Songwriters, Reaching Out Through Song

Since I’ve been writing songs, the one thing I’ve come to understand. Songwriters and artists have always been willing to “give back”. With the Christmas season upon us I thought it would be fitting to discuss just that “giving”. At the end of this blog I will point out a few artists and songwriters in action. Feel free to comment on my blog and introduce your own links to charities and causes you may support through songs.

There are so many ways a songwriter can “give”. The obvious way to accomplish this is through proceeds of a song they performed or wrote. Specifically, if the songwriter / artist is a “name brand”, they may have the opportunity to reach a large audience. Another common way to give back is simply through exposing a cause through song. Taking that very same concept to the next level would be to offer free downloads to showcase a particular cause. Some songwriters and artist team up to put an entire CD together with a specific charity in mind.

Whatever your charity or cause, the key here is that music can make a profound impact on society, whether it moves the dial financially or emotionally. Obviously the songwriter and artist needs to curb their attentions to some extent. But then again, you can always support other songwriters and artist from the listener perspective.

Here are some links to songwriters and artists in action. Stop by and see if these charities and causes interest you. If they do, perhaps you may want to think about supporting the charity. Please feel free to add your comments to this blog in an effort to provide us with other ways to utilize the gifts of song to “give back”. Feel free to add your own songwriter / artist charity links.


Christmas for the Kids This album can be downloaded for free, but they ask you to consider making a small donation to a Charity. They suggest UNICEF or your favorite charity.

Juliana's Smile Skip Ewing is one the the most gifted songwriters on the planet in my opinion. He teams with stellar artists like Bela Fleck and Dave Koz to name a few on this wonderful instrumental which can be purchased via download or CD and proceeds support Juliana and her family. This is a must stop by, so you can see the video on Skip's site.

The Melodical Hearts Foundation This is a great group of folks that I had the privilege of working with on their "Music That Matters: New England" CD. Spearheaded by artist Wayne Warner and Juanita Lee, they have produced several charity CDs that generally include name brand artists as well as independent artists and songwriters.

The Changing Hearts Project states as their mission that their goal is to raise awareness and touch hearts, through songs that relate to the plight of the unborn and young woman in need. Organizations are welcomed to use these songs as a vehicle to raise funds, that support the causes of the unborn and woman; through abortion alternatives, counseling, help after abortion and awareness and education. We want this to be a project founded on love and compassion. The songs are now offered freely for personal use, feel free to download and share the songs of the Changing Hearts Project.


My Best,
Ray

Christmas Songs, A Significant Songwriter Market

Welcome to this month’s edition of A Songwriters Journey. This month’s topic, well of course with Christmas coming up next month, I thought it might be worth discussing “Christmas” songs. Generally, I’m a bit of a “humbug” with the commercialization of Christmas, but I am a sucker for a great Christmas song and tend to enjoy the spiritual side of Christmas.

Christmas songs are packaged in many ways. Traditional classics, like “White Christmas” penned by the incomparable Irvin Berlin and originally made famous by Bing Crosby. The touching relatively new classic of Bob Carlisle’s “Christmas Shoes”, written by Leonard Ahlstrom and Eddie Carswell. Spiritual godsends, like “Mary, Did You Know” (Mark Lowry & Buddy Greene) and “It Wasn’t His Child” (Skip Ewing). There’s also plenty of room for colorful humorous songs like “Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer” (Randy Brooks) or lighthearted fare like the classic “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” (Johnny Marks).

As a songwriter, the one thing that stands out to me, is that these songs have been collectively recorded countless times, by a myriad of artists and are played religiously every year. Why is this important? Two words “residual income”. Residual income is income a songwriter continues to generate every time the song is cut and or played. With a Christmas hit, that means annually, a little more in the songwriters pocket. Additionally, Christmas hit songs tend to “snowball” in popularity as they hang around, becoming classics. So the song tends to have a life of its own.

I’ve got to say, as much as I like the classics, there’s nothing like a fresh, quality new Christmas song. I wish more artists would take the time to sprinkle more fresh material into their CD projects. I’ve heard many excellent undiscovered Christmas songs from various songwriters I’ve met along the ways. And, although some of these songs have been recorded countless times, as stated earlier, generally their is a specific artist that seems to “owns it”; such as, Bing Crosby “White Christmas”, Bob Carlisle “Christmas Shoes” and Gene Autry “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer”. What artist wouldn’t want to be the “own it” artist for a Christmas classic? The best way for an artist to get there is to start fresh…Bing Crosby already owns “White Christmas”…time to move on. As an artist, find yourself an untapped fresh new classic, your own “White Christmas”.

