(Part 2) Top products from r/Songwriters

That's because everyone is trying to get themselves heard. If you look at the folks who are being smart about it, they've realized that the best way to get their stuff heard is to create helpful videos/articles that help others grow and learn.

If I say, "Here's my new song. Please listen." There's nothing enticing about that. Why should you? But if I build a reputation in the community as being a helpful asset that has helped other people get better at their stuff, then there is more value on my stuff when I share it. More than that, the people who do value it will have a more personal connection to it because the person sharing it helped them succeed. There's a relationship to the artist, rather than that one song I spammed over and over for 20 views and one subscriber.

Everyone wants to be heard but nobody wants to listen. That's the general problem of the vast majority of subreddits like this. The same is true for music groups on Facebook. Everyone is just spamming youtube links and getting no feedback. Who are you? Why should I care? That's the question to answer, otherwise you're just another musician desperately trying to get attention (like most of us are).

"People don't buy your product, they buy your story."

Also look at the first response you got for posting your link. "sneaky." Why? Because at first it came off like you were trying to address the problem and participate in the conversation. Then you dropped a link at the end which made it seem like you were only participating just to sneak a link in. That turns people off (because it's more obvious than you think it is). So knowing when to post your links and when to pass on self-promotion is also important.

TL;DR: It's not about giving up on subreddits, it's about strategizing your participation. When you think less about yourself and your stuff and more about helping other people with theirs, then your stuff succeeds as a natural result of helping theirs succeed. There's a GREAT book about that called The Go-Getter.

So here's an example. I just spent about 20 minutes writing this comment to help you. Guess what I'm going to do later on? Flip it into a longer, more thorough, more concise blog post on my website, then post that as a link to help others. I'm not trying to directly post my music and get heard. I'm focusing on helping others move forward, but as a natural result, people will have the opportunity to hear my music IF THEY WANT. And if they CHOOSE to go listen without me trying to twist their arm and figure out how to trick them into it, then they are more likely to value what they hear because they know they made the choice to go listen.

That's how musicians are getting heard on Youtube and other places. They thinking less about promoting themselves and more about helping others.

My pleasure! Ralph Murphy is a boss, met him for the first time my last trip down to Nashville. I would highly recommend a few cheap/free resources. Ralph Murphy's Laws Of Songwriting, Writing Better Lyrics - Pat Pattison (You can't really tell but both of these are hyperlinks, so go feel free to click on them), and www.coursera.com offers a free online lyric class. SAC memberships are like $35 for students, and then you can attend workshops free.

I think you can totally write downer characters, but again, give him a redeeming quality. Give us a reason to root for him.

As far as playing. You don't need to be a John Mayer or Elton John. A lot of the most successful writers I know are mediocre at best guitar players. If you can play acoustic guitar in time you have all you need as far as guitar skills. I mean the more you know the better, but you can get by with the basics. A bigger factor for the artist thing is having the "it" factor. It's impossible for me to tell from a recording if you have it or not. I know I don't have the frontman "it" factor. But when you see it you know. It's the confidence, the charisma, the ability to connect with an audience whether it be 3 drunk dudes in a bar or thousands at the ACC. I wouldn't concern yourself with the guitar stuff.

All the best!

As far as mics go I have an AT2035 large diaphragm condenser mic which does the job on vocals and acoustic guitars, and I sprung for an SM57 which I guess is a very widely used dynamic mic for amps or other loud things. I recorded some harmonica the other day with it and it turned out excellent. Well as excellent as it can be in a horrible room like mine.
You might be able to find a cheaper condenser than that if you're on a tighter budget. It's my first, so I honestly can't offer any other advice lol

While not 100% necessary for songwriting, acoustic treatment and a good set of flat-response monitors or studio headphones will most certainly help you hear what you're actually creating.

So every Wednesday I do something called the Two Hour Track Challenge where I make a song from start to finish live on Twitch. In this challenge I asked all my friends to give me audio they have lying around. Some people gave me throat singing and others actual vocalization singing. I got some Otamatone and some random clips probably from the Internet.

It was a ton of fun! I hope you enjoy the track. If you were interested in watching the recording of this song being made (I used a LOT of Ableton's Sampler) you can find it here. :)

I think the reason why it may have not done so well is that the verses aren't really creating the imagery to prove the chorus. Much of it is too ethereal and not direct enough to draw the listener in. There's not a ton of focus from the writer's perspective. All of these lyrics and as a listener I'm thinking, "So what?" Not only that, I don't think the idea of the song could be summed up in a sentence.

Remember, a song is a short story and in this there is no flow(beginning, middle, and end) or climax. Also, the singer should never not be the hero of the story or at least learning from the experience.

I can tell you've spent a lot of time learning your instrument and how to compose though and I certainly appreciate that but lyrics are an entirely different craft. Think about this, in the music industry there are some people who ONLY write lyrics. That's how hard it is.

My advice -
Watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wBOUJ5Mbrk
Read this: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0898791499
Write one song a day, two if you can, and try to complete the entire thing in 15 minutes. That'll help you focus more. Also, before you write anything, sum up in a sentence the message you want to get across.

You're almost there, sorry if I came off like a dick but you've really got potential here. Write a lot and try the competition again. You'll fair much better when you can paint a picture in the listener's mind and tell your story more directly.

+1 for this recommendation. The author is a songwriting teacher at Berklee who has a free coursera class on songwriting that comes up from time to time and also has another great book on form and structure. I'd recommend them both, but if you're only going to buy one, buy "writing better lyrics."

Camera: Sony a6000 with this sigma 16mm lens. Next time I should lock the focus :P

Mic: MXL 770 Cardioid Condenser Microphone with this pre-amp to get it into my laptop.

​

Thanks for the feedback, I really appreciate it!

I have this. It’s got pretty much every chord progression known to man plus songs you can hear them in.
Chord Progressions For Songwriters https://www.amazon.com/dp/0595263844/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_tAAwCbRFVBRQV

Also a chord wheel/circle of fifths is a good idea.

A book that really helped me was "Home Recording for Musicians for Dummies". Learning how to mix and produce songs can be pretty complex at first but this book taught me some good things.

http://www.amazon.com/Home-Recording-Musicians-Dummies-5th/dp/1118968018

> Hard work does NOT mean you become one of the best in anything

It absolutely does.

read this: https://www.amazon.com/Talent-Overrated-Separates-World-Class-Performers/dp/1591842948

This book is an entire book dealing with a lot of the fears and problems we have as musicians and songwriters, and gives information to help get past it.