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Pop—what Pop?
These days Pop music encompasses everything from Hip-Hop to Country, to Rock,
etc. One of the biggest mistakes inexperienced artists/writers make very early on is that
when they’re asked what their genre is, they say something like “Well it’s a little Pop,
with a little Country, and some Metal, and Progressive Rock, etc.” Do you know what
that tells me? It tells me that you have no idea what the heck you’re doing. No focus!
If you suddenly decide that you’re going to write Pop songs, and your
favorite band is Metallica or some stoner band, you’ll never get it. If you didn’t gravitate towards Pop early on, chances are you never will. If you really
want to study the great Pop writers, I highly recommend learning the entire
Beatles and Monkees catalogues. Pop songs in the ‘60s were so simple, yet

By Eric Alexandrakis

ongwriting—it has such a nice ring to it.
You know what would sound even better?
Making money from it. How in the world
does one even begin to start that process?
Following up on my article in our last
Songwriters’ Issue (March 2012), here are
some more ideas and talking points for the
songwriter with serious ambitions.
There are hundreds of success stories
about one-hit wonders and flavors-of-themonth, and they all have one thing in common: Somebody was in the right place at the
right time. But to get ready to make the most
of that right moment requires patience, organization, and, of course, talent! Meanwhile
there is one avenue to making money from
your music that has become much more
accessible than it used to be—licensing.
We’ll focus on that. But first, let’s talk about
another kind of focus—yours.

Where is your focus?
Will you be a professional songwriter, writing
for a job, or are you going to write what you
want, and damn people’s opinions/agendas? If
it’s the latter, keep your day job—forever.
Make a decision and stick to it. What are
you going to shoot for? Have you considered
writing for television, or for advertising, or
movies? While it’s not realistic to absolutely
want to decide this early on, somehow you
already know whether you gravitate towards
The Beatles, or John Williams, or both.
No matter what music genre and media outlet you have in mind, songwriting comes down
to one thing, and that’s a hook and a theme.
If you try to go pro with the widest appeal,
Pop music owns that market. There are so
many Pop writers and writer wannabes. How
does one stand out?
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RECORDING April 2013

really hooky, and many are great examples of the lyrical and musical simplicity needed to grab hold of the average radio zombie listener. How does the listener relate to the lyrics? Is the hook stuck in their head for the rest of the week?
A writer can’t go wrong with universal themes, but deliver them in a clever
way. This sets one apart.
Show and tell
Once you’ve gotten your focus together and produced some decent tunes,
make some decent demos. Presentation is everything. If your music is rendered
professionally, you’ll be perceived as professional right off.
10 Ways To Make Money Consistently From Your Songwriting:
1. Know your focus and stick to it.
2. Make your demos sound fantastic.
3. Network and collaborate—you can't do it alone.
4. Be quick and be perfect—slow and sloppy never gets the gig.
5. Study everything and never stop learning—the art and the business.
6. Go where the business is.
7. Look for the hook.
8. Learn by making lots of tracks like the ones that are succeeding right now.
9. Pray, perfect, and persevere.
10. When you're in the right place at the right time—be ready with the right pitch!
While it’s not vital to do so, many committed pro songwriters find that to get
where they want to be, they have to move to where the business is. Try Nashville,
Los Angeles, etc. When you get there, seek out publishing houses, jingle houses,
and the like. Make a professional presentation. Assume everyone will say “no”,
but keep pushing and writing. If you want to be a jingle writer, make up jingles
for various products already on the market.
For songwriting I suggested to focus on one style, but in the case of jingles, no
matter what music style, it is also true that the focus is the hook and its clever delivery. That’s the universal factor in jingles. So try making everything from a 1940s
vibe to modern ad music.
Network and collaborate. Go to every networking event you can. Make note
of the major names, seek them out at functions. Network with other aspiring writers as well, and collaborate with them. You never know, one of them could be
the next John Lennon, and if they get a hit, it could rub off on you. Just make sure
you know how much of the song you retain before you leave that night.
Be quick. When someone asks you for something, get it to them quickly and
perfectly. No half-assed work, as that first request could end up being your last.

Recording - April 2013

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