JPF Home Page Forums General Messages General Message Forum Required Reading - The Billboard Guide to Writing and Producing..

I have not read this book so cannot comment on its actual contents. I will take your word that it is a must have. I will be purchasing a copy just to see what all the fuss is about. I did however read the Eric Beall blurb about it and was a bit concerned about some of the things he claims to teach in this book.
It states....

"Whether you’re a beginning or veteran songwriter or producer, no matter what musical genre you choose to pursue, Beall offers step-by-step, easy to understand approach to increasing the commercial potential of your work. Learn:

How A Song Becomes A Hit

What Makes a Song A Single

The Formula For a Hit

With no musical theory knowledge required, The Billboard Guide to Writing and Producing Songs That Sell uses familiar musical examples to illustrate its concepts, and engaging exercises that will challenge you to improve your songwriting skills."

I suspect that this is putting the cart before the horse. What is the point in learning how to increase the potential of your work if you have poor songwriting skills and no decent work to market in the first place. I was also concerned that "No musical theory was necessary." Understanding musical theory is IMO a prerequisite before you can write any decent song. I fail to see how anybody can improve songwriter skills without having some musical skills and a decent grasp of musical theory.

Now on another thread I was taken to task for saying that most songwriting books either state the blindingly obvious or are irrelevant to the real needs of the people buying them. I suggested that people learn to play an instrument and obtain the musical knowledge that comes with it as a good starting point to then learn the craft of songwriting...there are no shortcuts and I doubt if reading a book will make that much difference to any wannabe songwriter who has not already learned the craft of songwriting. Now a lot of folk who read these type of books just write lyrics.....nothing wrong with lyric writers there is always a need for great lyrics....However IMO lyrics are just a tiny part of a song and have very little to do with what makes a song sell, especially in todays pop market. To be a good lyricist you must also have a good practical and theoretical knowledge of musical composition....so you can write lyrics to fit music already written or allow music which will be written by someone else to fit your lyrics.