aaca6f6b

July 2025

Tue, 01 Jul 2025 19:18:23 GMT

July 2025

SPAIN

I’ve just returned from a week long songwriting retreat in Spain with SPPS Songwriting Workshops & Retreats.

It was a really good trip. I met some old friends. I met some new old friends. I wrote some songs. I got bitten to death by mozzies !

There was a group of 24 writers came together from the UK, Europe and the US. We’d rented out a village in the mountains outside of Malaga. The village was a bit remote so we were relatively away from civilisation so the only thing we could do all week was write songs. Perfect.

I got 5 songs out of co-writes so now to start getting them recorded and produced and ready for release.

MAGAZINE INTERVIEW

Who am I to deny the public what they want ? ��

One of my friends writes for an online magazine and reached out to me to ask if I’d be up for being interviewed. Naturally, being the shy, retiring type, I said yes straight away.

You can read the piece using the link below.

https://odrsznil4m36pvlmgvqxew2rlvnijhng23gfups3ljenn5k4unxa.arweave.net/cOMstQvjN-fVbDVhcltRXVqEnabWzFo-W1pI1vVco24?fbclid=IwQ0xDSwLOSxpleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHjz5M3EPYyQcfsheq9eCLslUwQPiZaPh5W0p9gTHrM0inIbJjWBZ_4aOW-fB_aem_yTdM6uxV-4KtMdHjMBwYsA

STEAL LIKE AN ARTIST

Read a really good book (to take my mind of flying). Steal Like An Artist by Austin Kleon.

It’s a simple read (result !) and contains some simple ideas that we can all adopt to help us in our songwriting. It all made perfect sense and I recommend you read this book.

You can get the book via this affiliate link below.

https://amzn.to/4erZ6He

Spotify 2024

Mon, 06 Nov 2023 18:36:02 GMT

Spotify 2024

Spotify has announced that starting in 2024, tracks will need to have been played 1,000 times per year before they will qualify for a royalty payout.

Background

The story goes that tracks that have less than 1,000 plays account for 0.5% of the annual royalty payout and many of these are micro payouts which in effect go into a black hole as there isn't enough to make an actual payment.

As at May 2023, there are some 120,000 tracks per day being loaded onto Spotify. Now to qualify for a royalty payment, tracks will need to be played 2.74 times per day, every day in order to achieve the 1,000 plays in a year.

Spotify currently pays £0.00005 per play. A thousand plays would therefore earn you £0.05. Hardly retirement income. I know people who will only load their tracks onto Soundcloud or Bandcamp as they don't like the Spotify model and that's fine. However, by not having tracks on Spotify, there is a big opportunity being missed.

So what can we do ?

Well, as writers/artists, we can support each other. If I have a network of say 200 people. That means they only have to play my track 5 times per year to get the 1,000 plays. In return, I'm going to make sure I play my friends tracks 5 times per year. Not only does it help generating plays, it also means you may find new music that you wouldn't have found otherwise. You may find someone who you want to work with .

What else ?

We can also change our way of thinking. If we look at Spotify as an advertising tool instead of an income tool, it becomes more useful. As a music lover, the first place I go to when I want to listen to some music is Spotify. Spotify is a huge opportunity for new people to find you. These people can then be redirected to your website where you can advertise music, merchandise and gigs. Think about it, If you have a thousand people playa track once, you'd get £0.05. However, if say 20 of those people then visit your website and 5 of them buy a CD then you've may a lot more than £0.05. You may find that these will be repeat customers too.

Where's the first place a music supervisor is going to look when they want to find some music ? Spotify. A supervisor isn't going to hunt around looking for a platform that pays an artist a better royalty. They're going to go to the place that's most convenient for them to access music.

And finally

If you're interested, there's a really good docu-drama on Netflix called The Playlist which is all about Spotify. Well worth watching.

Open Mic Night

Tue, 03 Oct 2023 15:16:40 GMT

Open Mic Night

Are they any use ?

This week I went out to a local open mic night at The Hogarth pub in Teddington. Being a bit shy, I went to see what it was like as opposed to performing to get the lay of the land for performing in the future.

While I was sitting, waiting for it to start, I asked myself why do we do open mics ?

You Can Get Paid !!!

If your songs are registered with the Performing Right Society (PRS), you can report your live performance on the PRS website and receive a payment at the next royalty pay out. Yes, being paid means you are a professional songwriter.

