Hit Songwriting in Six Easy Steps

Hit songwriting in pop music has become increasingly easier to predict by music industry insiders and music fans alike. Not too long ago, in pop music, there was a wide variety of musical tastes by major labels, and no one could really put a finger on which song would be a sure hit.

But lately major labels have been settling for nothing but the "sure thing," a good-looking singer or band with very little musical substance they can mass market and stick down the consumers' throats! Consequently, pop music has become so poor and watered-down that it's much easier to spot something original with the potential to rule the music charts!

Top 40 pop songs these days usually have great "hooks" but poorly written lyrics in the verses, rendering the majority of them nothing but "here today gone tomorrow hits." This is not good practice for songwriters who are in it for the long haul because once these songs run their course, most are rarely played again, and that amounts to less profit for the songwriter over the life of the song!

Pop hit songwriting these days usually consists of nothing but a good beat with pasted-on lyrics to them in the verses with very little focus, and very singable choruses to hook the listeners. Mix in a well-known rapper on some of these songs and voila, a hit! If you're not into music production or beat making, there are many awesome beat-makers out there willing to either collaborate or sell their beats at a fairly modest price.

Here's how to write a hit song in today's pop music market:

1. Focus first on who will be singing the song and what style it'll be whether it's in pop, r&b, rock, etc. Decide what you want your song to be about and pick a song title(you don't have to re-invent the wheel), i.e., "I Need You," (self-explanatory) "Whatever" (a song about - you're not going to change your mind about something) "Far Away," (a song about - I wish you were here with me), etc. Hit songwriting titles these days tend to use one to three words in the title, i.e., "Disturbia," "Closer."

2. Create or buy an awesome beat for the song if it's in r&b or most types of pop, and if it's a song with a much more "live" feel wait until the next step (3) before proceeding.

3. Create an original strong, singable hook that you can't get out of your mind after hearing it a few times. If you can't come up with this, chances are you will not have a hit song. Once you do have a strong hook, proceed to (4).

4. Write decent verses. If you really want to stand out, take the time to craft some awesome verses!

5. Make sure your song has no empty spaces in it. Even if you're playing it on guitar or piano, create fills and riffs to bracket the vocals. Pop songs today have NO empty spaces. The music is more intense and "in your face" than ever.

6. If you believe your song has the potential to be a hit, test out the song or songs on your friends and family members who listen to pop radio. Their reaction is usually the right one!

Did you know anyone who listens to music can learn how to write quality songs because music is a hearing art form? All you have to know are the basics of songwriting. If you want to see how easy it is for free click here.

Artist Branding in the Music Business

Music branding has become more and more popular as a topic amongst not only the hierarchy of the music industry but the average artist and independent companies. Artists are slowly beginning to realise the power of their own name and how they can generate not only another revenue stream, but an even more significant financial return that dwarfs the return from their music career.

One of the most significant markers was laid down not in the music industry but in sports. When Michael Jordan the basketball legend achieved notoriety when he signed an extremely lucrative deal with Nike to produce the Air Jordan range, the table was set and has continued in sports with many sportsmen including David Beckham and Tiger Woods.

The deal with Michael Jordan was not the first time various industries recognised the power of performers be it sportsmen, actors or musicians. Run DMC the famous Hip Hop legends after recording and releasing the hit "My Adidas" was approached by the sport wear giants when sales of the brand increased due to the songs popularity.

Some would argue even more significant than these cases are the cases of minor celebrities such as the late Jade Goody (Channel 4's Big Brother) have shown you need not have achieved a significant success in any field to find success with selling your brand and being rewarded financially. Jade achieved significant financial rewards with her perfume line which grossed her a seven figure sum.

So what is a brand?

Whenever I speak to musicians and mention branding they always start to speak about logos and image, which has a place in branding but it is not what branding actually is. Let's clear up the logo issue first. A logo is the visual identification of a brand.

Again, so what is a brand?

A quote from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos states "a brand is what people say about you when you leave the room". I think many would agree that Amazon is a well known and successful brand. But how do you build a successful brand? For me the key ingredient of a brand is trust! Now if you notice trust does not mean you have to behave well and do everything by the book, as our post image we chose the Rolling stone logo which has become a brand that represents good rock and roll music, but was formerly identified with misbehaviour and rebellion.

