Google’s New Music Business Model

Recently Google China announced that it was partnering up with an online music store in China to provide free downloads of licensed music. The plan is to allow people to download songs for free. Google will then pay the copyright holders (i.e. record companies) licensing fees from revenues they make through advertising.

This could be a great innovative new approach to distributing music legally, while at the same time giving illegal downloading a huge blow. However I am amazed at the lack of interest I am seeing from musicians, songwriters and Artists. I have posted the news of this venture by Google in several songwriting forums and have seen little to no response or debate.

An Addiction called “Songwriting”

Recently while taking advantage of one of those rare moments where I have time to reflect on my past, I began to see how music has always played such an important part in every chapter of my life, and how it has affected almost every major episode within that life.

Writing for Yourself

I sometimes get a little flack about focusing too much on commercial songwriting as opposed to writing for my own pure enjoyment. The fact is that when I write music in general, it is for my personal enjoyment. Unfortunately too many folks believe that if you’re writing commercial songs or music that appeal more towards the mainstream that you’re not writing for the joy of simply writing.

Nothing could be farther from the truth. Talk to any major hit songwriter and you’ll see that they feel the same way about their number 1 smash as anyone else who simply writes for pure enjoyment. I don’t know where the idea first came about that hit songwriters write more for the “money-maker” than out of personal enjoyment. That concept is completely wrong and tends to make me think that people making those statements are maybe just jealous of the success of those writers.

Making Your Lyrics Stand Out.

A lot of songwriters don’t have too much trouble creating contrast in their music. For example, it’s a common practice to make the melody higher in the chorus than the verse. But do you know how to create the same effect with your lyrics?

Recording Gear for Songwriters

A lot of new songwriters ask me what type of equipment they should get for their home studios. This is not only a broad question but a tricky one as well, because it seems everyone has their own favorites piece of gear and wants that to be recognized as “the best”. The fact however, is that “the best” equipment is really the one the works best for YOU.