MUSIC INDUSTRY BLOG

H. Jay Carney, winner of Round 4 of the 2009 Lyric Writer Awards, has completed his professional co-writing prize with the distinguished songwriting duo, Pete and Pat Luboff.

Listen to the result:

“Soul On Strings”
by Pete & Pat Luboff and H. Jay Carney

© Pea Pod Music and The Carney Company, Inc.

The song contest prize for the Lyric Writer Awards was designed to put aspiring lyricists in the hot seat with the music industry’s top songwriting professionals.  The song contest prize includes an intimate co-writing session, a complete overhaul of the winning lyric (if necessary), and a publisher-ready demo of the song performed and recorded by some of Nashville’s most sought after musicians.

Congratulations to Jay, Pete and Pat for writing an outstanding song together!

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking since I published the Song Contest Score Card post.

Your feedback has been tremendously valuable.  Thank you!

We’re pushing ahead with the Song Contest Score Card concept and it will look something like this:

Considering that each score card will require our judges to do a little extra administrative work, I wanted to ask you this:

In addition to your song contest entry fee, would you be willing to pay a fee for an accompanying Song Contest Score Card?

And if so, how much?

Leave me your comments please…

This is just a tiny update − but I marks a major milestone:

Now, when you enter The Singer/Songwriter Awards, our flagship international song contest, you can include the lyric to each of the songs that you enter for The Lyric Writer Awards, our lyrics-only song contest… in one click!

When you’re filling out the song contest entry form, below the lyric field of the song you’re submitting, you’ll see this:

For an additional $20, would you like enter the lyric to song #1 for our lyric writing contest?

Hit YES if you do.  NO if you don’t.  It’s that simple.  And so much more convenient than before.

Related Posts:
9 Must-Read Posts About Song Contests
What A Song Contest Can Do For You
Song Contest and Critique Status Manager

Three months ago, we launched the Song Contest and Critique Status Manager.

For the first time, when you entered one of our song contests or purchased a song critique, you had total control over your entry and insight into the review process.

No other song contest provides this kind of data, security and functionality to view, edit and store your most valuable assets: your songs.

Now, I want to take things one step further.  And I need your help.

When you receive your Final Status (i.e. Winner, Finalist, Runner Up, Not Selected), I want to include a Score Card.

At the moment, we don’t have a standardized method for “scoring” entries.  I want to change that.

What are the individual elements of a song that you think we should score?

Leave a comment

The USA Songwriting Competition announced yesterday the launch of their 15th annual song contest.

In the email announcement and on their blog, they celebrated a decade of success stories by their song contest winners.

Among the Top 10 USA Songwriting Winners Of The Decade, the likes of Kate Voegele, Ari Gold and Darrel Scott were mentioned.  I’ve never heard of them either but check this out:

Kate Voegele (2005 song contest winner) appeared on The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien performing her song “99 Times”, a Billboard Adult Top 40 Hit, peaking at #24.  Her album, “A Fine Mess”, was released on Interscope/MySpace records and made the Top 10 on The Billboard 200 Albums Chart.

Ari Gold (2007 song contest winner) hit #10 on the Billboard Charts and #1 on Sirius OutQ with his winning entry.

Darrell Scott (2005 song contest winner) pitched his song and got it cut by Faith Hill in 2006.  Wow!

Do you think these artists would have achieved such success had they not entered The USA Songwriting Competition?

Leave your comment

According to many songwriters, song contests are inherently deceptive.

They are designed to raise expectations in order to collect high submission fees while buffering the disappointment of losing with months of anticipation of the results.

The individuals that run them are masters of persuasion.  If we weren’t, our song contests would buckle under the popular consensus that song contests should be free or, at least, much cheaper.

So how persuasive, even manipulative am I?

According to the “Q Test” which I discovered in an article published by the Guardian, not very.

Try the Q Test for yourself:

Using the first finger of your dominant hand, draw a capital letter Q on your forehead.

Some people draw the letter Q in such a way that they themselves can read it.  That is, they place the tail of the Q on the right-hand side of their forehead.  Other people draw the letter in a way that can be read by someone facing them, with the tail of the Q on the left side of their forehead.

This quick test provides a rough measure of a concept known as “self-monitoring”.  High self-monitors tend to draw the letter Q in a way in which it could be seen by someone facing them.  Low self-monitors tend to draw the letter Q in a way in which it could be read by themselves.

High self-monitors tend to be concerned with how other people see them.  They are happy being the centre of attention, can easily adapt their behaviour to suit the situation in which they find themselves, and are skilled at manipulating the way in which others see them.  As a result, they tend to be good at lying.

In contrast, low self-monitors come across as being the “same person” in different situations.  Their behaviour is guided more by their inner feelings and values, and they are less aware of their impact on those around them.  They also tend to lie less in life, and so not be so skilled at deceit.