Others in branding state that a brand is a promise of an experience as most women would get from a Herbal Essence ad is the promise of a sensual experience when washing their hair. One of the most successful examples of this promise is the Heinz food brand. When most shoppers who are not skint go to their local superstore if they are buying beans a large percentage for a long period of time would pick up the Heinz branded tin because it was branded as a higher quality product and it was so effectively marketed people did not mind paying more for the experience. That is what a well marketed brand will allow you to do.

What is your brand?

The music business is the king of the personal brand because if you did not have a good personal brand your success would be short lived. When developing your brand you need to know your brand values, what do you stand for? What do you want people to say about you? What are you promising? Are you guaranteeing a good time?Are you the rebel? Do you intend to enlighten the world? Or are you the sex kitten guaranteed to titilate and arouse? Work out your brand values and you will be well on your way to developing your brand.

Trust is never instant and neither is a brand it needs to be built over time and you need to live up to your brand values, your promise, if you do not, you will not have a strong brand therefore will not be deemed trustworthy or dependable to deliver the experience you say.

There is more to developing your brand but this is a brief overview and an invitation to you who are interested to research and start to develop that brand because if developed effectively will expand beyond your music to different areas as our earlier examples have shown.

Trevor Fisher

Music Business Consultant and Artist Development Specialist

http://trevorfisher.com

Making Rap Music Instrumentals That People Groove - 3 Tips to Make the Best Rap Music Instrumentals

Do you know what makes hot and sensational rap music instrumental? Yeah, it's all about the sound when it hit the ears. Let me just share 3 hot tips with you that will make amazing rap music instrumentals that get people groove and hit the dance floor each and every time.

1) The Instruments Selection

Well, you will need to mix and match the right rhythm of all instruments that compliment among themselves. Focusing on basic hi hat, kick and snare alone is not enough. While they may be the foundation but your must add more variety of music instruments like cymbal, ride and shaker to make your rap music special.

2) Instrumental Style and Pattern

This could the missing puzzle of great rap music beats. You see, it's normal to see that a high bpm will have an aggressive beat pattern and vice versa. The problem with rap beats over the years is that it has been repeatedly duplicated and reused. So, it's quite uncommon to hear some fresh, unique and original rap beats. What I suggest you to do is to borrow pattern from other music genre and blend them into your rap beats. If you like a certain kicks and snares, try to avoid using it too often or it could kill your creativity and uniqueness.

3) Learning How to Use the Bassline

Okay, it's kind of a fanatic when I hear my song and beats banging hard in clubs or rattling someone's car speaker and woofer. This can be done by creating basslines for your instrumentals. The bassline must not be too soft or too hard that it overlaps the other sounds in your song at the same time. You can also try adding different music instrumentals to play together with your bassline pattern.

Now, once you have mastered all these 3 tips, you are going to tweak your rap beats by adding some sound effect to enhance your instruments. This can be easily done with a good beat maker as the beat maker will allow you full control on the tempo, the meter etc. and a large sound bank of various music genres that you can mix into your beats.

One of the best rap beat maker to make rap music instrumentals is THIS. Click Here to see how quick you can make professional rap beats with this beat maker and listen to its studio quality sound it produces.

African American Music

What do the Rap, Hip Hop, Funk, Soul, Jazz, Rhythm and Blues and Gospel all have in common?

They are all popular genres of music considered to be included under the general African American music umbrella having been influenced by the culture of African Americans. Historically, African American genres of music have been very significant in their affect across a broad range of socio-economic groups within the United States and overseas.

From the early influences on mainstream American music in the 19th century to the popularity today of Hip Hop, Rap and RnB, the influence of African Americans on the American music industry continues with a plethora of successful solo artists and groups maintaining a strong presence in the charts.

Although in earlier years of it's history, not all African American musicians achieved mainstream success. During the 1950's Little Richard (Rev. Richard Wayne Penniman) who became an important identity in the transition from rythm and blues to rock and roll received his first accolade and has continued to achieve extraordinary success and acknowledgement throughout his musical career. In 2007 his original hit "Tutti Frutti" took out first place in Mojo magazine's poll of "The Top 100 Records That Changed The World."

