[musicguy14]

Hi I’m Josh Hill, I’m 15 and I am an aspiring song writer and have been since a young age. I am currently doing a B-Tec course in Music Technology. For one of my assignments I have been asked to research an area in the Music Industry that appeals to me and write about it, I then have to write about someone who I feel has changed that area of the industry.

I have chosen to write about the world of song writing and have some questions that I would be grateful if you could answer:

- What education and skills do you need to become a song writer?

-    How do people who want a career in song writing first start out?

-    How do unknown or beginner songwriters sell or get their material out there?

-    What would the average day of a free-lance song writer consist of?

-    What do you think is the secret to writing a good song???

-    What is the average salary of a free-lance song writer?

Any help would be greatly appreciated and I would be very interested to hear any of your own experiences’ in this area.

Thank you very much,

Josh

[darreldo]

hiya, i can't answer all of your questions but i can give a personal opinion.
you don't need any qualifications to be a songwriter. i arent famous but iam a creative person who likes writing, i have no academic qualifications.
songwriters start out by playing an instrument, attempting to write and getting the buzz and habit. they write more and more and want the extra level. they play at open mike nights, post their works on sites such as this. they always want to raise the bar level, playing bigger venues, playing in venues where its well known A&R people go and hopefully get spotted.
it may not be the best of advice for you but its an idea into the mindset of an aspiring songwriter performer.
there are many avenues, genres and paths to folllow. hopefully others can help you too

[domstone86]

I'm also doing a BTEC in Music Production. It is one of those things that will undoubtably help in various things, such as noticing things you wouldn't previously, such as timbre from a particular instrument, how things will effect the mix etc, and a general better understanding on how to make a mix sound better in many ways.

It's not helped me in the slightest in terms of letting creativity flow, and like you I've had experience in that beforehand which helps.

Songwriting doesn't have a specific route to become educated, and many people can get by without any formal training. However, nothing makes up for an excellent grounding in musical theory, which can make improvisation and all that much easier. A lot of people shun it because it takes a long time to learn and it's not as fun, but to compare the works of a creative genius, and a trained creative genius, the difference really shows. Similar to music technology making you see new things, qualifications like graded instruments can seriously prevent issues (Not neccissarily mistakes), but lack of dynamics, variation with harmonic structure etc.

A good business strategy, level head, motivation, and something different gets your music out there. Getting a radio play isn't too hard providing you know which radios to ask and your material is of good enough standard. Getting commercial interest from your music requires business relationships that you can achieve through the business strategy. (And no I won't say my strategy as it's complex, and won't work for anybody else). I do employ tactics such as putting karaoke tracks on youtube, directing views from that to my soundcloud. A recent video managed to get around 75,000 hits in 2 months, so it's a good market if you make sure you're the first to upload a track. (Leaks are pretty useful for that )

As I've not yet pushed my material in a commercial aspect, I can't say what the average day consists of, however I can imagine it'll be different for different musicians, genres etc. A guess would be a few hours a day of composition, a few more on training, theory, and building reportoire. A few more on top of that for PR. A dedicated songwriter will find themselves putting as much effort into their work as a typical employed person.

The secret to writing a good song: Hole yourself up, listen to different songs only once, and then forget them again, then write. Honestly, there's no secret, it's just something you put a lot of effort into it, taking into advice all comments, with a pinch of salt. While it's important to get people liking your music, not everybody will like your song, (Different genres have different followings), and a person who likes melodic rock could potentially find a different genre like hip hop repetitive.

Average salary of a song writer. If you can get the figures, I'd be interested, though some successful musicians have more money than they know what to do with, others have barely enough to get by. It's totally random!

My answers are based on my own experience, and I may have no clue in what I'm saying! Soooo, before people think I'm arrogant or boasting (With the youtube bit or whatever), I couldn't care less what people think so long as I get my music where it should be! Lol, that disclaimer out the way, good luck on your course, though the reviews forum is typically for reviews of people's songs and this isn't a song!

[Schavuitje]

Hi Josh

Firstly you don't need any qualifications to be a songwriter. You just have to develope your art form, keep trying
and don't stop until you get better and better and better. And if you invest the time, you will get better. If your songs are good enough,
and you're lucky, and you push your songs into the right hands, anyone can be a songwriter, quals or no quals. I would say though, that a certain
amount of knowledge of music and music patterns and all the stuff you will be learning on your course will aid you A LOT.

2nd question. There is no answer to that. I think most people will probably have had a love for music and maybe an interest/talent from
a youngish age. A lot of musicians and songwriters have started very young, but not all. Personally I started playing guitar at a young age
and when I had thrashed out The Beatles, Status Quo, Iron Maiden and so on, I started not wanting to learn anybody else's anymore and
started to experiment further than the things I had learned copying other people. So I could never be in a cover band because I don't know any songs :p

3rd Again. I am not a freelance writer but I think the word freelance kind of says it really. Everyone I assume will have their own routines. Their own time of day
or night in which they think they work best. I always write between 11pm and 3-4am. I would assume a lot of the day, if you are actually making money doing it :p
would be taken up working. Musicians, like authors have to force themselves sometimes to stick to deadlines and to hours they set themselves for working. That is probably also
true for most artistic/creative ventures.

4th, Again, different opinions hehe. I guess most would say that their are quite a few "rules" you should try to follow. Having a hook wether it be that the hook is a lyric or
fantastic riff, or grooving bass line. Their are certain chord changes (Major to minor being an abvious one) that peoples ears seem to like. Probably has to be about 3 minutes long or
shorter. The problem is with all of that is that everything you read in songwrting books ( Some of which have great advice btw) assumes that you want to write a popular song and make
a gazillion pounds. There are some songs I absolutely love that are 15 minutes long. If you ever listen to Captain Beefheart... He is considered to be a genius songwriter and is. Radio stations
wouldn't touch that stuff with a bargepole. There are songs that are utter classics that make the manufactured garbage that seems to fill MOST of the pop charts and other charts today
seem like nothing music. So it all depends what angle you want to look at it So I would say that a good song is one that (no matter what genre) someone who can in whatever way
put their soul into it.

5th I am a musician/songwriter. I don't know anything about money. :p

[musicguy14]

Thanks guys! This has helped a lot!
 I would be very interested to here your music!
(sorry I couldn't reply in a personal message, I do not know how to use this forum)