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In my posts last week I discussed the benefits of having a songwriting and/or production team and gave some tips on starting one. If you have not read those blogs, click here
In my last post, I talked about watching you who you get in bed with and discussed the consequences of working with someone you honestly don't know.
But what if the person you want to start a songwriting or production team is already a friend of yours. That should be easier, right? You feel you already know the person, right? Should friends start a songwriting or production team? Should relatives? Should spouses?
Again to get the answers to those questions, I'd suggest reading the bios of the urban songwriting/production teams and popular songwriting teams that I mentioned in my prior blogs from last week. You'll see that some of the teams are married couples, some are friends, some were business professionals who met each other and hooked up to form a business team.
But I want you to read this great article I found which gives some great advice for starting a business with friends and relatives:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/officelive/FX102414561033.aspx?ofcresset=1
Let me know what you think!
Thedy B, Attorney/Songwriter
Hits A Million, LLC
hitsamillion.blogspot.com
Showing posts with label forming a songwriting team. Show all posts
Showing posts with label forming a songwriting team. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Starting your own songwriting or production team?
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I've done a week of blogs on songwriting and production teams. So my question now to all of you who write alone, are you ready to start your own production or songwriting team? If you are a songwriter or producer who writes alone and is now ready to start your own team, but don't know where to find the people that you need, then I'd suggest the following things:
1. Network!!!!! Check out all the blogs I did on networking as I think they will help you find the right members for your songwriting and production team. Go to some music conferences. Check out JaWar's blog which lists over 25 upcoming conferences on mymusicconnection.blogspot.com. Please do attend one or more of these conferences, which are located all over the U.S.! Interestingly, it's from attending music conferences that I in fact found people in my own city to collaborate with, network with, find out about other events, etc. So again, get out the studio and network, network, network!
2. Find talented, business-minded, serious members who you'd enjoy working with! Well if you just met someone at a music conference, how do you know if that person fits that criteria? Well, do you see them out at multiple events, including music conferences, beat battles, open mics, industry events or a host of other networking places that I've mentioned in previous blogs? Do they have industry contacts? Have they been referred to you by someone who can vouch for them or by someone you know? Have you heard them sing (if they are a singer), heard their songs, heard their lyrics, their production work? Do you like what you heard? Does the person have business cards? Does the person have a CD of their work? Do they have a serious web presence? Are they currently working on their craft? Or are they constantly out partying, chilling, watching television, chasing women/men, etc? You can tell if a person is business minded and serious by listening to the person's conversation: what do they talk about the most? Don't just believe someone who says their "grinding" (an overused, misunderstood term in my opinion). Watch their work ethic which says more than their tongue service! And check the person's character and their personality and see if it meshes with yours or compliments yours.
3. Once you find those individuals, establish some rules. I gave you two days worth's of do's and don'ts to help you get started with setting a foundation for your songwriting/production team. Since you've found talented, business-minded individuals, there should be no problem with establishing some parameters!
4. Set up a schedule for when you will meet.
5. Meet and work with each other for awhile (I'd suggest no fewere than 6 months together), and then if the fit is there, meet with an entertainment attorney, see about going into business with your new members, and set up the right corporation for your production or songwriting team.
6. Then make great music together!
Thedy B, Attorney/Songwriter
Hits A Million, LLC
hitsamillion.blogspot.com
Interviewed.blogspot.com
Musicpanels.blogspot.com
Mobilemusicbusiness.blogspot.com
Musiclabels.blogspot.com
globalmusicbusiness.blogspot.com
I've done a week of blogs on songwriting and production teams. So my question now to all of you who write alone, are you ready to start your own production or songwriting team? If you are a songwriter or producer who writes alone and is now ready to start your own team, but don't know where to find the people that you need, then I'd suggest the following things:
1. Network!!!!! Check out all the blogs I did on networking as I think they will help you find the right members for your songwriting and production team. Go to some music conferences. Check out JaWar's blog which lists over 25 upcoming conferences on mymusicconnection.blogspot.com. Please do attend one or more of these conferences, which are located all over the U.S.! Interestingly, it's from attending music conferences that I in fact found people in my own city to collaborate with, network with, find out about other events, etc. So again, get out the studio and network, network, network!