Sly and the Family Stone, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Prince, Marvin Gaye, India Arie, Erykah Badu and in particular Destiny's Child who some years ago became known as the highest selling female vocal group of all time are to name a few of the highly successful African American singers and song-writers. In more recent times Alicia Keys was the first woman to log three weeks at number one with her "As I am" hit and she is the first African American woman to remain at number one for has long as she did since 2002 when Ashanti hit the charts with her debut album.

Expressing themselves and celebrating their culture creatively, spiritually, politically and socially, these and many more talented artists have enhanced the reputation and popularity of the myriad of genres of music that claim their roots in African American music.

Ragtime to Rap, Scott Joplin to Curtis James Jackson 111, aka 50 Cent, the genres of Blues, Jazz, Motown, disco, Funk, Rock and Roll, Hip Hop, Techno and Electric Jazz all increased in popularity for their time and during the 1950's and more so during the 1970's African American music was appealing to wider more mainstream audiences including crossover audiences.

Along with the evolution of African American music came the evolution of dance and the introduction of dance, block and rave parties where the Mc's and the DJ's themselves have become celebrities in their own rights.

Over decades if not centuries the rising popularity of African American music has bought more attention to African American culture including the landmark signing of legislation in 2003 for the creation and development of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.

John Thomson is webmaster at http://www.africanamericancheck.com where African American Personal Checks are on display for all to see.

How to Find the Best 60's Songs

If you are looking to find and download 60s songs straight to your computer, then you are going to need some assistance. And if you don't know the best songs from this era, then such a task is only made more difficult. This article hopes to present some tips as to how you can locate the best 60s songs to download and listen to.

I remember when I began my own journey of self-discovery of this classic yet bygone era and the one thing I can recall was not knowing where to start. I hope to use my experience to assist you so that you don't have to go through the same difficulties I went through.

The best indication of a good song is its commercial success. This refers to songs that were popular enough to reach high positions on music charts. So, the best starting point is to find out all the number 1 songs from each year in the 1960s. The best source for this information is by far Wikipedia. Just type in "Billboard charts" to go to the article on the US music charts and then click on the relevant link to go to the list of number 1 songs from the 1960s. More often than not, those songs that reached number 1 are very good and worth listening to.

Another way to find the best songs is by finding which ones were one-hit wonders during that period. A lot of these were hits without reaching number 1 and are worth having a listen. Once again, the best resource for this information is Wikipedia. Just type in "one-hit wonders" and find the article relevant to the one-hit wonders in the USA during the 1960s.

Keep in mind that you are not restricted to the US charts and can always choose to access other countries' charts such as the UK or Japan. If you want to download 60s songs that sound great, then following the tips above can make it so much easier for you.

Martin Sejas is the owner and main writer of All Time Classic Songs, a website where you can download 60s songs and music from other musical eras.

The Evolution of Jazz Music in the 1930s

Jazz is a musical art form that has expanded well beyond its own genre definition, transforming with every era and begetting countless other popular modern genre forms in the process. As an artistic invention of African American communities primarily in the Southern region of the United States, jazz finds its earliest roots in New Orleans, where black performers blended Southern blues, the startling variations of Caribbean music, and an altered form of traditional European instrumentation.

Resistance to "hot jazz" in the early twentieth century ultimately contributed to the evolution of jazz music in the 1930s. In the 1920s, jazz music had spread to the North, Chicago and New York, where bands gave their performances on the margins of society. During the Prohibition era, jazz was often performed in illegal speakeasies and the Red Light district, causing this "wild" music to be associated with the decadence of that era. However, with the onset of the depression the Dixieland jazz that had dominated up until the end of the 1920s was gradually supplanted.

The End of Dixieland

Jazz slowly began to creep in at the edges of mainstream music because of its popularity on college campuses, and in general, amongst American youth. The evolution of jazz music in the 1930s amounted to a compromise between the music industry and the older generation of white Americans, who were gradually accepting the presence of jazz music in popular culture. However, this increasing popularization affected a considerable dilution of the form, shedding much of the raw, impromptu quality of earlier Dixieland jazz.

