Wow,

My new little JPF "Flock, finally getting out of this silliness of personal distortion enough to ask some good questions. Thanks. First of all, I am here to help you guys. I believe if we build stronger communties we all do better. I make a living helping people the best I can. The advice I offer you are suggestions and the reason I wanted to come here was to not feel like I am being verbose or taking over a thread that I did not start. So thank you for coming here.I check in quite often and do post although I would much rather have questions like this. If you have them please post them and I can get a better idea of what to tell you to help you. This is not a one size fits all business.

Steven,
While I am the king of having a LOT of catalogue, I have that opinion for a different reason than just numbers. It is practical application. The more you do something, the better you are at it. Like adding weight in the gym. And each song is what I like to term as "Planting musical seeds." You see, with every person you write with,that increases your amount of friends. With more friends, you have more opportunities to be around, do writers nights, increase your knowledge, write different types of songs, different styles, grooves subject matter. also with each person you write with, gives you the opportunity to expand your "circle of friends" which lead you to better songs, better access, etc. You get the picture.

Publishers want several things:

#1 Self motivated.
Someone that "plays well with others" and writes well with several people. Writing with other writers means you know the language of Nashville, and multiple pitching teams mean more opportunities for songs.

#2 Having varied styles.
Publishers and pluggers study "pitch sheets" tip sheets and insider info from their own sources. Every night in every writers night and bar there is someone coming from pitch meetings all day in studios and saying "They are looking for one more song on "Tim McGraw." That is where many pitches come from. Last minute. If you want to know some inner logic on pitching, ask that.Varied styles hit the target more often than one type of songs.

#3 radio ready songs.
While the dream of us all is to have a publisher pay for demos and save us all, the reality is having a song ready to go beats people who don't have them ready. And you are up against the best. So you better play the game that they do. Take away the negatives, make your songs sound like the radio and you double and triple your chances.

#4 Understanding of the industry.
Someone that is trying to fit a "square peg in a round hole" with material that does not fit the market that publisher/plugger works, do themselves no favors. The guess work has to be eliminated. You can't say "See where you can fit this." you have to be focused and have targets. And while it doesn't have to be a "Taylor Swift Song", she writes most of her own material. But there are a TON of Taylor Swift Wanna and Gonna bes. This industry is filled with a lot of people on their way up and on their way down. Best to be on the ground floor and if you have something on the "next best thing" you have a much better shot than trying to get in with them after they are on top. Face it, once they are up there, they are in a different world, you don't have a chance at that. Go early young people.

Mark,

I never look for trends. There will always be party animals. There will always be the "summer songs" played on boats.
There will always be young artists, male and female artists, trying to say what they want with no life experiences. Females don't write as much under the age of 25 because they are usually too busy being artists. So there will always be needs for up tempo and positive songs.
There will always be a need for "Anthem songs." "Drift Away" Live Like You Were Dying" songs with "Meat on the bone" that people can sing along with.
There will always be a place for humerous songs. People love to laugh and it might open doors with other writers and that is a ton better in the beginning instead of expecting the "Next Ray Stevens" expect the door to crack for people tired of listening to a night of whining long winded ballads, protest songs and "taking myself TOO DAMN SERIOUSLY SONGS.

What not to do
Avoid cliches and over used titles.
Stay away from Angels, Pick ups, rednecks, walking over rainbows, looking at the stars in her eyes, crying over you, heart and apart, true, blue, eyes, realize and playing your guitar in Nashville. Nobody cares.

Avoid negativity in any way shape and form. These are the ebola virus of songs. There are only two types of people when it comes to your problems. Those that don't care about them, and those that are glad you've got em.'

I personally avoid "Issue songs" like the bubonic plague. Picture Tom Cruise jumping up and down on Oprah's couch, telling Matt Lauer he is "glib" and someone pointing their finger in your face, telling you how stupid you are for the way you vote, talk, and think. Opinions are like assholes and every one has one. And when you sit through a writers night and here 30 writers doing three songs each, 90 songs, and realize that is not even one per cent of a per cent that is done a week in Nashville alone, and one out of three are someone telling you about their cause of the day, their thing you HAVE to pay attention to NOW or the world will come to an end, you will start to get a clue of just how little people care.
They have their own lives, their own pain, their own struggles and care little for yours.

Remember, your songs are not about YOU. They are about the emotional responses and the images you build with your listeners.
Get out of your self and make some positive effects in people's lives.

Nuff said for now. any Questions?

MAB

#5