This “humbug” has found some Christmas serenity in writing Christmas songs. I’ve put pen to paper on a few Christmas songs and waiting for that artist who will “own it” and turn it into a new Christmas classic. In the mean time, slow down and take some time to enjoy the spirit of Christmas and enjoy a few of these potential future Christmas classics from the songwriter website Songramp.com.


First Christmas Day
©2006 Gabriel Heiser and Donna Valentine

A Night Like This
©Denille Spears

Wait by the Window
© Copyright Matt Moran

Christmas For My Missus
© 2003 Blake Hill (BMI), Janice Messer (BMI) & Paul Buckles (BMI)

No Room
© Copyright 2008 Ray Fontenault (BMI), Pegasus Music New Zealand

O Holy Child
© Copyright Tammy Edwards

Sweet Child of Mine
© Copyright Peter Simensky

O Bethlehem
©Denille Spears

My Christmas Card to You
Copyright © Emstone Music Publishing (BMI)

This Christmas
© 2005 Danie Lee Starr

Santa Samba
Copyright © Ross Douglas SOCAN

Pop-Pop-Popcorn
© 2004(p)2007 Roka Records

Let's Keep Christ In Our Christmas
© 2008 Russ Pruitt; Ron Pruitt


Here’s a couple of Christmas CDs chock full of original material.
Bramsar Records, Tiny Angels - Songs Of Christmas Joy
Fun2Know Music, This Time Of Year

What is songwriting success?

One question that I’ve seen over the years is… “What constitutes songwriting success?”
The first thing a new songwriter should do is to determine just that. It’s like any other venture you might embark on, you need to set goals and determine what constitutes success for you.

Songwriting success is not a one size fits all scenario. For some success can only be achieved by earning your primary income from songwriting. Others feel success comes from the completion of a new song. Let’s take a look at a few scenarios for success.


• Writing and completing a new song.
• A songwriter writes a song that touches someone in a profound way.
• Just getting a song cut.
• Garnering a “major” label cut.
• A songwriter’s song achieves number one ranking on the charts.
• Primary means of living comes from songwriting.

Now these are just a handful of ideas for success and you may actually find success comes from several or all these to some extent or something altogether different. Let’s examine the list from my perspective as a songwriter.


• Writing and completing a new song. (I’ve accomplished this task)
• A songwriter writes a song that touches someone in a profound way. (I’ve accomplished this task)
• Just getting a song cut. (I’ve accomplished this task)
• Garnering a “major” label cut. (So far no major cuts)
• A songwriter’s song achieves number one ranking on the charts. (Still working on it)
• Primary means of living comes from songwriting. (I’m not currently making my primary living)

So now the question is, “Am I a successful songwriter?” Well, when I defined my goal for success many years ago, it was garnering a “major” label cut. Shucks haven’t checked that one off yet. The key word “yet” in that last statement is a MUST if I want to ever succeed. That’s not to say I haven’t had any success and THANK GOD for the steps I have accomplished, it keeps me motivated and working towards my goal of a major label cut. With that said, if I had a major label cut tomorrow, I would like most, continue to work towards the next “BIG” cut.

As you can probably see, success is a process. The process varies for the songwriter and more often than not, the process will probably become a “repeatable process” regardless of meeting ones success goal. In other words if your success factor is writing and completing a new song, more than likely when you have achieved that, you’ll end up writing another song. Perhaps as you hone the craft of songwriting you will find yourself embarking on new goals. Nothing says you can’t shift your mindset in one direction or the other. If there is one thing that I would suggest come from this writing is that the…Bottom line is to set goals. Feel free to comment and add some additional success goals for songwriting.

Looking forward, to moving forward,


Ray

Welcome to my new songwriter blog

Hi all,

I decided to blog about my songwriting journey, as I believe this is a topic where many folks pursuing songwriting have shared many of the same stories.  Whether it be song sharks, the demo process, the craft of songwriting and the musical tools used to create songs.

The intent of this blog is to discuss my journey as a songwriter. The songwriting process, song demos and studios, song creation, musical equipment and musical instruments used to create music and songs, such as guitars, keyboards, drums, processing equipment & music software will all be discussed in this blog. Songwriting melody and lyric development and structure will compromise a large part of this blog. Additionally, how to market songs effectively through publishers and Performing Rights Organizations such as BMI, ASCAP and SESAC.

My hope is that I can make the process a little smoother for you and to help you avoid some of the pitfalls as you pursue your songwriting career.

My Best,
Ray