Dixieland was characterized by the convergence of many forms - polyrhythmic ragtimes, the low pitch of blue notes, French Quadrilles, and improvisation, as well as a large rhythm section of the trombone, trumpets, tuba, guitars, clarinet, the piano, drums, and banjo. It was unpredictable, and the individual performers showcased their improvisational skills, playing from their souls not their notes.

The Rise of Big Band Swing

At the beginning of the decade white big band swing performers played "sweet" jazz, making use of violins and arranged sheet music. The reasons for this particular evolution of jazz music in the 1930s were twofold. It was more composed and less offensive to the older white American audience. At the same time, the onset of the Depression created a widespread need for inexpensive pleasantries, and jazz-inspired music gradually gained footing in the newly burgeoning radio industry.

The more recognizable swing arrangements evolved when dancing became linked to big band. Dance styles, such as the Lindy Hop, that had been popularized in black communities in the 1920s were appropriated by white teenagers and introduced in dance halls. Swing orchestras became larger, with 20-25 pieces in a typical band. Music was still arranged, but individual performers were given complex solos, and as was also typical in sweet jazz, a singer performed vocals to the music. Popular performers of the era include Shep Fields, Benny Goodman, and Glenn Miller.

The undomesticated "hot jazz" of black performers - including Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Jimmie Lunceford - persisted throughout the big band era, but never gained the popularity of its white counterpart. Big band singlehandedly dominated the entertainment industry, extending beyond radio to television and film in the 1940s. The evolution of jazz music in the 1930s led to its eventual popularity across the continent and later, internationally. Jazz music has been adapted globally across cultural lines, but its humble roots remain in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Ian Pennington is an accomplished niche website developer and author. To learn more about evolution of jazz music [http://www.themusicalplanet.info/the-evolution-of-jazz-music-in-the-1930s], please visit The Musical Planet [http://www.themusicalplanet.info] for current articles and discussions.

Writing Hit Songs

There are a lot of factors to writing a hit song. First, you should focus on writing a good song. Once you've done that, you are not far away from writing a hit.

Like most other things in life, it takes persistence, patience, drive, knowledge, belief and maybe some luck.

Stop and think about your favorite songs. Really analyze them and figure out what it is that you like about those songs.

Different factors may come to play here. Maybe it is the good beat, lyrics that hit home, a beautiful melody, something spiritual or patriotic, or maybe even that it is humorous.

If you include one of these elements in your songwriting you are well on your way. If you combine two or more of these elements, you may have yourself a hit.

A Good Beat

Rhythm is important in music. I have to laugh and think of Jerry Van Dyke on "The Dick Van Dyke Show" years ago trying to play the banjo and sing, "I've got rhy-rhy-thm, I've got mah-mah-music..."

But, unless you are very funny like Jerry Van Dyke, your audience is not very likely to stay with you.

Your music not only needs to have a good beat, but must fit the genre of music you are trying to write. A Metallica beat in a George Strait type song may not get you very far. A song with a good enough beat might be a hit even with no melody and no lyrics. Remember "Green Onions?"

Along with the beat is the tempo. Country music is easy to write (I did not say it is easy to write well) because it is about people's lives and everyday experiences. However, too often people write slow songs for country music, when in fact the industry is starving for upbeat country material like "Country Roads" and "Rocky Top." It is much harder to write a good up-tempo country song than it is a tear jerker.

Lyrics in popular music can range from broken relationships to political issues, and just about any point in between. Those that tend to be the most popular are about situations you and I may encounter in our everyday lives; "Workin' 9 To 5," "I Just Called To Say I Love You," "Your Cheatin' Heart," "God Bless The USA" (which ingeniously incorporates spiritual, political and patriotic views).

A beautiful or interesting melody can get you into the ranks of hit songwriter with no lyrics required. Going back in time to prove a point about beautiful melodies, you might consider songs like "Last Date" and "Sleepwalk."

Songs with great melody lines are very easy to be found in many hit TV show themes like "Peter Gunn," "Hawaii 5-0," along with many of the 60's surfer songs like "Wipe Out."

