US performing rights organization Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) has announced that the BMI Foundation’s annual Nashville Songwriting Scholarship will be revised and renamed The Dolly Parton Songwriters Award in honor of the legendary artist.
The new program will also establish The Dolly Parton Music Fund which will underwrite the annual awards to emerging songwriters as well as initiatives to provide or supplement music programs in public schools, ensuring a new generation of music creators, and a well-rounded education for all.
The awards can be used as a career grant for study, instrument purchase, recording costs, or other professional expenses and are not restricted to tuition costs. Founding endowments include a lead gift from Sony Music Publishing’s Rusty Gaston as well as a contribution from country superstar Luke Combs, who donated proceeds from the recent BMI Parking Lot Party, celebrating his nine #1 hit songs.
Dolly Parton said: “I know how personal and important songwriting is to those that have the talent, and to all the others that enjoy those that have it. I’m proud to be part of a program that will help support songwriting in any way possible. I have been with BMI since I published my first song as a child, so of course I’m very proud and honored to have a BMI Songwriters Award made in my honor.”
The Dolly Parton Songwriters Award is an annual, nationwide competition open to aspiring songwriters. The award was established in 2015 as the Nashville Songwriting Scholarship by BMI to celebrate the company’s 75th Anniversary year.
Clay Bradley, BMI Foundation Board Member and BMI’s VP, Creative, said: “The Dolly Parton Music Fund will support the work of the BMI Foundation for years to come and will make a meaningful difference in the lives of our nation’s emerging songwriters. We are excited to be working with Dolly Parton on this program, not only honoring her legacy as a songwriter, but her unwavering commitment to fostering new talent, music education, and music appreciation.”
The revised program offers $20,000 for up to two of the best original song entries in any of the following genres: Americana, blues, bluegrass, contemporary Christian, country, folk, and roots. The inaugural award will be presented in Spring 2023 with applications opening in October.
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“Songwriting is still the same uncomplicated process it was when I was 12 years old writing songs in my room,” said Taylor Swift in a recent interview with Harper’s BAZAAR magazine.
She said: “There are definitely moments when it’s like this cloud of an idea comes and just lands in front of your face, and you reach up and grab it.
“A lot of songwriting is things you learn, like structure, cultivating that skill and knowing how to craft a song. But there are mystical, magical moments—inexplicable moments—when an idea that is fully formed just pops into your head.”
Instead of allowing ideas to bubble to the surface naturally from their subconscious, many new writers tend to try too hard and end up forcing the creative process. They try to cram too much into a song—making it way too long and unnecessarily complicated, and leaving the listener feeling confused.
As Taylor Swift suggests, it is important to avoid over-thinking or over-writing your songs. Sometimes, the chords, melodies and lyrics that come to you instinctively are the right ones. So don’t spend forever searching for the perfect melody or lyrics. Don’t keep on going until you end up with way too many notes and words.
Just make sure your song form is clear, predictable and easy to follow. Keeping it simple will make it easier for people to remember the song.
In other words, know when to quit.
As Sting once remarked: “Songs have to be simple. It’s not like you have a huge canvas to paint on or a novel length to fill. You’ve got to tell the story in two verses, a chorus and a coda and that takes some skill.”
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“How [Not] to Write Songs in the Streaming Age – 40 Mistakes to Avoid If You Want to Get More Streams” is available from Amazon as a US paperback, a UK paperback, a Canada paperback, an Australia paperback, and across Europe.
It is also available as an eBook from Amazon’s Kindle store in the United States, the UK, Canada, Australia, and across Europe—as well as Apple Books, Barnes & Noble and Rakuten’s KoboBooks.
Read a FREE SAMPLE of the book HERE (USA)…HERE (UK)… HERE (CANADA)… and HERE (AUSTRALIA).
“SURPRISING RHYMING” – The Alternative Rhyming Dictionary for Songwriters and Poets – is available from Amazon as a US paperback, a UK paperback, and also across Europe. It is also available as a Kindle ebook in the United States and in the UK and Europe. Read more about the book HERE (USA) … HERE (UK) … HERE (CANADA).
![“HOW [NOT] TO WRITE A HIT SONG! - 101 COMMON MISTAKES TO AVOID IF YOU WANT SONGWRITING SUCCESS” is available from Amazon as a paperback and also as an eBook from Amazon’s Kindle Store, Apple's iTunes Store, Barnes and Noble's Nook store, and from KoboBooks.com.](https://thehitformula.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/how-not-to-write-a-hit-song-smashwords-cover-blog-widgit-188x282.jpg)
A 5-star rated book at Amazon, “How [Not] To Write A Hit Song! – 101 Common Mistakes To Avoid If You Want Songwriting Success” is available from Amazon as a US paperback, a UK paperback and as an eBook from Amazon’s Kindle Store. It is also available from Apple’s iTunes Store (Books/Arts & Entertainment/Music), Barnes & Noble’s Nook store, and KoboBooks.
Read a FREE sample of the book HERE (USA), HERE (UK), HERE (Australia) and HERE (Canada).