Feedback

Performing songs in front of an audience will give you feedback on the songs. It's a great way to test out new songs. If the audience like the song, you know you're doing well. If they don't like it, you know it needs work. Your fellow musicians will probably say if they liked a song or not too.

Merchandise

It's an opportunity to sell some CDs if you have them.

Networking

A group of musicians together in the same place ? Network opportunity. You may find someone to write with. You could find a performer who doesn't write but could use new material. Maybe people are available for session work. You just don't know who you're going to meet and who is in their network.

Health

It's good for your mental health to get out of the house/studio and have an evening playing/listening to new music and chatting.

Exposure

Steady - not that type of exposure ! You'll find people perform different styles of music. There may be genres that you're not familiar with. Take it in.

But I Can't Sing

It hasn't stopped me ! You'll find performers of all levels and generally speaking, your other performers will be supportive.

Technique

You can learn a lot about stage presence by doing open mics. The more you do it, the more confidence you'll build up. You can start to bring in a bit of rapport with the audience. Also make sure you stay and watch the other performers. Not only is it the polite thing to do but you can see how they perform. What do they do that gets your attention.

I'm Too Nervous

I get that. Do what I did. Go along one week just to be part of the audience. There's no pressure to perform so you can relax a bit. It gives you a chance to see what the venue is like and what standard people are at.

Songwriting

Listen to the songs being performed. Are there things you can use to improve your own writing ? How do people move from the verses to the choruses (chori ?) ? Do they go straight in or use a pre-chorus. What are the melodic contours like in each part of the song. It's all a learning opportunity.

Venue

You're supporting a venue that hosts live music. This is to be applauded. People attending help to ensure the venue keep the nights on. These are where people can start their musical journeys. You're also supporting local business.

AI DIY

Mon, 28 Aug 2023 10:59:27 GMT

Should you be afraid of AI ?

Feeling worried about the impact of AI as a songwriter/producer/musician ?

This weekend, I was procrastinating (or trying to get a quiet life !) by doing some sanding work at home. I'd diarised when I was going to do this so that I knew I'd have time. I'd worked out what I needed to do, gone to the local DIY store a bought a power sander and varnish and away I went.

As I was partway through the job that was taking longer than I expected (50 years worth of varnishings takes quite a while to shift), I started thinking "I wish I'd got someone in to do this". I carried on though. It then started dawning on me that theoretically, DIY should have killed off the need for carpenters, electricians, painters and decorators etc. Now, everybody has the ability to do everything themselves, there should be no need for anyone else. Despite that though, people do still need them. The little grey cells then went into overdrive and I realised that this is just like the current situation with AI. There's now the availability for everyone to do everything themselves.

Yes, there are people who will insist on doing everything themselves to save some money and that's fine. There are plenty of other people though who will still prefer to have the job done by experts and knowing that the job will be done right. Say you're in charge of a museum and the ground floor needs repainting. You could save lots by doing it yourself. It'll probably take forever but you could do it. The more likely scenario though is that you will have a budget and will outsource the job so that you can carry on with your normal tasks that you would have had to put to one side while you did the painting.

The DIYer probably isn't expecting their handy work to be seen by hundreds, thousands, millions of people whereas the museum owner would. That is the difference. The same goes for music.

The music hobbyist probably isn't going to want to spend money hiring people to write/produce a track or get a vocalist in. They can publish their track to Spotify and they could be lucky and it takes off but chances are it'll just sit there with the other thousands of tracks that are uploaded each day. This is where we come in for those who want to take their music to the next level. We've built up our knowledge over the years (spending a fortune in the process !!!). This puts us in a position to offer our services to people.

And if you're anything like me, you'll realise that you should outsource form the start rather than do something to find out what your limitations are !!!

Billy Eilish - What Was I Made For ?

Wed, 23 Aug 2023 20:49:38 GMT

Billy Eilish - What Was I Made For ?

Written: Finneas O'Connell, Billy Eilish O'Connell

Produced: FINNEAS, Mark Ronson, Andrew Wyatt

Song structure: intro, verse, verse, chorus, post chorus, verse, chorus, outro

Rhyme scheme: verses A A B B

chorus. A B. A. B. A. A

Melodic contour: verses conjunct and static

chorus. disjunct

Pronouns: I, you

Time to first vocal: 0:10

Time to first mention of title: 0:23

Time to chorus: 1:01

VERSES

I used to float, now I just fall down

I used to know but I'm not so sure now

What I was made for

What was I made for ?