2. Find talented, business-minded, serious members who you'd enjoy working with! Well if you just met someone at a music conference, how do you know if that person fits that criteria? Well, do you see them out at multiple events, including music conferences, beat battles, open mics, industry events or a host of other networking places that I've mentioned in previous blogs? Do they have industry contacts? Have they been referred to you by someone who can vouch for them or by someone you know? Have you heard them sing (if they are a singer), heard their songs, heard their lyrics, their production work? Do you like what you heard? Does the person have business cards? Does the person have a CD of their work? Do they have a serious web presence? Are they currently working on their craft? Or are they constantly out partying, chilling, watching television, chasing women/men, etc? You can tell if a person is business minded and serious by listening to the person's conversation: what do they talk about the most? Don't just believe someone who says their "grinding" (an overused, misunderstood term in my opinion). Watch their work ethic which says more than their tongue service! And check the person's character and their personality and see if it meshes with yours or compliments yours.
3. Once you find those individuals, establish some rules. I gave you two days worth's of do's and don'ts to help you get started with setting a foundation for your songwriting/production team. Since you've found talented, business-minded individuals, there should be no problem with establishing some parameters!
4. Set up a schedule for when you will meet.
5. Meet and work with each other for awhile (I'd suggest no fewere than 6 months together), and then if the fit is there, meet with an entertainment attorney, see about going into business with your new members, and set up the right corporation for your production or songwriting team.
6. Then make great music together!
Thedy B, Attorney/Songwriter
Hits A Million, LLC
hitsamillion.blogspot.com
Interviewed.blogspot.com
Musicpanels.blogspot.com
Mobilemusicbusiness.blogspot.com
Musiclabels.blogspot.com
globalmusicbusiness.blogspot.com
Friday, June 6, 2008
Why form a songwriting team?
Did you enjoy my latest post about songwriting teams? Reading the stories of songwriting teams was good because you get a chance to find out how people met, how long they were a songwriting or production team, what hits they wrote together, who they previously wrote songs with, which artist they wrote for, etc. It's good reading! So check out that post if you did not!
So the question is though: why form a songwriting team? Why have a production team? If I can write a whole song by myself, why work with anyone else? Why give someone else credit? Why would I choose to include someone in on a song and then have to share the royalties?
Well, you don't HAVE to do anything. You can write a whole song from start to finish. You can make a beat yourself. You can write all the lyrics. You can write or compose solo, get all the credit, get all the money, and all the fame.
But here's some benefits to writing or composing with a songwriting and/or production team:
1. A songwriting/production team can help you write more songs. You can writer more songs with a songwriting/production team than you can by yourself. If you only have to write the hook, or do the bass line to a song, think of how many bass lines or hooks you could come up with, knowing your partner's got the verses or the melody.
2. A songwriting/production team can help you finish a song. Each person can write different parts of the song or help with finishing a song you've started but couldn't finish. In most cases, you can depend on the other person or persons to help you with a line or part or lick that you're stuck on.
3. A songwriting/production team can help you brainstorm more ideas and thus generate more songs.
4. A songwriting/production team can help you remember melodies, lines, titles, lyrics, and licks that you forgot so you can develop that part better.
5. A songwriting/production team can help you develop your craft - Since we don't all think alike, having another person's style that's different from ours will help develop your craft so that your songs won't all sound alike. While some producers have a certain sound, and you know I encouraged that in one of my prior blogs (click here to read it), you don't want people to say your song sounds just like the one you did on another project.
6. A songwriting/production team will help you have versatility in your music.
7. A team will help encourage you to continue. If you are dedicated to a group, sometimes that dedication to the group will help you stay dedicated to your dream.
