Page 8 - WriteAwaySept

What Are You W

Writing Lyrics With Your Audience In Mind person, but you aren’t trying to force people into a
mold.
It’s happened to all of us… your song is almost done
but there’s something missing. You imagined the lyrics But I Don’t Have an Audience!
would be awesome but it’s sort of… okay. It’s
technically correct. There’s nothing specifically That makes it easy, you get to choose your tribe, who
wrong. You followed all of the lyric writing you want to write for and who you want to love your
guidelines, best practices and rules but your song
songs. If you already have an audience interact with
feels lifeless and flat. There’s no sparkle, it’s just... them, have conversations with them in person and
generic.
online and find out everything you can about them.
Often it’s because you’re playing it safe and trying to But I Write Songs In Every Style!
please everyone. Sure, we all wish everyone would
love every one of our songs, but honestly… do you
love every song you hear? Pick your strongest or favourite style and create one
avatar first.
Just as you can’t please everyone all of the time… you
can’t write a song that everyone will love. Instead of Can This Really Work?
fighting or trying to argue with this truth, learn how to
use it to leverage your lyric writing! I fought this idea at first too! It feels wrong to exclude
people but if you’re being true to your songwriting
One way is to create an avatar of your audience. An muse, the people that don’t fit your avatar are unlikely
avatar is a symbolic representation of your ideal to enjoy your music anyway. Write for the people that
audience member. Someone who shares your every your music will resonate with!
FaceBook update, who buys every song you release
and two of every piece of merch in your online shop, If you were to express yourself without any
who would book an airline flight to get to one of your doubts or filters and be the most authentic
concerts… version of yourself as an artist… who
would want to hear you?
Your avatar is an imaginary person that represents
your most loyal fans. You’re painting a mental picture You can define your audience, then
of the people that love your music so you can understand them so well that you
understand them better. write songs that they think you
personally wrote for them. You’re
Why You Should Create an Audience learning how to write to them about
Avatar what they dream about, using the
language they use. This is a short-
cut to find your true fans.
Many songwriters write for “themselves” without
realizing it. Creating an avatar gives you conscious
control over your writing. It takes you out of your own How to Create an Audience
head and gets you thinking of the people you’re trying Avatar
to reach with your lyrics. It also makes it easier to
collaborate in a co-writing situation. Who do you want to love your lyrics? Create a
detailed image of your ideal fan. This doesn’t
But People are Unique and Don’t Fit Into work if you only think about it, go get your
Imaginary Boxes! favourite
writing tools, I’ll wait…
I agree, but you’re trying to focus on the most I think about three main categories of informa-
common characteristics of an audience. Instead of
tion: demographics, musical taste and other inter-
trying to include everyone, you’re searching for what ests. Start with these prompts and add as much
draws that audience together, what they have in com-
detail as possible.
mon. You create a mental image of them as a single

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