One of the most important parts of your self-promotion is your mailing list and your relationship with the people on it.

Getting people to sign up and provide you with their contact details enables you to reach them directly for a whole host of reasons and create that genuine relationship between you and them.

This will foster their fan loyalty to you and will ultimately help you be successful.

But, how do you go about getting people to join your mailing list and how do you get people to stay there? Here are some things for you to consider…

1. Make sure you’re giving people the opportunity to sign up.

This may sound like common sense, but you need to make sure that your potential fans know that you have a mailing list and where they can go to sign up.

The first step for this is to make sure that you have a sign-up box anywhere that you have an online presence e.g. your Facebook profile, MySpace page, band website, blog etc. This is the easiest way for your fans to sign up, and if the casual browser finds your site interesting it enables them to sign up to receive a bit more information about you.

You should also try to make sure that you include a signature file on any message you send to people who contact you. All this needs to be is a few lines at the end of each message including a link to your website and a link for people to sign up.

You should also use your current mailing list subscribers to help you recruit more subscribers. A really simple way of doing this is by adding a couple of lines at the bottom of any emails you send to your list just saying that if they found this email useful, interesting or entertaining then could they please forward it to anyone else they think might like it, along with instructions on how to subscribe.

And finally, make sure that you always have a mailing list sheet (or some cool techy app) with you at any shows you play!!

2. Don’t ask for too much information

Think about how you are going to realistically contact your mailing list and I guarantee in most cases that the main way you will do it is by email. Therefore, this is the single most important thing that you need from anyone who subscribes!

Don’t ask for any additional information from your potential sign ups unless you’re actually going to use it. If your fans are faced with a huge form to fill in to join a mailing list then the chances are they’re not going to do it. However, if all they have to fill in is their name, and email address then you’ll find they’re much more likely to subscribe.

If you really have to have them, the other data to consider are maybe date of birth or phone number (for SMS) and city or state (depending on your plans), but I really don’t recommend this. I’ll admit that some idea of where people live is useful (particularly for touring bands in the US) but you have to balance the need for that information against the effort required by a fan to give it, and therefore the fact that they might not bother at all.

It’s also worth your while to put in a brief statement on privacy and how you’re going to use their information. You need to make sure that your subscribers know what they’re signing up to, so let them know what to expect (email updates, special offers, frequency of emails etc.).

Always make them aware that you’re not going to spam them or pass their details on to anyone else. In fact, it’s a good idea to tell them this before asking them to sign up, so that way they know what to expect beforehand and can make an informed decision.

We’ll look at the systems available in Part 2, but, in short, I’d go for something that lets you communicate with your fans by name – so an email system that asks for their name (or first name) as well as their email address is preferable as you can then address all subsequent emails to them personally and that builds your relationship in a very natural manner.

3. Benefits of sign up

One of the best ways to get people to subscribe to your mailing list is to offer freebies and special offers if they do – things that can only be achieved by providing you with their email, and that they will miss out on if they don’t.

This doesn’t have to be something huge, and should include an immediate freebie as well as long term benefits. Good immediate freebies include money off your latest releases, or free downloads, whilst long term benefits could include a free download every month, access to a members only forum, or the chance to buy tickets for shows before everyone else.

Think about what you have to offer and tailor your free gifts to what you and your fans would like to have, but make sure it has a real value to your potential fans. You want them to be impressed, happy, and to recommend you to other people.

Once you have people on your mailing list then you need to make sure that you give them a good reason to stay subscribed. Every email you send them gives someone the opportunity of un-subscribing. So keep in mind what your fans want, not what you want them to do and make sure that you’re not sending out emails for the sake of it.

If your email is not offering something, providing your list with entertaining insights into your day to day life, or giving information, then don’t send it.

More on the systems we recommend and email content tips in Part 2, as soon as I write it!

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You can’t argue that when Radiohead announced the release of ‘In Rainbows’ a matter of days after it had been completed and just days before it was made available and announced that fans would be able to get the mp3 download for whatever they wanted to pay, they sent shockwaves right through the recorded music part of the industry.

It was groundbreaking in two ways – obviously the choosable pricing was a first, and headline grabbing, but time will perhaps show that the fast turnaround from album completion to being made available to fans might yet be the bigger revelation. The band made much of it at the time – wanting to be able to get their music to fans as soon as they had created it rather than going through a 6 to 12 month build up in an old school label approach before release.