8. A songwriting team helps eliminate weaknesses - if you are a strong lyricist but not a strong melody writer, hooking up with a melody writer will help you write better songs with better melodies, finish your songs, give life to your lyrics, help you write better lyrics since your lyrics will have to fit with the music, etc.
Same with producers who are great with making a beat but you need someone to help with writing lyrics or with mixing, etc.
9. A songwriting team helps with getting recognized. Typically we don't all know the same people so imagine having several people on a production team who meet different people in the industry or worked with different people at different times coming together to write and based on relationships, they are able to get their songs recorded. It happens in the music industry all the time.
10.Having a songwriting team helps you stay on your grind. Being accountable to a team will help you stay focused on doing what you need to do to make it in this industry.
So while you may be able to get all the credit, get all the money, and all the fame from doing everything yourself, consider the above benefits for writing and/or producing with a songwriting and/or production team and ask yourself, am I missing out?
Thedy B, Attorney/Songwriter
Hits A Million, LLC
hitsamillion.blogspot.com
Interviewed.blogspot.com
Musicpanels.blogspot.com
Mobilemusicbusiness.blogspot.com
Musiclabels.blogspot.com
globalmusicbusiness.blogspot.com
So the question is though: why form a songwriting team? Why have a production team? If I can write a whole song by myself, why work with anyone else? Why give someone else credit? Why would I choose to include someone in on a song and then have to share the royalties?
Well, you don't HAVE to do anything. You can write a whole song from start to finish. You can make a beat yourself. You can write all the lyrics. You can write or compose solo, get all the credit, get all the money, and all the fame.
But here's some benefits to writing or composing with a songwriting and/or production team:
1. A songwriting/production team can help you write more songs. You can writer more songs with a songwriting/production team than you can by yourself. If you only have to write the hook, or do the bass line to a song, think of how many bass lines or hooks you could come up with, knowing your partner's got the verses or the melody.
2. A songwriting/production team can help you finish a song. Each person can write different parts of the song or help with finishing a song you've started but couldn't finish. In most cases, you can depend on the other person or persons to help you with a line or part or lick that you're stuck on.
3. A songwriting/production team can help you brainstorm more ideas and thus generate more songs.
4. A songwriting/production team can help you remember melodies, lines, titles, lyrics, and licks that you forgot so you can develop that part better.
5. A songwriting/production team can help you develop your craft - Since we don't all think alike, having another person's style that's different from ours will help develop your craft so that your songs won't all sound alike. While some producers have a certain sound, and you know I encouraged that in one of my prior blogs (click here to read it), you don't want people to say your song sounds just like the one you did on another project.
6. A songwriting/production team will help you have versatility in your music.
7. A team will help encourage you to continue. If you are dedicated to a group, sometimes that dedication to the group will help you stay dedicated to your dream.
8. A songwriting team helps eliminate weaknesses - if you are a strong lyricist but not a strong melody writer, hooking up with a melody writer will help you write better songs with better melodies, finish your songs, give life to your lyrics, help you write better lyrics since your lyrics will have to fit with the music, etc.
Same with producers who are great with making a beat but you need someone to help with writing lyrics or with mixing, etc.
9. A songwriting team helps with getting recognized. Typically we don't all know the same people so imagine having several people on a production team who meet different people in the industry or worked with different people at different times coming together to write and based on relationships, they are able to get their songs recorded. It happens in the music industry all the time.
10.Having a songwriting team helps you stay on your grind. Being accountable to a team will help you stay focused on doing what you need to do to make it in this industry.
So while you may be able to get all the credit, get all the money, and all the fame from doing everything yourself, consider the above benefits for writing and/or producing with a songwriting and/or production team and ask yourself, am I missing out?
Thedy B, Attorney/Songwriter
Hits A Million, LLC
hitsamillion.blogspot.com
Interviewed.blogspot.com
Musicpanels.blogspot.com
Mobilemusicbusiness.blogspot.com
Musiclabels.blogspot.com
globalmusicbusiness.blogspot.com
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