Well done humorous songs usually find an audience, such as Ray Stevens "The Streak," and Jerry Reeds "She Got The Goldmine, I Got The Shaft." If you have a knack for both humor and music, you might make a fortune.

Spiritual and patriotic songs, if they are well done and come out at the right time, are easy hits. Every time the U.S. gets involved in any type of world conflict, the songwriters get their pens out.

Keep your ears and eyes open, and keep a shoe box to put your ideas for songs in. Every time you think of an idea for a song or a song title, write it down and drop it in the box. It could be your first, or your next, big hit.

Michael Russell
MgrCentral.com
Established 2001
Home Business Training and Information Guides

The Music of 1905!

One hundred years ago, in the U.S., competitions in Ragtime were held, at which the awards reached unimaginable sums of twenty-five thousand dollars.

If it is quite certain that most people now listen to dance, pop, rap, techno, house, hip-hop... and folk music, then maybe there are those who asked themselves what was going on concert stages around the world before exactly hundred....and five years ago.

It is clear that the so-called serious or classical music, is backed-up with most data at the beginning of last century, but that doesn't mean that it was and the most popular... Indeed, the pianist Arthur Rubinstein was at the time greeted with ovations wherever he held a concert...however, he was heard only by "selected" audience.

Franz Lehar

However, even among composers of classical music there were those who sought true hits. One of them was Ferenc, known as Franz Lehar (1870-1948), Austrian composer of Hungarian origin. This military conductor was thirty-five years old, when he, in the Austrian capital, in late 1905, for the first time staged his operetta "The Merry Widow" (Die lustige Witwe). The success was great, and it seems that the popularity of "Merry Widow" is not abating even after a hundred years.

Almost at the same time, Lehar's countryman, Gustav Mahler (1860-1911, wrote the Seventh Symphony, and the German composer Richard Strauss (1864-1949) musical drama, "Salome", drawing inspiration from the text of the same name by Oscar Wilde.

Italian composer Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936) was twenty-six years old in 1905. He finished his viola and composition studies, and was concertmaster of the orchestra from Imperial Theatre in St. Petersburg and he also performed in concerts, playing violin. That year he wrote a comic opera "King Enzo" (Re Enzo), very popular at that time, Nocturne for Orchestra and the Suite in G major for string orchestra and organ.

The famous Hungarian composer Bela Bartok was young then. He was only twenty-four years old and just wrote the First and Second suite for orchestra. One year younger then him was Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971). According to his parent's wish, in1905 he finished law school in St. Petersburg, but every day, he visited the composer Rimsky-Korsakov, his personal composition teacher. Hundred and five years ago Stravinsky wrote his first symphony in E minor.

French composer Claude Debussy (1862-1918) published his first book of compositions for piano "Images" (Images pour piano), and Pietro Mascagni - his opera "Amica.".

On the other side of the Atlantic, America was hit with fever of cheerful music for piano - ragtime. Clearly dominating the popular music of America at that time, ragtime was associated with the game, which was named Cakewalk. The father of ragtime was a poor pianist Scott Joplin (1868-1917).

One hundred and five years ago, in the U.S., competitions in Ragtime were held, at which the awards reached unimaginable sum of twenty-five thousand dollars. Schools of Ragtime were opening, and many manuals for ragtime were published.

This music wave eventually came to Europe and the above mentioned composers began to insert ragtime themes in their work...

Slavisa Jovanovic is an Agroeconomy/Rural Development expert. He is actively engaged in scientific research of his expertise. In his free time, he likes to explore other areas based on his daily interest. The results of that "other"research can be found on his blog: http://zumaworld.blogspot.com/

The Biggest 1990s One Hit Wonder Bands

People loved and still love 80's music but what about the 90's? The 90's were full of forgotten treasures that set the stage for future acts. Bands such as Green Day, Radiohead and Pearl Jam made it big back then and are still huge today.

However, there were also those bands that seemed to suddenly form, write a hit of a song, become a huge success and then fade out just as quick as they had come on the scene.

These are formally known as one hit wonders and no one can ever remember the bands names only the title of the hit songs, for obvious reasons.