Nonetheless, the pricing initiative turned out to be very profitable for the band, but, of course, they were already a world class act with a massive and rabid fanbase – would that approach work for you?

Well, now there’s a new service that will allow you to find out – anjuno.

If you know how the Radiohead release worked, then you pretty much know how anjuno works.

It’s free to join and anjuno then takes a percentage of any income from sales of downloads. You upload your stuff (I say stuff, because the system works for music or ebooks – so how about doing a tab book or lyric book for your fans at the same time?) and then set the system to accept payment at a level that a fan wants to pay – including free.

It’s brand new, and who knows how this is going to work for new artists. Personally, I think it’s a great idea and I’d follow the Radiohead model and use anjuno for an early release blitz followed up by a physical release  (with superior packaging or otherwise of collectable value) and continued availability on itunes etc.

Of course, you’re going to get some people going for the free option, but as the Radiohead release showed, faith in human nature will pay off and a record will find a natural price level if its good enough!

What do you think – do you like the idea? Let us know.

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I’m posting this because once again I’ve been inspired by something on Ariel Hyatt’s blog – a new post entitled ‘Increasing the Frequency of Purchases’

If you read our blog you’ll know that we think she writes a lot of great information and that we follow her blog. So, check her post out, but what about the video below?

Well, both are all about how you can find ways to sell more stuff to your fans (not just music) and, in the process, have them become more involved in the process of promoting you to new potential fans.

The video is of a guy called Michael Masnick who runs a company called Techdirt that is very future thinking and all deep into Web 2.0. In it he expands on an earlier lecture he gave that looked in detail at how Trent Reznor has been interacting directly with NiN fans and bypassing the record company model.

However, in this updated talk, he answers the criticism that it’s easy for Trent Reznor with an already massive fanbase, but it’s not for you when you’re starting out. Well, he shows that myth can be debunked by thinking outside the box by reference to four unsigned artists who are doing very well – including one, Corey Smith, who turned over $4 million last year as a DIY artist. Not bad.

Check it out and I’d love to see comments about anything that you’re doing that fits with these ideas to develop your relationship with your fans and gets them to buy more from you. 

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Heads Up!

You may or may not be aware of this already, and you might agree with the policy change or not – opinion seems divided. But, whichever side of the fence you’re on, this is a critical opportunity for all facebook users, which will apply particularly to bands and artists.

This Saturday at 12.01 Eastern Daylight Time (That’s 5.01 PM for Brits), you will be able to register for a user name on facebook for your existing account – for the first time ever – and they will be dished out on a first come first served basis!

Some people hate the idea as too much like MySpace, but whether you like it or not, you want to be ready to get there and get your band name. I’m not quite sure how much SEO benefit there might be to it, but I know it’ll look better and be easier to remember and therefore direct people to.

You will have the option of all alphanumeric characters and a full stop (period for the US readers!) but that’s about it. So mine will read, if I get it, www.facebook.com/ianclifford. You could also just use your band name followed by’.com’ if that’s your usual web address.

There is obviously going to be a major rush to get names and facebook will have a disputes process, but the best advice is get there and get your name bagged.

Everything you need to know is covered here at facebook – http://www.facebook.com/username/

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We are in the process of writing what we hope will be the definitive guides for musicians on how to use Social Networks to promote and market your music and your band – the single most important development in music marketing in the last 75 years. Since, in fact, the shift from sheet music to recorded music that allowed you to take home a piece of the act that you loved with you to play over and over.

Social Networking is both about that experience of having something to listen to (in the case of most sites), but it’s also about discovery and that’s why it’s so important for the modern musician.

It’s our view that the step that almost all bands and performers miss in their development is sufficient dedication to developing their talent (songs, performance etc) and thus don’t have the necessary potential greatness to be discovered. That said, and we do bang on about it all the time, once you’ve put yourselves through a rigorous development process (because record companies won’t these days), you need then to get very, very proactive about spreading the word and Social Networks are the best way to do that. Of course, you ought also to be playing live!

But, which Social Networks?

I remain a massive fan of MySpace - I’ve talked about why on the Blog elsewhere, but in short it is the place that people go to look for music and information on bands. So, you have to be there and be active.

Amanda, on the other hand, loves Facebook. You have to have a profile there too because that is where people of the age and with the interests that you need to be reaching spend all their online time hanging out. It’s not as easy to market and promote your music on Facebook as it is on MySpace, but it does make better and deeper long term connections with people who become fans from discovering you there.

