Feedback Is Critical To Growing
If you want to write better songs, consider a songwriting group you can join locally, online forums, as well as a song critique service.Why a service in addition to your peers? Professionals staff legitimate services. These are individuals who have had success in the industry. It doesn't mean you should incorporate everything they say - ultimately, it's your song and in the end decisions are yours.
Keep in mind, these services won't write a song for you, so make sure you send a song which is pretty well grounded in the basics of songwriting to get the most from the critique. That's where local groups and online forums come in. Most can help you get the basics down.
If you're not sure you've got a sound structure and the basics of song craft, review the basics of Song Parts first.
What To Know When Using A Song Feedback Service
- Make sure you have the proper elements (MP3, matching lyric sheet) before you start the ball rolling. There's nothing worse than paying for everything then realizing you have the wrong format or lyrics.
- Don't expect a critique service to fix your song. They are not co-writers. They are providing insight into how a song might progress, lyrics you might try, or put a big red circle around a stagnant melody line.
- Be open to the ideas and thoughts you get back. You should have the expectation of doing some additional work when the feedback returns in an effort to create the best song possible.
- What you should expect is some time spent on your song if you've made a solid effort at writing it. You should never get back something from a critique service which simply says they didn't like it - not really a helpful service in my book!
- Choose someone you feel you can trust. This is a key component since you'll need to decide if their thoughts help your song. If you don't trust the feedback, it's unlikely you'll make changes to the song. Alternatively, if you trust the source, you're more likely to be open to some changes you may not accept from others.
- I also like the critique service to have a face or at worst, an anonymous face I know comes back to real people, like NSAI's evaluation service. I know it's a person critiquing my songs who has industry experience.
In addition to NSAI's evaluation service for members, I've used Kim Copeland's critique services under her company Kim Copeland Productions. Once critiqued, if you decide to create a demo with Kim, she'll apply the critique price to the demo session - pretty nice.
- Kim is an independent producer, songwriter, performer, and talent manager located in Nashville. She's done a number of rounds at the Blue Bird Cafe over the years and has an excellent reputation in Nashville - and as a bonus she's a good person.
- Another bonus with using Kim's services is her ability as an independent producer to hear how a song might demo. This will save you time and money as you approach the demo phase of your songs.
- The cost is minimal ($41.60 all in) for the level of feedback you'll receive. She's also very timely and will often give you some line substitution ideas in addition to suggesting that the line need to change.
