In March this year, The Song Foundry Inc., the business behind the site, turned five. And to celebrate five years of running a real grownup company, I’d planned an article about some of the things I’d learned in that time. But then (spoiler alert) the world went a bit crazy. Other things seemed more important and this article got put to one side.  Still, nine months later, and just before 2020 ends, it felt like an article worth sharing. So if you’re thinking about building a business around what you create, here are nine real-life lessons I learned as a creative entrepreneur that ought t ..read more

If you’ve, say, ever tried creating something new, you’ll know about writer’s block and procrastination. So before we get started, here are two important provisos: One: writer’s block isn’t really a thing. Seriously. You’re blocked because you’ve told yourself you should be able to create something you aren’t ready to create yet. The easiest way round this kind of block is to take a different route. Stop trying to create the thing you’re not ready to – like writing the whole bridge – and start with something simple you are ready to – like a four-chord progression, a title, a few words or ..read more

I don’t usually like to blow my own trumpet, but I’ll just say it: I’m good at a lot of things. I can sit on the floor in front of a piano, cross my hands behind my head and play the opening of Mozart’s C Major Piano Sonata. I know the Spanish word for ‘dude’ in like eleven different Latin American countries. And I’m really good at breaking down complicated songwriting concepts in simple ways that anyone can understand, whether that’s in print, through the internet, or in a one-to-one session. But no, I can’t make you famous. I don’t have some magic bullet to make you the next Max Martin. I do ..read more

This is article is based on my new book How to Write a Song (Even If You’ve Never Written One Before and You Think You Suck). You can also download a printable PDF summary of the article when you join The Song Foundry Community.   How do you write a song? It’s a good question. And like a lot of good questions, there isn’t a single, simple answer. In fact there’s a pretty much infinite number of great ways to write a song. Still, in this article I’m going to focus on one powerful and reliable way to write a song – and one that you can use even if you’re completely new to songwriting ..read more

So I don’t know if you noticed, but there’s a global pandemic going on right now. The bad news for all kinds of musicians and performers is that there’s not likely to be any in-person concerts and events happening any time soon. But the good news is that there’s probably never been a better time to start livestreaming the things you normally do in person. The good news is that there’s an ideal captive audience of people craving quality content that gives them, more or less, what they’d get from an in-person event. And even if you’re reading this long after the coronavirus pandemic is over, it ..read more

“What a time to be alive” is my new catchphrase. I’m even annoying myself with how much I say it. But annoying-me-who-needs-to-find-something-more-original-to-say also has a point. This is history. This is an enormous global event that people will be talking about for decades, probably centuries. This is the most disruptive event most of us have experienced in our lifetimes – and it’s still so new we’ve not had time to process it all properly. But if you cast your mind back to what feels like years ago but was actually only three weeks ago (i.e. when large parts of the world started becoming l ..read more

Once, producing professional-sounding music meant shelling out hundreds or thousands of dollars hiring a professional studio – or much more building your own. These were the Dark Ages of music production, a grim and barbaric era that ran roughly until the turn of the millennium. But they are no more. Today, you can make pro-quality music on a laptop in your bedroom using decent software that’s completely free or state-of-the-art software that costs a few hundred dollars. To do that, your most important tool as a songwriter-producer is your DAW – your Digital Audio Workstation – of choice. And ..read more

ltimaI’ve written about writer’s block before – why it doesn’t really exist, how to change your mind about it, and how to deal with the tencertainty of feeling unsure or stuck while you write. But in this article, taken from a bonus chapter from my new book The 30-Day Speed Songwriting Challenge: Banish Writer’s Block for Good in Only 30 Days, we’re going to talk about five surefire ways to beat writer’s block, even when the writer’s block is strong and you’re not sure you can overcome it. (Pro tip: you can.) But anyway, here are the five surefire techniques to help you bust writer’s block nex ..read more

One of my key philosophies here at The Song Foundry is that being a good songwriter is about being one of a kind. And to make what you write one of a kind, you have to make what you listen to and what you think about one of a kind. There’s tons of value in studying the craft of songwriting, the art of songwriting and the art of creativity, but it doesn’t mean much unless you’re always trying to understand the ideas, practices and techniques that tons of your favorite songwriters use, so that you can use them in what you create. And luckily, doing that has never been easier. It’s never been eas ..read more

If you’re below the age of 35 – and maybe even if you’re not – you’ve probably been told at least 734 times that you should follow your dreams. And that’s great. It’s great to have aspirations. It’s important to aim high. And it’s essential – if you want to live a life worth living – to go after the things you want. But that’s only part of the story. See, dreams come with terms and conditions. Dreams come with fine print. And, most of all, dreams come with sacrifices. In fact, the bigger and crazier your dreams, chances are the bigger and crazier the sacrifices that come with them. And that’s ..read more