I’m not the expert on Facebook, Amanda is. She is 20,000 words in to writing our comprehensive guide which will reveal all that she knows and more! No idea when it’ll be ready as we can’t rush these things as we need to make sure they are as good as they can be, like our MySpace guide.

Meanwhile, I came across the official Facebook blurb on how to promote music and bands today. It may have been there for ages – I don’t know – but I just discovered it today. It’s very basic and simple, but if you aren’t using Facebook for your music, then it is an essential primer. Download it here

If you can’t wait for our guide, the information that I think is the best to date for musicians on how to promote on Facebook is in a book called ‘Facebook Marketing’ by Nick Jag. If you click on that link and have a look down the page, you’ll see the book. It’s a worthwhile investment in my opinion…..at least until our book is available!

 Just to round this off, where else do you need to be active? – simple, at the bare minimum, you need a Twitter profile and a Youtube channel as well. There’s some stuff about both of those to be found here, but these are the other two books that we are working on to complete the set.

It’s tough to juggle interacting on all these sites and maintaining your own site (which is also essential) but it needs to be done, so learning the best ways to do it is invaluable.

Oh, and if you were looking for a specific tip – the headline suggests that there is one after all! – well, I meant that the tip was to go and get Facebook’s free official guide. But, something that I have seen work incredibly well is using Facebook Social Ad’s. One guy I know has refined this into an art where he spends less than $100 per month but adds 100’s of real fans each month – people who come to gigs and then buy stuff from him.

That’s the tip – if you look into it on Facebook (just click on the ‘Advertising’ tab at the foot of their pages) and read their instructions, you’ll see it is incredibly easy. It’s also very, very targeted. Amanda’s forthcoming Facebook guide will have more detail and either a section or a bonus guide by our mate who has mastered the art of using it for finding fans.

I do have an ebook just on the Facebook Social Ads topic that I read on it, which I have permission to give away. It’s not music focused but it does have some good tips. If you want me to send that out to all subscribers, leave a comment and make sure that you’re signed up as a subscriber (big box at the top right if you’ve missed it!) and I’ll send it out.

For now, go and get the free official Facebook Guide and have a look at their Social Ads.

The links again:

The Offical Facebook Guide for Music & Bands

Nick Jag’s ‘Facebook Marketing’

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This is a really quick post. I’ve just signed up for OnlyWire, a service that allows you to bookmark any webpage to a whole load of Social Bookmark sites at once.

It takes a while to set up but if you need to have webpages added to those sites, as I do, then it is the very best service that there is. And it saves an age.

As part of the registration, I have also signed up for Technorati. In order for that site to believe that this is my blog I have to publish this post and point them to it – so here goes – Technorati Profile

It’s been an interesting exercise and one that can be applied to your own site, or even your MySpace page. This will allow you to notify a host of Social Bookmark sites every time that you put something new on your band website. So, say you put up a video of your latest rehearsal, you log into OnlyWire and automatically notify all the sites that you have previously registered with.

Why do you do this? Well, although Social Bookmarking sites are there, in many cases at least, for individuals to host their ‘Favourites’ list in an online profile, they are far far more use for driving traffic to your site. Every time that you submit or ‘tag’ a web page to one of the sites, it gets ranked and then other registered users of that site are pointed to it by searching witihin the sites, split up into categories. So, by bookmarking your own new posts, you are increasing the chances of more traffic coming to your site from those Social Bookmarking sites. Obviously, those people may then become fans of your band.

To start with, I have set up the OnlyWire account and registered with Digg, delicious, Bebo, Reddit, technorati, and Stumble Upon. Each time I post I will bookmark to all those sites automatically by just logging in once to OnlyWire, and I should see a boost in traffic.

That’s the theory and it should work for you too. I recommend you try it and see if it works for you.

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There will come a point where you think you’re ready for a record deal, a manager or a publishing deal (or that other much touted ‘new model’ deal with some music related company). You’ll want to get yourself heard by the right people so what better way to do it than to send out a demo right?

Record labels, managers et al get hundreds of thousands of demos, and if this is the route you want to take then there are some things that you will need to take into account if you want to make your demo stand out from the rest and be given more than a second glance.

It’s going to take a lot of hard work and luck but if you make sure that you take notice of the following points, then you’ll be on the right track.