“How [Not] To Write Great Lyrics! – 40 Common Mistakes To Avoid When Writing Lyrics For Your Songs” is available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble as a US paperback, UK paperback and as an eBook from Amazon’s Kindle Store. It is also available from Apple’s iTunes Store (Books/Arts & Entertainment/Music), Barnes & Noble’s Nook store, and KoboBooks.
Read a FREE sample of the book HERE (USA), HERE (UK), HERE (Australia) and HERE (Canada).
Spare a thought for Taylor Swift the next time you’re working on a new song and you’re going through the agony of trying to find the right chord progression, or struggling to find the right lyric line or a clever rhyme. Seems it happens to her too.
In this behind-the-scenes video, Taylor Swift provides a rare glimpse into her songwriting process. She shares personal videos of herself at the piano and on guitar when she was creating her song ‘Gorgeous’ from her sixth studio album, Reputation. The song is composed in the key of C major with a tempo of 92 beats per minute, with Taylor’s vocals spanning from G3 to C5.
She co-wrote the song with Max Martin and Shellback.
Top photo: Jana Zills# # # #
WRITING SONGS IN THE STREAMING AGE – 40 MISTAKES TO AVOID IF YOU WANT TO GET MORE STREAMS is available from Amazon as a US paperback, a UK paperback, a Canada paperback, an Australia paperback, and across Europe.
It is also available as an eBook from Amazon’s Kindle store in the United States, Canada, the UK, Australia, and across Europe—as well as Apple Books, Barnes & Noble and Rakuten’s KoboBooks.
Read a FREE SAMPLE of the book HERE (USA)…HERE (UK)… HERE (CANADA)… and HERE (AUSTRALIA).
“SURPRISING RHYMING” – The Alternative Rhyming Dictionary for Songwriters and Poets – is available from Amazon as a US paperback, a UK paperback, and across Europe. It is also available as an eBook from Amazon’s Kindle store in the United States, the UK and Europe – as well as Apple Books, Barnes & Noble’s Nook Store, Rakuten’s KoboBooks and Walmart.
Read a FREE sample of the book HERE (USA) … HERE (UK) … HERE (CANADA).
A 5-star rated book at Amazon, “How [Not] To Write A Hit Song! – 101 Common Mistakes To Avoid If You Want Songwriting Success” is available from Amazon as a US paperback, a UK paperback and as an eBook from Amazon’s Kindle Store. It is also available from Apple’s iTunes Store (Books/Arts & Entertainment/Music), Barnes & Noble’s Nook store, and KoboBooks.
Read a FREE sample of the book HERE (USA), HERE (UK), HERE (Australia) and HERE (Canada).
“How [Not] To Write Great Lyrics! – 40 Common Mistakes To Avoid When Writing Lyrics For Your Songs” is available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble as a US paperback, UK paperback and as an eBook from Amazon’s Kindle Store. It is also available from Apple’s iTunes Store (Books/Arts & Entertainment/Music), Barnes & Noble’s Nook store, and KoboBooks.
Read a FREE sample of the book HERE (USA), HERE (UK), HERE (Australia) and HERE (Canada).
“To me, Tom Petty represented a kind of songwriting I idolized: complex simplicity.
“It said so much in the lyrics, the concepts, the stories, the message, the nuances … but always brought you back to a hook that got stuck in everyone’s head.
“He motivated thousands of guitarists to learn to play just because they wanted to be able to play ‘Free Fallin’. Count me as one of them.”
— Taylor Swift (in an interview with Rolling Stone).
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A 5-star rated book at Amazon, “How [Not] To Write A Hit Song! – 101 Common Mistakes To Avoid If You Want Songwriting Success” is available from Amazon as a US paperback, a UK paperback and as an eBook from Amazon’s Kindle Store. It is also available from Apple’s iTunes Store (Books/Arts & Entertainment/Music), Barnes & Noble’s Nook store, and KoboBooks.
Read a FREE sample of the book HERE (USA), HERE (UK), HERE (Australia) and HERE (Canada).
“How [Not] To Write Great Lyrics! – 40 Common Mistakes To Avoid When Writing Lyrics For Your Songs” is available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble as a US paperback, UK paperback and as an eBook from Amazon’s Kindle Store. It is also available from Apple’s iTunes Store (Books/Arts & Entertainment/Music), Barnes & Noble’s Nook store, and KoboBooks.
Read a FREE sample of the book HERE (USA), HERE (UK), HERE (Australia) and HERE (Canada).
When Radio.com’s Annie Reuter asked some of country music’s most successful songwriters for their advice for new writers, her interviews produced these Top Tips from leading writers such as Steve Wariner, Clint Black, Suzy Bogguss, Lady Antebellum (pictured), Kip Moore, Big & Rich, Brett Eldredge, Kacey Musgraves, Jerrod Niemann, Charlie Worsham and Josh Thompson …
1. Be totally focused on your writing
Most of these writers agreed that you have to be totally committed to your writing. Songwriting has to drive everything in you. It has to be a switch you can’t turn off. As Kip Moore explained: “I always tell people to chase their passion. But that ‘chase’ also comes with a warning … Trying to do it for a career, it has to be all or nothing.”