Which one are you?

Leave a comment

8 Reasons Not To Enter A Song Contest

10 Most Popular Song Contests

7 Reasons To Enter A Song Contest

10 Reasons To Enter A Song Contest Again

Free Song Contest

Community Funded Song Contest

The Truth About Our Song Contest

4 Qualified Song Contest Perspectives

Can You Handle The Truth?

Several months ago, I was interviewed for an article in Berklee Today, the Berklee College of Music magazine.

The piece, titled Healthy Competitions, studies the many perspectives on song contests and their changing role as the business of songwriting has evolved and become ever more competitive over the years.

I thought I would share some of these perspectives with you by publishing four quotes from the article which you can read in its entirety here.

“Aspiring songwriters get in trouble when they start looking for the quickest way to achieve their musical goals in the shortest amount of time by doing the least amount of work,” says singer/songwriter Dave Petrelli, the director of events for the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI).  “Less-than-legitimate song contests can take advantage of that by promising really unrealistic things.”

“I’m sure that winning a songwriting contest is a positive event, even if it’s only to boost the prestige or stroke the ego of the winner,” Songwriting Department Chair at Berklee, Jack Perricone says.  “Because more than money, songwriters need to have their songs acknowledged and to be given hope that they are not writing in a vacuum.”

“We have a proven track record in past years of winners going on to get signed to music publishing contracts, record contracts, and hit the charts,” says Eddie Phoon, the event director for the USA Songwriting Competition.  “Kate Voegele got her start by winning first prize at the 2005 USA Songwriting Competition in the Pop category; the record labels took notice.  We even placed her at our showcase at South by Southwest, where she was signed after the show by Interscope.”

Emily Shackelton entered the John Lennon/BMI Foundation scholarship competition and won, despite doubt that her song would even get listened to.  “I was definitely proven wrong,” Shackelton says.  And the win has really made a difference.  When Shackelton moved to Nashville, BMI set her up with a rep that landed her a publishing deal.  Additionally, last year she placed as a runner-up in the American Idol songwriting contest, and subsequently crowned idol David Cooke sang her song on TV, resulting in nearly 200,000 iTunes downloads and a number 15 spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 charts.

What’s your take on this?

Leave a comment

I attended the NAMM show today in Anaheim.  It’s the largest industry event that I know of.

Walking from the car park to the convention center, I heard a familiar melody echoing in the distance.  As I approached, it hit me that the song I was hearing was being performed live, on stage, in front of the entrance, by one of our very own song contest winners: Michael Logen.

Michael Logen is a two-time We Are Listening song contest winner; in 2005 and 2006.  Only one other artist has won our song contest twice.  He’s an immensely talented artist and an awesome human being.

After his 45min set, we had lunch together.

Three years ago, Michael was going through a rough patch professionally.  In the last year, though, his luck changed.  He has been writing and touring with Jonny Lang and Matt Kearney, both of whom have become close friends of his.  He has a number of cuts on their records and recently became a free agent.  Consequently, several major publishers, labels and managers are courting him now.  Things couldn’t be better.

Running into Michael was my favorite part of the day.

When I returned to Santa Monica where I’m staying for the rest of the week, I was struck by something he mentioned over lunch:

Lior, most artists don’t realize how long it takes.  I’ve been doing this for quite a while and it never occurred to me to quit.  I stuck to my plan.  That’s the difference.

A plan.  Now that sounds like a good thing to have!

What is your plan?

Have you got what it takes to stick to it?

Leave me your comments.

I spend the first hour of my working day sifting through email.

I read important email immediately.  Save low priority missives for later.  Flag and filter various blog subscriptions.  Delete the rest.

A large percentage of the daily email that I receive is from budding songwriters.  Those, I don’t delete and endeavor to respond to within a few days.

Typically, I will read:

Hey! Found your website.  Looks cool.  Just got out of the studio with a great new song.  My best ever man.  Here is the link…… please tell me what you think.  I’m looking for a manager.  Thx.

So I click and listen.

In my reply, I highlight strengths and weaknesses.  If I can, I offer a tip or two.  My response rarely exceeds two or three lines.  On rare occasions, I will make an intro to a manager, promoter or label.

From time to time, I click and hear the kind of dribble that belongs on Pop Idol outtakes.

I work hard to identify strengths but there are none.  Each note is more painful than its predecessor, working their way down my spine until a lumbar vertabra pops in unison with my speakers.  Ouch.

Sometimes, it really is that dreadful.

Should I refrain from responding if I don’t have anything nice to say?

Should I be truthful?

What if the awful artist I’m describing is you?

How would you expect me to respond? How would you respond?

p.s. I wish to credit Mandy Mercier for inspiring the title and theme of this post with her comment on The Truth About Our Song Contest.