In this article, note that wherever I talk about a demo, I mean either a physical CD mailed to someone or a link to a MySpace page or band website where all the relevant information can be found and songs listened to. I’ll make distinctions where necessary.

1. Make sure you’re targeting the right labels.

If you’re an indie, guitar led band, and that’s all you ever want to be then there is no point sending your demo’s to hip-hop or dance labels. You won’t get a second look as the labels just won’t be interested. That’s not what they do! To start with you should be looking for labels who work with bands that are similar or in the same genre as you. They are more likely to give you a second glance and maybe even a listen…

As a musician in a band, you really ought to have some idea of who those labels are for your genre, but if you need help, search on the web for directories that can help you. In the UK, you have to use The Unsigned Guide, and in the Us there are choices, but we like Galaris.

Once you’ve found a label, you need to find a name. A personal touch is really going to help in getting the person you are contacting to actually listen to your stuff.

2. Make sure your demo is listenable.

This doesn’t mean that you have to go and get all of your tracks professionally recorded. That would be silly and a complete waste of money. However, you need to make sure that whoever is going to listen to your demo can see the potential there. So, make sure your singers are in tune, the recording is clear and there are no white noise issues or glitches.

There are lots of inexpensive recording software programs doing the rounds now which you can use to do this, or you could strike a deal with your local studio to do it on the cheap with the help of one of their engineers.

3. Make sure you’re ready for label interest

This is another very important point. When you’re just getting started you can’t expect all of your songs to be hits, and no one else expects them to all be hits either. However, when choosing songs to send out to labels you need to make sure that these songs are your absolute best so far.

If not, they won’t be given a chance, and you won’t be given a second chance in the future. You’ll be remembered as the band that had no songs. If you’re not sure that you or your songs are ready then hold off on sending out demos until you’re absolutely 100% sure that you are.

I recently came across a service here at SoundOut, which I heartily recommend. We’ll look at this in more detail in the future, but, in short, if you spend $20 to $50 with them you’ll get the most honest appraisal of your songs from real music fans who get your genre. We don’t get paid for recommending this service, so I mean it when I say that it’s money well spent – to see if you really have the material ready that you think you have!

4. Get your promo package right.

Labels like to know a little bit about you, and a standard demo comes with a bio, some press cuttings, a photo and your music, but there is such a thing as too much information…and too much music!

We get a lot of demos in our office, and the first thing we look at is the size of the package that’s been sent through. If it’s huge then it goes to the bottom of the pile. Full albums or CDs with lots of tracks on will also get put to the back of the pile. Most people in the industry have a limited amount of time for demos so we like them to be short and snappy.

Ideally, when I get a demo through the post I like to see a half page brief bio, a handful of press cuttings (if you have any that is, and if you do, make sure they’re good ones!), a photo in which I can see your faces, and a CD with no more than 3 tracks on, and your best track first. By best track, I mean your most catchy, hooky, universal song, not the one you’re most proud of. If you’re not sure which one this is then ask your fans, friends and family.

Another thing to add to your package is details about any previous releases or significant touring you have done in the past and also if you have any attention from other industry professionals, i.e. management, an agent etc, and let them know who these people are. This will help raise your profile before you even get a listen.

If you’re doing this submission by a link, then make sure people can find all this stuff on your site or MySpace page easily too.

People do look at numbers of plays and friends on a MySpace link and it does have a bearing – which is why we do think building numbers on Social Networks is part of your job – but everyone knows that those numbers don’t necessarily mean fans, so don’t get too hung up on it. What people are looking for is how your fans interact with you on those pages – so make sure you encourage commenting as well as friend adding, for industry people to see that you have a real buzz around you.

5. Don’t forget your contact details

Every piece of paper and every CD you send a record label must have your contact details on. This includes your email address, a contact name and phone number and your website and MySpace address. It’s no use putting these on one piece of paper and thinking that because it’s all together in your package the label will know how to contact you. Papers and CDs get mixed up, bits moved or lost, and the chances are that your promo package will go in one pile and your CD in another.

By putting your details on everything the label have no excuse to not contact you if they like what they see or hear. Putting your MySpace address on also allows them to check out your songs in the event that the CD is misplaced, so when you start sending out demos make sure that the songs you put on the CDs are the ones that are on your MySpace.

Same thing is true on sending a MySpace link. Make sure that email addresses and telephone numbers are there to be found.

