SONG CONTEST BLOG

Nashville-based finger-picking singer/songwriter, Chris Volpe, wins Round 4 of the 2008 Lyric Writer Awards.  This is not Volpe’s first success story with We Are Listening.  In 2006, he won The Singer/Songwriter Awards song contest and spent a weekend with us in London recording his selected song, “Shoes”, at Sphere Studios in South London with Producer, Steve Williams.  “Shipwrecked”, Volpe’s debut studio album, will be in hand within a week and slated for distribution shortly after.

When I first arrived in Boston back in 1996 to begin my studies at Berklee College of Music, I had preconceived notions about the process of songwriting.  Like many ‘natural’ songwriters, I felt that songwriting came from within; free from form, rules, or a specific discipline.  I decided to major in songwriting and began to study its craft in the commercial sphere.  During the span of my four year degree, I picked up specific songwriting tools and strategies to make songwriting as much a professional discipline as an intuitive recreation.  Songwriting is as methodical as it is artistic.  Or, rather, ‘professional’ songwriting (i.e. songwriting for recording artists, radio jingles, television etc.) is as much a professional craft as a vocational talent.  For fledgling songwriters, I highly recommend an in-depth revision of ‘successful’ songs from the last two or three decades.  Whether it’s “Yesterday” by The Beatles or “Yellow” by Coldplay, I am confident that you will find patterns – tried and tested songwriting principles – that will guide you when you craft your songs.  Once you have a number of songs you feel good about, go out and get as much professional feedback as you can.  Try entering a song competition too (if the organizers provide an assessment service).  Remember: the record industry is founded on superb songwriting because that’s where the money’s at!

Overplay, the independent artist platform for music promotion and discovery, announced today that they have given their website a facelift and added some exciting new interface features.  To celebrate this re-launch, Overplay are accepting free entries for their international song competition, “Play & Rate”, for which I have been a member of their song competition panel for some time now.

Since 2003, Overplay has been providing independent artists and fans with communication tools and promotional incentives with a one-stop-shop platform.  In addition to a variety of awards, sweeps and the “Play & Rate” international song competition, Overplay empowers fledgling artists to sell their digital assets and merchandise directly to their fanbase.