Recording - June 2014 - 51

JUNE 2014
TAXI Road Rally 2013

How to Become a Hit Songwriter or Artist, Part One
Michael Laskow, Moderator

PANELISTS:
Judy Stakee has been in the music industry
for 30 years. She was the Senior Vice
President of Creative at Warner/Chappell
for 20 of those years, and I think that
Sheryl Crow would be the first to tell you
that she might not have a career if not for
Judy. Judy has worked with numerous
artists during her career, a few of whom
are; Katy Perry, Michelle Branch, Gavin
DeGraw, Jewel, and Joy Williams of The
Civil Wars, among many, many others.
Please welcome Judy Stakee! [applause]
Suzan Koc has been the Head of International
at Warner Chappell, France; the Creative
Director at Hit & Run Music Publishing,
U.S.; and Vice President of Writer Development of BMG Music, U.S. Suzan has the
most phenomenal ability to hear what
works, what doesn't, and how to fix the
problem I may have ever seen. Our members are very, very fortunate to get
feedback from Suzan. Her long-standing
relationship with hit songwriter Shelly
Peiken has yielded many cuts and charttopping hit songs. Please welcome,
Ms. Suzan Koc. [applause]
[Music plays]
Shelly Peiken is a multi-platinum, Grammynominated songwriter who is best known
for her #1 hits, "What a Girl Wants"and
"Come On Over Baby (All I Want Is You)."
Shelly and Meredith Brooks earned a
Grammy nomination for Brooks's hit song
"Bitch."She's has also had countless songs
licensed in major Hollywood films and

Judy Stakee, Suzan Koc, Shelly Peiken, and Jamie Houston, flanked by TAXI's Michael Laskow (left) and Kevin Houlihan (right) pose
for a group photo right after the How to Become a Hit Songwriter or Artist panel at the 2013 TAXI Road Rally.
(Photo by James DiModica)

top TV shows. Ladies and gentlemen, Ms.
Shelly Peiken. [applause]
[More music plays]
Jamie Houston is an award-winning
songwriter and producer. From chart-topping hits to multi-platinum albums and
Emmy nominations, his work has been
sought after by a long list of artists,
including Steven Tyler, Carlos Santana,
Sheryl Crow, Miley Cyrus, Macy Gray, Kid
Rock, and Aaron Neville.
Jamie's songs can also be heard in Pixar's
Wreck It Ralph, High School Musical 1, 2 &
3, What a Girl Wants, Hannah Montana 1,
2 & Best of Both Worlds, Cheetah Girls 1, 2
& 3, Ice Princess, and Rugrats, to name just
a few. Please join me in welcoming, Mr.
Jamie Houston! [applause]

We hear this all the time at TAXI: "I hate what's on
radio today. I don't want to do contemporary stuff,
because the contemporary stuff sucks." It blows me
away that people who want to be in the industry so
badly want to stay stuck in 1977 or 1985, and are
not listening to what's on the radio today, because
they've heard some stuff that they think sucks. And
yet, I listen to Gotye, Lorde, Phillip Phillips, Mumford & Sons, The Civil Wars, The Lumineers, Ed
Sheeran, fun., Imagine Dragons, Of Monsters and
Men, Lady Antebellum, Mikki Ekko, The Band Perry,
Iron and Wine, The Black Keyes, or Glen Hansard,
and I hear artistry, I hear amazing...
Shelly: But they're writing their own songs! If
you want to be an artist, you can fit into that
genre easily. It depends on what you want to do.
Do you want to be an artist, or do you want to
be a songwriter, such as Jamie and myself? I
don't know if you were ever trying to be an
artist, but if you're going to do the songwriter
route, where you're writing a song and trying to
pitch it, 90% of the people that you just said,
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51

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