Take the song Breakfast At Tiffany's for my first example. When this song emerged, the crowds went wild for it but as with many other one hit wonders, no one can recall the name of the band, can you?

You probably wouldn't guess it after ten tries, it was Deep Blue Something, the exemplary one hit wonder of the 90's.

Try another one, "The Way" which was a hit during the late 90's and loved by many. This one actually still gets played even today but the band never managed to make another song as good at that one.

The Rembrandts, they are my third temporary sensation to make the list. Their hit song is played and listened to every day and many people wouldn't even be able to put the name of the band to the hit song.

I'll Be There For You, ring any bells? It was such a loved song in its time that it became the theme song for the TV show Friends, Oh now you remember! And as with all the rest, The Rembrandts faded away into obscurity.

But the questions is, who has helped produced the one hit sensations list for the 2000's? That one is coming soon.

When Felicia isn't thinking about music, she's most likely writing about steel entry doors at http://steelentrydoors.net.

Hitting it Big in the Music Industry

Whether you're running a rock band or a rap group, the rules are always the same. You have to get signed if you want to make it into the big time. Until you hit the worldwide spotlight, you're going to find yourself just scraping by.

If you want to get the attention of the record labels, there are some things you and your band will have to do. This article goes over a few of the more often overlooked tactics.

The first step to getting signed is getting a fan base. Obviously, record labels are prone to think that if your group can draw a crowd on the local level, you're likely to be able to draw a bigger crowd on the national level.

Learn to think about the business side of the music business. A record label is looking for one thing: profitability. And if you can show that you already have a built-in audience, they label executives are way more likely to see the potential for your group.

You may well wonder, how do you build a fan base? Well, it is like anything in life worth doing. It takes work and fortitude. The "If you build it, they will come" mentality will not help you here. You actually have to do some planning and strategizing to get your music before fans.

Facebook, MySpace and Twitter are the big three places to get your music heard by potential fans. This is where you need to focus your energies.

Social media sites are an excellent way to let people know about your group and what you are up to. Learn the three major networks and use them frequently. Anytime you have anything moderately interesting to say, let your fans know. Put out a blast when you are about to have a show. Then recap afterward. Especially alert folks when you are writing or recording new songs.

This is just the bare bones. There are literally hundreds of creative opportunities, whether you play at a local festival or get your music heard in a commercial. Try everything and you will get to the big time.

Commercial oven and restaurant table linens are few investments you have to make in order to start up your own restaurant business.

Find the Best and Latest Music Online

There are a lot of ways for you to find all the latest music online. Rather than going out to the music stores and having to spend hours and hours scouring the stalls for all the newest hits, there are many ways that you can just log into your computer and find them all on the web. Here are a few of these ways:

• Websites - there are now a lot of websites that will provide you with the latest music online. This is all through the streaming process of music from their servers onto yours, and is purely for listening purposes only. These kinds of websites aim to share music with everyone through proper spreading, but if you want to be able acquire the songs themselves, you of course have to buy them. The great thing about these sites is that a lot of them feature the latest music online, but they also let you search for artists that are similar to those that you already know and like. This way, you not only become informed as to what the latest hits are, but you can also discover new artists that are fitting to your tastes.

• Music blogs - there are numerous music blogs on the Internet that feature all the latest music online. These blogs are owned and are being run by people, or a group of people, that wish to be able to spread the joy of knowing the latest hits when it comes to the newest hits that hits the international music scene. You can search for these blogs on search engines like Google or Yahoo, and the most popular ones usually pop up. The popular websites are the ones that regularly post new and high quality material that will let you in on the hits that are topping the charts.

• iTunes - iTunes is most commonly known as a music player, but what most people don't realize is that it is also a great informational gateway to finding the best and the latest music online. Through the iTunes store, you can search for titles and download them directly onto your computer. All you need to do is to create an iTunes store account and your account will be charged for whatever music it is that you buy. With iTunes, you can even get great discounts, aside from finding the latest music online.

Jun M is a music enthusiast. Be updated always the latest music online. In this way you can change the way of your life. We all know that "no music no life". Let us enjoy our life with the latest music online