The Craft Business Of Song Writing

Music is a universal language, and John Braheny speaks it eloquently as he helps prepare us for our big musical break--by teaching us the craft of songwriting and revealing secrets of the music business. Includes anecdotes, exercises, and examples from dozens of songwriters, such as Harry Chapin, Paul McCartney, and many others.

"John Braheny teaches you the craft of songwriting while going behind the scenes of the music business to reveal insider secrets that will make your work stand out. Over the course of his career, Braheny has interviewed more than 600 successful songwriters and music business professionals, distilling their experiences and practices as well as his own for this book. Dozens of exercises, examples and anecdotes from successful songwriters." - back cover.

The essential guide for success in songwriting In this comprehensively updated 3rd Edition, John Braheny teaches you the craft of songwriting and then goes behind the scenes of the music business to unearth insider secrets that will make your songs stand out. You'll find exercises and anecdotes to help you: • Develop a "songwriter's consciousness" for picking out original ideas • Collaborate effectively with co-writers • Break into songwriting for film & TV, children's music, and commercials • Use the internet to best advantage for pitching songs, networking, and publicity • Understand the business of demos and song contracts Braheny also brings you up to date with ongoing changes in online digital song distribution, podcasting, song-pitching services, home recording technology, production music libraries, and web hosting services. It's everything you need to know to make your mark on the world of music!

Here is an intimate and revealing look at how men and women in a wide variety of creative endeavours live their lives and manage their businesses. Join them and Barbara in this book's unique 'networking sessions' -- you will feel like you are right in the room with them. You will benefit greatly from their experience in how to find enough space at home for business, make changes forced by new technology, market with greater success, and manage stress. You will also learn how to use computer technology and specific software programs to more effectively manage your business, design and market products, create professional printed materials and much more.

"In The Art & Business of Songwriting, veteran songwriter, producer, arranger, vocalist, music director, and educator, Larry D. Batiste shares years of experience in this valuable resource guide for both beginners and professionals who are interested in learning how to improve their songwriting skills. This book offers an opportunity for the reader to learn and apply the craft of professional songwriting including song structure, lyric and melody writing, and integration of essential elements found in hit songs. This book incorporates exercises that will help songwriters find ideas for song titles, concepts, stories, and effective word choices, that will appeal to their audience. The book also discusses critical business aspects of songwriting, such as copyrighting, publishing, royalties, networking, and digital media income. In addition to the fundamentals of songwriting and business the reader will learn how to build a songwriting career, song placement techniques, building an online community, releasing music independently, the business of digital music, building a fanbase, and strategic planning. The book includes interviews from iconic songwriters and producers such as Peter Asher, Lamont Dozier, and Narada Michael Walden among others; plus, independent recording artists, including multiple Grammy Award winner, Fantastic Negrito, and Meklit Hadero"--

Now newbie songwriters can learn the craft—and sing their own praises online Beginning songwriters can hit the right note by starting out with the basics in this guide, including: • How to create melodies • How to create many different harmonies • Techniques using deliberate rhythm and stylistic changes • How to enable one's songwriting to grow and evolve • How to deal with songwriter's block • The best places to upload one's work for maximum exposure and opportunities

An effective new songwriting vocabulary supported by ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC. The Elements Of Song Craft does for songwriters what William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White’s The Elements Of Style did for English language students and writers alike; gives an all-in-one definitive manifesto for contemporary songwriters in every genre to organize, understand, and practice the rules, principles, definitions, forms, and song craft needed to create good songs, songs of undeniable creative power and beauty, songs that last. The Elements of Song Craft beelines directly to the most important aspect of writing good songs—identifying the key emotion living at the heart of the song—then offers a step-by-step process to harnessing that singular emotional power. Additionally, a dozen other strategies, formulas, perspectives, and exercises are offered in the book. The Elements of Song Craft introduces, for the first time to a general songwriting audience, an effective new songwriting vocabulary utilized by songwriters taught in the SONG ARTS ACADEMY method and supported by ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC, the world’s leading Performance Rights Organizations at the heart of the songwriting business, as well as at NYU Steinhardt’s and The New School’s songwriting programs, for over sixteen years. Thousands of song arts participants, including hit songwriters and The Voice and American Idol contestants, have been trained in this method.