6. Does the label you’re looking at receive unsolicited demos?

Lots of labels ask you not to send unsolicited demos. There are many reasons for this, including time and space issues, and even legal issues in some circumstances! If you’re not sure then call them up and ask them.

If they do take unsolicited demos then feel free to send your package in, however, it’s better to find out who the specific A&R man is in your field at that label and start a conversation with them directly. That way they know who you are first and may actually request your demo from you. This route is by far the best way to get yourself noticed by any label.

7. Be Polite

If you’re serious about getting a record deal then, unless you’re very lucky, you’ll send out lots of emails and make lots of phone calls…and will likely be ignored the majority of the time. If this is the case the please don’t get bitter about it, it happens to most people. But bear in mind that if you do get someone to talk to you, then you should show a little gratitude.

The more polite you are then the more people will be inclined to help you in the future. It may be that the A&R person you are talking to can’t help you, but if you’ve been polite and gracious then they could help you out by giving you details for other people who could help you, or even recommending you to someone. You can never know just how influential the person you are talking to is.

8. Don’t be discouraged

Sending out demos can be stressful, demoralising, soul destroying etc, and you’re likely to hear the word ‘No’ more times than you’d ever imagine but you can’t take it personally. If a label turns you down ask them to give you a bit of constructive feedback. It may be that you just don’t fit in with what they want to do in the immediate future.

Take whatever you’re given on board, go away and become better for it. Consider your demo, decide if there was anything you could have done differently that might have made a difference, and then learn from it and move on to the next label. After all, no one expects you to be the finished article straight away! If you’re in this for the long haul then you’ll constantly be changing, so see it as work in progress.

Good luck!

This article is a partner piece to an earlier article on this site titled ‘How you should approach a record label or manager’. There may be a little repetition but this article is by Amanda and the other is by Ian, so reading them both will give you a little extra insight from two perspectives!

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We don’t often recommend specific products in posts because, as you know, this site is more about teaching you to learn the skills you need. That said, one of the parts of the site that I’m working on is a section that just has our recommendations on it – tools and advice from other people that complement our advice and that you can use, some of which are free and some paid. That’s coming soon.

And this bit of software will be in it – TweetAdder.

Reasonably controversially for many in online music marketing, I’m a fan of Friend Adding software on MySpace (and Facebook) – but NOT of the random and senseless adding of 1000’s of people that you then don’t have time to interact with.

The reason that I like them is very simply because of the automation that they give you. Now, every time you acquire a new follower on Twitter or a friend on MySpace, it’s your job to turn that person into a fan. The mistake that way too many bands make is to hunt down vast numbers of pointless followers and then fail to convert any of them into fans.

If you heed the advice that we give in our MySpace book, you’ll see a different way that is aimed at turning those followers into real fans who want to intercat with you and then spread the word about you. The core tactic in that relationship building is right at the beginning – targeting people who should be in to your genre of music. You do this by adding people who are in to bands that influence and sound like you and also by aiming for people who follow other acts in your local scene.

There’s more to it than that, but that’s the basics. Just remember that it’s about turning a Friend or a Follower into a fan – and let’s not forget that a prerequisite of that is that your act is good enough to warrant the fan’s support.

So, this TweetAdder- why’s it a good thing?

Well, basically because of the automation element. The people who have made it understand all about the pitfalls of blindly following loads of people and themselves state that their software tool is all about “tagret niche networking in mind”. In standard musician speak, that means that you can drill down and only look for people that are likely to want to be fans.

I won’t go on about it’s features as you can click the link and have a look. All I’ll say is that this isn’t a necessity and it isn’t for everyone, but, if you feel that you have everything in place for your band (songs, performances, recording and buzz is all refined and great – because that is stage 1!), then this tool will help you. I would only use it to build targeted followers and then to help automate the task of keeping those followers involved in your career and hence turning them into real fans.

If that applies to you, then I’d check it out as it looks like the best Twitter tool I’ve seen so far – TweetAdder

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Strange title but it kind of says what I want to say in this post, or at least, I hope it does!

I saw a couple of blog posts this week that were different takes on the same theme.

This one from Bob Baker on how we need to stay on top of and maintain our actions that bring us success and satisfaction ‘Groundhog Day Music Success’ and this one about how musicians will wilfully disregard essential advice  that could make the difference to their career that they are desperately looking for, by Mark Gibson – ‘Don’t disregard this advice!’

