts for a long time and I am no stranger to the scalping process.  If you want good seats (or any seats at all) and hope to pay anything close to face value, you might end up finding yourself sleeping in a tent on the sidewalk by the local box office in the pouring rain.  However for those of us who need to keep our jobs, that may not be an option. I am aware of sites like StubHub where people make their living buying and immediately reselling tickets for hot shows.  But for a company that already makes money from 11 types of "convenience" charges to also own an additional store where you are encouraged to scalp the tickets you just bought from them is just wrong.

Many of you have probably already heard the populist anger over this, with many big-name musicians getting behind the bullhorn.  Bruce Springsteen, The Smashing Pumpkins, and David Byrne are among the artists who have spoken out against Ticketmaster's latest antics, demanding their fans be reimbursed in full or part of the drastically increased prices.  Ticketmaster is facing a U.S. Senate judiciary committee investigation and $500 million in class action lawsuits in Canada (in Ontario it is illegal to resell tickets for higher than their original value).  Will anything come of the angry threats and pleas for justice?  It depends on whether or not scalping is illegal, which can vary from state to state and gets complicated when transactions take place online.

You'll be hard pressed to find much online defending these resale companies, but at the very least it is interesting to hear them try to justify themselves.  In an article from Canadian Business Magazine, a StubHub official makes this argument:

"Do you call the beer vendor at the ball game a beer scalper or the restaurant that sells you lobster at the 'market price' a shellfish scalper?  Of course you don't, though those entities are selling a consumer good for a markup over what they paid for it.  What makes tickets any different?"

Author Andy Holloway gives his own reasons for why he finds this statement bogus, but I would like to add that once Ticketnow and StubHub start including butter sauce, Old Bay and cartoon lobster bibs with every order they can charge me whatever they want.

Bob Lefsetz wrote an article about something we're likely to see a lot more of in the future - artists teaming up with retail giants and selling tickets exclusively in store.  Bon Jovi and Wal-Mart have recently struck up such a deal.  That's awesome for them, but won't that make it even harder for people who actually want those tickets to get them before they're gobbled up and regurgitated on StubHub?

Trying to think of solutions to this problem gives me a headache.  How can you tell what a person's intentions are when they buy tickets?  Do more safeguards to protect against scalping just mean more fees from services like Ticketmaster?  Are there any specific theories you have or examples you see as signs of hope for the future?  Share your thoughts here.

iTunes Going DRM Free: What does it mean for you?

Jake Smith is a TuneCore customer support representative and editor of the TuneCore Newsletter

After 6 years, iTunes has announced that they will begin selling their entire catalog without DRM protection.  This raises a number of questions, and it is important to start discussing now what these changes could mean for all of us in the music industry.

DRM, or "Digital Rights Management", is proprietary code encoded in certain types of files to control where and how they can be used.  If you've ever purchased a song on iTunes before and tried to play it on a different computer, a message will come up saying that the computer is not authorized to play the file.  iTunes currently allows 5 computers to be authorized for any one iTunes account.  DRM protection reaches much further than just iTunes and digital music.  Movies, computer software, and video games often incorporate some types of digital rights protection.  For example, DRM stops (or attempts to stop) you from ripping DVD movies to you computer or by requiring you to enter a serial number before using a new program you've installed.

From the stand point of the music consumer, there is really no downside to iTunes removing DRM protection.  In addition to being able to move music more freely from computer to computer, music purchased in the iTunes store will no longer be limited to the iTunes library or iPods.  Files will be compatible with Windows Media Player, non-Apple based MP3 players, video game consoles and more.  From the label/artist stand point, the loss of DRM may seem good or bad depending on your personal philosophy.  Does it help your career in the long run by making it easier for fans to share, or is it simply less money coming to you for your hard work?

Realizing that the decision to drop DRM protection would be a controversial decision, and in an effort keep ahead of the rapidly growing Amazon store, iTunes announced they would sweeten the deal for labels by finally allowing labels to set price tiers for individual tracks.  We are waiting on iTunes to give us more specific information about this and we will make the details known as we receive them.

If you're looking for a more in depth look at these changes, I'd recommend this article from the staff of Macworld (http://www.macworld.com/article/138000/2009/01/drm_faq.html).  Some highlights include:

• iTunes DRM free files vs. Amazon MP3, which has always been DRM Free
• What happens to music purchased before the DRM change?
• Will the change affect TV Shows and Movies?

Reports say that this change will be taking place by June.  What do you think about this?  Was the DRM drop inevitable or is iTunes biting the hand that feeds it?  Let us know your thoughts.