The Four Elements Of The Music Business

[MABBO]

Hello everyone.

Since I am primarily a teacher of songwriting and the practical application of the music industry as it relates to the Nashville songwriting community, I thought I would open a discussion as to the methods I use in my classes and workshops. Today, I go to teach as a part of NASI (Nashville Songwriter's Association International's) SONGPOSIUM week, which is a sort of "Shopping Mall" for songwriters, with around 45 teachers doing 120 classes in everything from songwriting, recording, publishing, live performance, networking and business. I am kind of like the "beginning guidance councilor" and work to help people be oriented to the town.

I break everything down into four essential areas. This is what I have learned in 35 years in the music industry and 24 in Nashville. It seems to make it as concise as I can. I will put it here so as to stimulate some conversation or hopefully provide you with some information you can use in your own journey's. Feel free to comment as you feel driven.

#1. CREATION OF THE SONG.

We are in a world of over one billion songs a month up loaded on the Internet. There are around 30 million writers on the Net, ASCAP, BMI, You Tube, My Space, Facebook, Reverb Nation, in clubs, recording studios, writer's nights, open mics, world wide. If you don't believe that, tell someone in a resturant or on an airplane that you are a songwriter and then sit back and hear stories of their nephews, son's, high school friends, office workers, etc. that "Are really good songwriters or singers and they should be going to Nashville, LA and New York, because they are as good as that "crap on the radio.:" Never fails.

So creation of the song is what makes us stand apart, or at least that is the idea. There is only so much unexplored musial subject matter, only a variation on 12 notes, and only so many emotions we can mine. The idea is to "show someone something they have seen before but not quite in THAT particular way before." Kind of a "DUH!" They saw it sitting right in front of them but never looked at that way before.

Nashville, in particularly is a very lyrical oriented style of songwriting that usually has three essential characteristics:

#1. Reality based.

Usually from real life senarios, and if there are poetic language, cliche's, metaphors or similies,they are usually grounded in some form of reality.

#2. Conversational in tone.

Most often if you remove the music and read the lyrics alone, it sounds very much like two people having a conversation. The idea is to talk directly, but never down on your listener. Again, in this day and age with billions of songs and millions of writers, and most of all shorter attention spans from our listeners, the more cryptic the song, the quicker they tend to tune out.

#3. Easily definable melodic hook that repeats about every 30 seconds, leaving the listener with the impression they "HAVE to HEAR that AGAIN!" The ability to drive someone crazy with a melody that goes on over and over in your head. Think the "Jeapordy" or Andy Griffith show" themes.

Taking these basic formats, you can decypher most country songs. Musically, the direction can go in many areas, from the "teen age angst of Taylor Swift" the rock elements of Montgomery Gentry, or Jason Aldeen, the Urban contemporary of Keith Urban, the traditional of Alan Jackson, Brad Paisley or George Straight. From the classics to the modern, if you like some form of music, you generally can find it in country. And since a majority of all music is 100% self contained, country is just about the last vestige of music that can listen to outside songs. Although that is a dying phenomenon as well.

#2. PRESENTATION OF THE SONG. LIFE AND DEMO.

Now there is one chance to make a bad first impression and many people have their material up on the internet or are working in writer's nights, and other live venues. Making sure anything that leaves your mind, is first rate, recorded well or performed to the top of your ability is essential. People listen to a LOT of music. It is in the background of our lives. So making it sound great is also essential in this day and age.

#3. NETWORKING.

It is one of the most social businesses that exists, with the RELATIONSHIP taking precedence over anything. How would you like someone you don't know to come bashing into your living room, grab some food from your refrigerator, and sit on your couch, feet up on the coffee table and proceed to tell you what you need to do to make them feel more comfortable? Yet in many cases, a lot of songwriter wanna be's want to do just that. They want everyone to hear them, to embrace them. They want to sit from the comfort of their living rooms, put somethings on the Net and allow the checks to roll in. It is not done by "remote control." Got to have skin in the game. So while I don't believe it is nessassary to move to Nashville, LA or New York, you do have to have some connections to get to the inside. While you might not always have to be "present to win" you certainly have to have a "Presence to win."

That can be done most directly by the co-writing process, which Nashville is founded on. Basically everyone is trying to team up with others that might be ahead of them in line. Thereby achieveing access through the "back doors." But there are no shortcuts and you have to have "skin in the game." Much of it is simply "pledging the fraternities." "NETWORKING is just another word for "MAKING AND BEING FRIENDS."

#4. BUSINESS

If the first three are achieved, the final one might fall into place. But much of the business has changed forever. It is difficult to collect on "FREE" which is what most recorded music is, an advertisement for the live shows of artists, (Thank you NAPSTER and KAZAA) the majority of music will never earn dollar one. But there are always going to be people who "find a way." There are new people coming on the scene all the time. Five years ago, no one outside of a small few circles of people, knew of a 15 year old girl wondering the streets of Nashville named Taylor Swift. The idea is to get in on the "ground floor" with as many artists and professional writers and entities as you can. Parlay that into the next step and the next step, etc. If you do all that, hopefully commerce can take place.

This would be my "MAB four points" of the music industry. I hope it makes sense and hope some of you might commment or ask questions.

Good luck to you and your journey. Hope I hear of you.

MAB

[john]

Congrats, this has been recommended as a "Staff Pick"!

Do I hear you say "Woo Hoo"? :0

A useful article. Nice one.

[JamTimeMusic]

A useful article for those starting out. This game really boils down to product. If the song isn't great then you need to be either drop dead gorgeous or have an alien dancing round you in the video!

[edshaw]

Very good presentation.

Even though I write and arrange melodies because "I have to"

your words cause me to look again at audio quality. Thx.

[bwnunnally]

35 years of experience boiled down to several bullet points is very nice simplification. Looking forward to more discussion on this topic.

I understand point 2 on presentation, although for community discussion artists often post works in progress and solicit comment. I would hate to suggest to people not to post anything that is not already polished and complete