It made me think again about why we’re working on this site and what we are trying to achieve.

And it’s simple really. One aim with three branches. 

Aim: to help those aspiring musicians who wish to listen to us realise that there are fundamental facts that they need to accept and act on if they are to give themselves a chance of success. This is so because so many people trying to make it can’t face the fact that they themselves are the core reason why their career isn’t happening.

And once we have helped point out the realities, try to advise on the options, solutions and real world marketing methods that will breed success for those that follow and implement them.

Branches: One - Give those who want to aim for the top the advice, honest feedback and tools that they need to craft a band or act that has the material, the talent, the image, the marketing and business savvy and the work ethic to make it to the top.

Two – Tailor the advice here so that artists who want to make it to the level that their talent inherently deserves (but not make changes that they feel are too much like ’selling out’) can do so by removing as many unnecessary obstacles as possible. 

Three – Present our ideas and advice so that the most anti-establishment artist who wants nothing to do with commercial success and hates the very notion of marketing, can still find some nugget of value and truth here that can help them find their own way as a musician in an easier and more fulfilling fashion, albeit on their terms.

I also realised that I wanted to tilt the angle of what we’re preaching a little too. I felt that we’re perhaps coming across a bit too strongly being all about how there is a single ‘one-way fits all route to success’ and that that is to get a label or similar modern investor. And, in order to do that, you must have the right frontman and the greatest songs etc. To an extent, that is exactly what we’re saying, because the tightest set-up will give you the greatest chance at some level of commercial success. 

BUT, and this is really important, at the same time, we don’t want to ignore the fact that there are thousands of acts that don’t want massive commercial success and are doing it for love of their art. Brilliant – all power to you. 

OUR ADVICE WORKS FOR YOU TOO! Just because we say you need to do X, Y and Z, but you feel uncomfortable about Z, that doesn’t mean that you should ignore X and Y – does that make sense? 

So, if you refuse to write songs about love, or lose your singer because they have too bland a voice (but they are charismatic or whatever), then that’s fine. But accept that it’s giving you some limitations and work around them. Just be honest with yourselves so that you can see what it is that is your compromise and work to your other strengths. 

If you aren’t at all interested in commercial success and just want to spread the word on your music as it is, then there are things here that will help you. 

Nonetheless, our main focus is to do what most places I have seen on the web professing Music Industry Advice don’t do – and that is to tell you what it really takes to succeed, no matter that that will often mean facing some harsh realities about where you’re at in your career right now. 

Check out the two articles that we’ve linked to at the top. Mark Gibson really makes it plain that it’s not an easy ride and Bob Baker very accurately tells that just because you do get up and running, you can’t slack off. 

A slew of solid advice posts to come next week. I’ve been writing a huge list of the things you’ve said you want us to cover and have started on some of them, but I needed to get this ‘mission statement’ written today!

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A Guest Post by Fraser Smith

What makes a great song? It’s a big question, and one that has been written about endlessly in an attempt to unravel the “formula” for creating a world dominating smash hit record. Sure, there are some basic rules and if you were to examine a handful of the most successful or popular songs of the last four decades, they do have certain things in common. Intro, verse, bridge, chorus, verse, bridge, chorus, middle 8, chorus, chorus etc springs to mind!

We can examine things like structure, melody and production very easily but for a greater understanding of the “smash”, we need to look at concepts. Have you ever wondered why some songs seem to “connect” with people and others don’t? When asked why people like a song, they will usually say something along the lines of “I like the tune” or “it’s got a great beat”. Very rarely will the average music consumer tell you they love a song because of the clever way it’s been written, or because the music sounds like it was really hard to play. People simply aren’t interested in that stuff. They’re interested in the elusive combination of a great melody and a lyric that they can relate to, and preferably sing along to.

Of course this isn’t true of all genres of music, but for the purposes of this piece I’m referring mainly to pop music, as this is the domain of the hit single! Yes, there are lots of brilliant, intelligent musicians and songwriters out there whose music isn’t even near the radio and probably never will be. Whilst the music industry is partly responsible for this, it doesn’t change the fact that (generally speaking) if you want to have a big song, you have to be able to connect with lots of people. And that means delivering a message that is clear, simple, catchy and easy to relate to.