Takin' a drive, I was an ideal

Looked so alive turned out I'm not real

Just something you paid for

What was I made for

When did it end ? all the enjoyment

I'm sad again, don't tell my boyfriend

It's not what he's made for

What was I made for ?

The rhyme scheme for the verses is AABB. In the first verse the rhymes are down, now, for and for. In the second verse we have ideal, real, for and for. The third verse has enjoyment, boyfriend, for and for.

In the first two lines of each verse, there is an internal rhyme and in the same position in each verse. In verse 1 is float and know, verse 2 has drive and alive and verse 3 has end and again.

Lines 1 and 2 of verse one repeat the phrase I used to.

Lines 3 and 4 of each verse end with repetition of the word for.

The penultimate word in line 3 of each verse rhymes, made, paid and made.

The last line of each verse is the same, providing repetition.

The syllable count in the corresponding lines matches up with the odd passing word in between.

Line 1 4 syllables and 5 syllables

Line 2 4 syllables and 5 syllables

Line 3. 5 syllables

Line 4 5 syllables

CHORUS

Cause I, I

I don't know how to feel

But I wanna try

I don't know how to feel

But someday I might

Someday I might

The rhyme scheme is A B A B A A so we have I, try, might and might for the A and feel and feel for the B.

Lines 2 and 4 repeat as do lines 5 and 6.

There is a lot of repetition of the i vowel sound throughout the chorus, I, try, might

OUTRO

Think I forgot how to be happy

Somethin' I'm not but somethin' I can be

Somethin' I wait for

Somethin' I'm made for

The rhyme scheme is A A B B B. Happy, can be and for, for, for

There is an internal rhyme in lines 1 and 2, I forgot and I'm not.

There is repetition of the word somethin'

There is a repetition of the words I and I'm

I have a day job !

Sat, 12 Aug 2023 14:15:24 GMT

Do you hate the fact you have a day job ?

Does it impact your creativity ?

Wouldn't you rather be doing music all day ?

Well, having a day job is actually a good thing.....seriously !

I used to hate my day job.. Well truth be told I'm still not th at keen on it. A couple of years ago, I went through a mind shift and it's made a huge difference. Instead of waking up and my first thought being I" hate my job, I can't wait for it to be over", I started thinking about how I can make my day job work for me musically and there's a number of ways it can help.

PAY

Having a day job provides you with a regular income. Creatives would love this as it means you know how much you're getting each month and their pay can be erratic. You know you can cover your bills. You can use your money to pay for things like music lessons, buying music, subscriptions, gig tickets, demos, buying new instruments and plug ins, hiring musicians/singers etc.

As your music starts generating an income, you can reduce your day job hours while still maintaining your level of income. Then, once your music earnings overtake that of your day job, you can tell your boss what to do with their job :)

DEADLINES

My day job is dealing with NHS payroll and there are a lot of deadlines that have to be met. Music has deadlines such as pitching songs by a certain date, turning up for writing/recording sessions. By making sure I always meet my day job deadlines, it means I know psychologically that I am capable of achieving deadlines. Therefore, I know that I will achieve my musical deadlines.

LISTENING

When you're working, depending on your job, you normally encounter other people. People have conversations and say things. As a songwriter, I can listen to these conversations and pick things up such as song titles or a phrase. The way people say things will add an authenticity to your lyrics as they'll be conversational. You can also listen to the rhythm of people talking and incorporate that into a lyric melody.

DIARISE

My day job is very busy so I like to diarise the various tasks I have so that I know what I have to do and when by. I can do the same musically. I will diarise that every Friday at 4pm to listen to the new charts so that I can keep up to date with what's happening with popular music. I can set aside 30 minutes every day at the same time to practise guitar or piano. I can put that for an hour on a Sunday I can do my accounts so that they're all ready in plenty of time for the end of the financial year (deadline !).

if I just try and remember something that I need to do, I'll invariably forget. The act of writing it down somewhere seems to help me remember it without necessarily having to look at my diary. I can also cross the item off once it's completed so I can see I've achieved something.

SIDE EFFECT

The weird thing is that since I adopted this new mindset of focusing on my day job being done to help my music, I have found that I actually started enjoying the work and have become more productive. Not what I set out to achieve I can assure you !!!!

If you're not sure how your day job can help you, why not add a comment below.