Page 8 - Jan InDesign

Lyric Writing Superpowers
How to Focus Your Lyric Writing Powers For
Maximum Results
So you’ve mostly figured out lyric writing but you’re
wondering how to make the most of your talents
with limited time… the day job, family
commitments, getting outside and living a life
interesting enough to inspire great songwriting….
It doesn’t feel like there’s enough time, but others
have done it… so what’s their secret?
I’m constantly reading about and testing ideas from
diverse fields to keep fresh and consistently inspired
in both my songwriting and my teaching. There are
the obvious fields of study like songwriting, music
theory and teaching best practices, but I also
experiment with ideas from elite level musicianship
and athletics, personal productivity, business
coaching and marketing. With a little creative
thinking you can find songwriting insights in many
strange and interesting places.
Let’s see what songwriting insights we can find in this Video Format - video has become an important way
marketing framework:
What does the market want?
What are your strengths?
What is your passion?
Once we translate this into songwriting speak:
1. What does the market want = who is listening to
your songs?
What’s your songwriting market? If you’re a
lyricist but don’t write music, your market is potential market and share your songs.
co-writers who can add music to bring your songs
to life. If you perform your songs live your market is
your audience at live shows and those on your email
list and your social media followers.
Regardless of where you are with your songwriting,
here’s where you can start figuring out your market
and who will be listening to your work.
Who are you? What’s your story? What can you tell
your audience that would help them relate to you as
08
an artist and as a person?
Who is your target audience? Who do you sound
like? Who wants to hear your music?
Where is your format a fit? Where do you need to
take your finished (or partial) song
With only lyrics, you need to write the music or
attract a co-writer who will
With lyrics and music that’s ready to record you need
to level up to a polished recording - The quality of
your audio recording effects where you can distribute
it
Audio Format - Recorded Songs
Demo Quality recorded on your phone is fine for
social media
Home studio recording might need professional
mixing or mastering
Radio Ready (Professionally recorded and mastered),
ready for distribution to Spotify, CD, iTunes, Syn-
chronization
to share your music. It could be in the form of a:
Performance video of you singing and playing your
song
Live video footage of you performing in front of an
audience
A series of still photos with audio track,
Or a professional video production shot on a
shoestring or with big budget
Who would be interested in your song and the
format you have will affect where and how you
To help figure out your target audience check out my
article on page 8 of the October issue of Write Away
Who Are You Writing For?
2. What are your songwriting strengths?
Be honest with yourself, nobody’s an expert at
everything… so:
What aspects of songwriting are your strongest?
www.writeawaymagazine.co.uk