Stand Out: Separating Your Songs From The Rest Of The Pack
Posted by Chen on / 0 Comments
Standing out is the name of the game when trying to get your songs out there.
Whether you’re trying to get them cut, impress publishers, A&R, music supervisors, ad execs, managers or whatever. It’s all about separating your song from the rest of the pack. The people who make decisions that affect the commercial success of your music, listen to hundreds of songs every week. So what can you do to help them remember your song?
Well Aside from handling each situation the right way, (making sure you’re pitching to the right opportunity, the right person, in the right manner, and that you are following up appropriately), and assuming you don’t have an established professional relationship with the person you sent your song to, (yet! Remember, every time you pitch a song, win or lose, is an opportunity to impress and begin nurturing a professional relationship that could lead to other opportunities in the future!), your best bet to make your song stand out, is the song itself.
A unique and interesting vocal performance can help. Having a vocal that grabs your attention, and has interesting characteristics that set it apart, immediately makes your song better. Don’t aim to sound like anyone else. Sound like something we’ve never heard before. So many young artists tell me how they want to sound like this person or that, but who did Michal Jackson sound like? Who did Kurt Cobain sound like? What about Prince? Who does Eminem sound like? Alanis Morissette? John Mayor? They all had influences, but at the end of the day sounded like them selfs, and so should you.
Great production is another way to stand out. Good production can make an ok song better! You need your production to be both familiar, current, AND forward thinking and unique! (Wrap your head around that!). Understand the trends in your style, and always try to push the envelope a bit. This is where the risk factor in art is. When Smells Like Teen Spirit came out, it didn’t sound like anything else out there. I have to imagine there were some bean counters at the label, that were more than a little nervous about releasing a song like that into a world dominated by acts like Bon Jovi and Motley Crew. But the gamble paid off. In fact, some of the best songs we have are the product of artists taking significant risks. So dare to sound different. It just might pay off
There are of course times, however, when a song requires specific production (If you are pitching for a particular use on TV/Film, or an ad agency campaign, or pitching to an already established artist). In those cases where the style of production is predetermined, make sure you stand out by having it well done, well mixed, and of superior sonic quality (if you can’t do that, pay someone who can, it’s worth it). Loudness is something to consider as well. If the person you sent your song to has listened to 10 songs before yours, and then yours comes on louder than the rest (within reason of course), that’s a good thing. I’ll let you in on a little secret; louder sounds better. That is way mix engineers are encouraged to mix at low levels. Otherwise, they might be fooled into thinking something is better just because it’s louder.
But your best bet of standing out, in my opinion, is in the writing process itself. Write a unique song.
Now that could mean an interesting, quirky melody. It could mean an unusual chord progression. It could mean different rhythms, a new form, and it could mean unique lyrical ideas.
Now In all likelihood, you probably wouldn’t use all these concepts in the same song, (the way a painter wouldn’t necessarily put oil paints, water paints, charcoal, colored pencils, and crayons on the same canvas). You want your song to be unique, but you also want some elements in it to feel familiar, so that the audience has something to hold on to, as you take them on a new journey. The trick is to find the right balance of old and new.
One of my favorite ways of helping my songs stand out is using unique lyrical concepts.
The story of your song is very important, but so is HOW you tell it. Someone famous and successful once said that there are only about 3 or 4 song stories in the world (I swear it was someone famous. Google it, I’m too lazy).
Songs about finding love, losing love, wishing for love, etc. I’m sure we can come up with some subcategories if we tried, but we don’t have that kind of time in this article.
So if everyone writes a song about falling in love, the most relatable and human experience we know, how do YOU write one that is different?
It’s all in the HOW. Some people call it the angle, the approach, the way in.
Take for example Tim McGraw’s Blank Sheet Of Paper (Don Schlitz/Brad Warren/ Brett Warren). It tells the story of a broken-hearted man writing a love letter to the one he wronged. But instead of saying “I’m so sad, I’ve done you wrong, please take me back,” the writers choose to tell the story from the point of view of the blank sheet of paper the man is about to write the love letter on.
“He just stares at me/I just stare at him/
He don’t know where to start/to say he doesn’t want it to end/
And now it’s one hour later/and I am still a blank sheet of paper.”
That hook, “I’m still a blank sheet of paper” tells us everything we need to know about this guy who wants to say he is sorry but can’t find the words, so the page remains blank.
How about Ronnie Dunn’s Cost Of Living (Ronnie Dunn/Phillip Coleman)?
A song that tells the story of a struggling working class guy desperate for a job. This song was released after the economic crisis of 2008, and as a story was relatable to a lot of hard-working people all over the country. But instead of simply talking about how things are rough, the writers choose to tell the story from the point of view of a guy filling out a job application. And in fact, if you read the lyrics, you’ll see how almost every line is an answer to a question you would typically find on a job application.
“Everything to know about me/is written on this page/a number you can reach me/ my social and my age.
“I’ve never been convicted of a crime/ I can start this job at anything.”
He goes down the list, convincing the listener why he is the right person for the Job, all leading up to his hook, and why he needs the work:
“Three dollars and change at the pump/ cost of living high… going up.”
In the end, the story you tell is vital because that’s what people will relate to, But HOW you tell it, is what will Hook them in and make sure they stay engaged.
There are so many more lyrical concepts, melodic concepts, and harmonic concepts you can study, practice, and use to make your songs memorable. The more of them you know, the more choices you have in how to make your music stand out from the rest of the pack.
Check out these two fantastic songs:
Award winning and multi platinum selling songwriter/producer Chen Neeman's songs have been recorded by artists such as Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez, Joe Jonas, Zendaya, and The Muppets, among others. Chen is dedicated to helping aspiring songwriters learn how to write better songs through personalized one-on-one coaching sessions via Skype, FaceTime, or in person at his L.A Studio.
Find out more about Chen’s Pro Songwriting Coaching, at HitSongCoach.com