Writing For Business Purpose

[john]

Hey

I often find that it when I write purely for myself that it is easy to get into an ideas' rut.

I find that writing for a purpose regularly, helps. This is specially true if it is not a track I intend performing. For a start that frees up a whole lot of constraint I place on songs I intend to perform. Even on a basic level that means I can writer for a female singer!

For example, give yourself the brief of writing a song to be used in an advert for a leading bank on the TV. The song has to be 1 minute long... but they want 3 versions to be used in 3 adverts each emphasising different features. The bank wants to impress the breadth and flexibility of their products by focusing one advert on mortgages, one on savings and one about hoe friendly and helpful they are. You have 1 week to get the song to them.

It is an interesting exercise to do, but also does give you both a breadth of material, and also gives you songs that you are happy for someone else to perform, and songs that might bring in income from other places, such as companies, contests, TV etc.

Another exercise brief: write a song to be used as the final performance in American Idol, and it is to be the song released by the winning artist.

Another: Write a song for Britney Spears to release as her next single. I find this exercise best if you have a view towards the possible image Brit's label would want to use to build and improve her image and so increase sale. e.g. they would like to portray a deeper person than previously. someone who has gone through pain and learned lessons. someone who is now stronger but carries with them a fragile past. The point is to get the audience to empathise and get on Brit's side. You have the job of writing the first single from the new album.

Each of the exercises really needs you to do a little research on typical songs used for those purposes, and at the end of the day, you have a track to send to production companies/record labels.

Does anyone else do this or something similar?

What songwriting exercise do you do?

Cheers

John

[McnaughtonPark]

I've never tried those exercises John. They are good ideas tho', thanks for posting them.

I do exercise by trying different things. When I read about a technique, i usually give it a try. There are so many books left for me to read on lyric writing, I know I still have a whole lot to learn. For me, staying flexible and open minded helps. I tried numerous writing techniques that I wouldn't have come up with on my own by reading how others do it.

Tom

[Rudi]

Good ideas. I would find a distinct lack of proper motivation with John's specific examples, but the general concept is good. I have written in styles that are foreign too me, and got good results.

[john]

Hey

That I guess is the whole point. We each sit with our own preconcieved restrictions, limitations and sense of tatse etc. Each constrains our creative expression in one way or another. By removing or replacing those restrictions it frees us to change our perspective and perhaps forces us to embrace styles we would normally not go near.

I did wonder a while ago about putting together some example client specifications but decided people probably wouldn't use them. Probably still wouldn't! Maybe including them in an article on the broader topic might be ok.

Cheers

John

[McnaughtonPark]

Yea, I think so. Insperation comes in many forms. New ideas free us up to write, many times ending up with something we wouldn't have written otherwise.

[FinnArild]

Working with the end result in mind is always useful. Actually I was on one of those "bullshit seminars" (5 habits to success or something) where I picked out this point as being not such a bad idea. It might even have spurred me to my first album - maybe these bullshit seminars aren't that much bullshit after all? Haha! Just kidding! They are!