2. There’s no set way to write a song – just write about something you’ve experienced first-hand.
“The best songs for me come from things that I have actually experienced or have some kind of insight on,” said Kacey Musgraves. “It all has to resonate somewhere within me. It can’t be completely fabricated.”
3. Always pay attention to your surroundings in case you overhear a great idea for a phrase or a title.
“Songs are everywhere,” said Steve Wariner. “As a writer, you must always be paying attention so you’re ready for that inspiration to strike. I’ve been in a restaurant where I’m trying to not eavesdrop but you hear a great phrase at the next table and you’re like, ‘That’s a great song title’.”
4. Be a student of songs – always be prepared to learn.
“Study writing,” urged Westin Davis. “Don’t just study songwriting. Study writing period. Robert Frost, Ernest Hemingway, go all over the place. Study lyrical geniuses too.”
Kip Moore takes a similar approach: “I just studied my butt off with great music,” he said. “I just did it over and over until I figured it out. I can remember how discouraging the whole process was for me … It was such a tough road. But it was all I wanted to do, that’s what kept me going.”
5. Write from the heart and don’t try to fake it.
“I write my best stuff when it’s coming from the heart and it’s exactly what I want to be writing,” said Erik Dylan. “Write what you know and write from the heart … The listener will understand the emotion in the song. If it’s fabricated they’re going to know it’s fake. If it’s real and from the heart people notice that. They believe it.”
6. Get into the habit of writing something every day.
“You want to be a songwriter? Write every day,” urged Dierks Bentley. “Don’t type them up on a nice sheet of paper and put ’em in a three ring binder. Just write ’em up, then go on to the next one. Keep writing.”
You can find out more about these successful writers’ top songwriting tips by watching these three great videos …
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“How [Not] to Write Songs in the Streaming Age – 40 Mistakes to Avoid If You Want to Get More Streams” is available from Amazon as a US paperback, a UK paperback, a Canada paperback, an Australia paperback, and across Europe.
It is also available as an eBook from Amazon’s Kindle store in the United States, the UK, Canada, Australia, and across Europe—as well as Apple Books, Barnes & Noble and Rakuten’s KoboBooks.
Read a FREE SAMPLE of the book HERE (USA)…HERE (UK)… HERE (CANADA)… and HERE (AUSTRALIA).
“How [Not] To Write Great Lyrics! – 40 Common Mistakes To Avoid When Writing Lyrics For Your Songs” is available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble as a US paperback, UK paperback and as an eBook from Amazon’s Kindle Store. It is also available from Apple’s iTunes Store (Books/Arts & Entertainment/Music), Barnes & Noble’s Nook store, and KoboBooks.
Read a FREE sample of the book HERE (USA), HERE (UK), HERE (Australia) and HERE (Canada).
A 5-star rated book at Amazon, “How [Not] To Write A Hit Song! – 101 Common Mistakes To Avoid If You Want Songwriting Success” is available from Amazon as a US paperback, a UK paperback and as an eBook from Amazon’s Kindle Store. It is also available from Apple’s iTunes Store (Books/Arts & Entertainment/Music), Barnes & Noble’s Nook store, and KoboBooks.
Read a FREE sample of the book HERE (USA), HERE (UK), HERE (Australia) and HERE (Canada).
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“If I had to give up everything else, if people said you can only do one thing, I’d just write. I’d say, ‘Well then, I’ll just be a songwriter.’ Because that’s how I express myself. That’s my time with God.
“My guitar is like my best friend, and my songs are like my therapy … Some days I’ll write four or five songs. Some days I’ll just write one. They’re almost always spinning in my head.
“It’s so fulfilling to think that I could actually leave something in the world today that wasn’t there yesterday.”
—Dolly Parton (in an interview with Alison Bonaguro of CMT.com)
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A 5-star rated book at Amazon, “How [Not] To Write A Hit Song! – 101 Common Mistakes To Avoid If You Want Songwriting Success” is available from Amazon as a US paperback, a UK paperback and as an eBook from Amazon’s Kindle Store. It is also available from Apple’s iTunes Store (Books/Arts & Entertainment/Music), Barnes & Noble’s Nook store, and KoboBooks.
Read a FREE sample of the book HERE (USA), HERE (UK), HERE (Australia) and HERE (Canada).
“How [Not] To Write Great Lyrics! – 40 Common Mistakes To Avoid When Writing Lyrics For Your Songs” is available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble as a US paperback, UK paperback and as an eBook from Amazon’s Kindle Store. It is also available from Apple’s iTunes Store (Books/Arts & Entertainment/Music), Barnes & Noble’s Nook store, and KoboBooks.
Read a FREE sample of the book HERE (USA), HERE (UK), HERE (Australia) and HERE (Canada).
SONGWRITING: THE HIT FORMULA 