Music & Money!
Obviously you’ve heard the expression, two heads are better than one. When it comes to song writing, this can also be true. History has plenty of examples of successful song writing teams or collaborators we could refer to. Most modern pop music or chart hits are the result of co-writes…sometimes two writers are involved, sometimes three or four and more.
I look after a young UK based songwriter and continually encourage and arrange song writing collaborations for him to be involved in. It’s these co-writing experiences that have brought success for many songwriters.
What can you do to find others to write with? Do you mix with other songwriters, do you network and mix in music circles where you can get the opportunity to meet with other writers? Have you tried using the Internet? It’s a good source for finding lyric writers and music composers that are interested in collaborating. There are a number of songwriter websites you can try.
The key to this is chemistry, finding like-minded people with a similar background musically, that you can work with easily allowing a free flow of ideas.
A Must Have!
It’s good also to have a specific brief or purpose to your writing. This could involve writing for your own band, or particular vocalist you are working with. You may even have in mind writing for a particular recording artist. If possible try working with those who are more experienced than you as you can learn much from these writing sessions.
Sometimes the basic idea of a song can be got quite quickly, but often more work is needed to perfect the song.
A friend of mine has written hits for big stars including Michael Jackson, Celine Dion and Tina Turner and often such songs need working, or revisiting, a hook is not quite right or some part of the song may need changing lyrically or musically before it becomes that great song. Work it ’til it’s right if you want your songs to be great songs and earn real money.
Music Money Link:
Keep an eye on it!
As mentioned two heads are better than one – often but not always! So you can write it all yourself and own all the song, if it works out you get most of the money!
If you work with others you can grow as a songwriter, enjoy working and learning from the ‘chemistry’ that can happen with another writer and really hit on something BIG! Now you won’t own it all, you will have to share ownership of the song, but sharing might make you better off than if you just wrote songs on your own! Enjoy the music and develop your writing experience first and foremost.
Call to Action:
Have you tried collaborating with other song writers? You should and if you haven’t yet then do something about it now. Do you know of any other writers in your neighbourhood? Find writers that are interested in writing in the same genre as you and give it a try. Remember it is good to work with others more experienced. Check with your contacts or look online now and set up a meeting.
PLEASE comment below on how this info was helpful and tell us about your own experience with collaborations on songwriting?
Video Clip: In this short video clip, established songwriter Phil Galdston who has written ‘hits’ for artists including Madonna, Celine Dion and Earth Wind & Fire talks about the benefits of collaborating with other artists as a songwriter.