This means thinking very carefully about what you’re song is actually about. It can be so easy to get wrapped up in the details of the music itself, such as which chords to use? How the melody should go?  How should the snare drum sound? Sometimes the central concept of the song can often end up as an afterthought.

As a producer and songwriter, I get to hear lot of demos from new artists, some of whom are quick to tell me very confidently which of their songs are the singles, or “radio friendly”. More often than not, the song they point out is the one they’ve laboured over the most, or the song with the lyrics about their ex girlfriend / boyfriend. Sometimes this can mean their lyrics are so personal to them that they’re in danger of not meaning anything to anyone else! So it helps a lot if you are able to step back from your work and ask yourself – if I had never heard this song, what would I think about it? Do I know what it’s about? More importantly, do I care what it’s about?

Let’s look at a couple of recent example of the smash hit song. Love him or hate him, James Blunt’s “You’re Beautiful” was undeniably one of the big pop songs of 2005, launching a multi-million selling worldwide career for the artist. Cynics will point out that there was a major label and some powerful marketing behind him, which is also true, but they were marketing something that was already going to be relatively easy to sell, because of the simplicity of the concept, the music and the lyrics. I don’t think it’s too unreasonable to suggest that without this song, the level of his success wouldn’t have been as great, and it certainly wouldn’t have happened as quickly.

The sentiment behind Blunt’s song is extremely simple. Perhaps this is why people connected with it? It’s essentially a “grass is greener” song, where the main character is imagining a relationship with a stranger he’s just encountered. It’s also very memorable, even from a first listen. You may not know all the words to the verses straight away, but the chorus is instant. There is never a moment where you’re not sure what the lyrics are because “you can’t hear them properly”.

Now imagine the same music, but with cryptic, clever lyrics that only you understand. Does the song still have the same ability to connect with a large audience? Or just to you? (This can lead us into a whole other area – who are you writing music for, but that’s another topic in itself!) Now try it the other way around; take the lyrics and sing them with a new melody over some complex chords in a clever time signature – is it still a hit? it’s very unlikely!

In 2007, Rihanna’s “Umbrella” had a similar impact on the world of pop. The song is built on an infectious beat and very few chords, and again there is a strong concept behind this song. If you look at the lyrics it’s more than just another “I love you baby” type thing, but it also has a very simple main hook, which hits you the first time you get to what I call the “pay off”,  the “ella – ella – ella – eh – eh – eh” bit, an infuriatingly catchy modern pop moment!

Would the song stand up without this hook / gimmick? Yes I think it would, because the gimmick sounds like an addition to the concept, not the concept itself. In other words “Umbrella” is already strong without it, but as a pop record this hook puts into a whole other league. 

What I’m getting at here is the importance of considering exactly what it is you’re saying in your songs. It’s not usually enough just to have a great beat or a great riff, try and think of these things as the starting point!

It’s also important not to confuse “simple” ideas with “dumb” ideas.  Writing complicated pop lyrics is relatively easy compared with writing good simple pop lyrics, and great lyricists will write on several levels providing you with deeper meanings if you want to look for them. This is a skill that is harder than it sounds and can take a long time to develop.

Early Motown records are a good example of this sort of thing, where the writers provided a catchy “surface” meaning that sounded like great pop music, but underneath there was often another motivation (sometimes with social or political overtones). Smokey Robinson and Marvin Gaye were among those who dabbled with this sort of writing, and were responsible for creating some staple pop hits that were accessible to everyone, but often had a second “layer” of meaning.

So you don’t have to “dumb down” your masterpiece to get your message across, just try disguising it a bit, and you’ll be adding depth to your work and you’ll be in good company!

Of course the most important part in focusing on the concept of your song is having a concept to begin with. What do people want to hear about? Themes of love and loss are the most popular; anecdotes about feeding your cat will not grab people’s attention the same way. If you spend a bit of time considering what you’re actually saying, and how people will interpret your “message”, you should be able give your work a better chance of connecting with your audience.

Instead of spending three hours on the snare drum, spend three hours on making your central idea something people can relate to, as generally people don’t listen to songs because of how the drums sound! And you never know, you may even be giving yourself a greater chance at that world dominating chart-topping success in the process…..

Fraser Smith
Fraser Smith is a record producer, songwriter and musician. Currently signed to Notting Hill Music, he has written, produced and mixed records for many artists worldwide, as well as enjoying top 40 success with his previous band Shed Seven. 

A version of this article has previously appeared on IXL

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