Writing Songs To A Brief: 10 Essential Points
/A brief Introduction
Steelworks Songwriting Camp Group 1
I co-hosted an event with my buddy Eliot Kennedy in Sheffield, England last week made up of two, three-day songwriting camps. These were held at Eliot's studio, Steelworks, with four separate studios, each with an engineer/operator. The idea was that three writers would be assigned to a team for the day in one of the studios not only to write their song but to demo it each day. Next day, start over with a new team and a new assignment. 24 writers over the weeklong, two camp workshop. Eliot and I would drop in from time to time with each group to check their progress and offer suggestions if needed.
The kicker was that each day these teams would be writing for a real artist. One who was currently signed or working with Eliot. The best part, they were writing to real briefs and even better, two of the artists would be in the studio on the second day and would spend time with the groups and in some cases, sing the demo at the end of the day.
If you’re not familiar with writing to a brief it simply means you’re given some parameters. They currently need uptempo, or a ballad, like to sing songs of affirmation, maybe even “in the style of” and some background on the artist. You’re not shooting in the dark with your song but rather at a specific target. Now, if you have the luxury of the producers input and the artist in the studio to pick their brains, that’s about as good as it gets.
Steelworks Songwriting Camp Group 2
So…you have your brief, you have your co-writers and you have a studio to write and record in for the day. Where do you start?
The 10 Points
Talk with each other. Find out your fellow co-writers strengths and weaknesses and be dead honest here. This will help you understand the resources in the room.
Ask about how your co-writers like to process. Do they need constant stimulation or do they need to consider every option and make their choices slowly and deliberately?
If the brief mentions other artist hits, or references particular styles by all means check these out before you decide on your direction. Remember, you’re not trying to clone these examples but it’s smart songwriting to use them as guides.
This song is for someone else. This is not the time to write that country idea you’ve had sitting around when the brief mentions your artist is a 15 member K-pop band, (Shout out to the awesome John Saunderson here:-)! You’re writing to get a cut!
Don’t be precious. By this I mean don’t get an idea and hold on to it for dear life. Your co-writer may have a better one. Go with the best idea in the room no matter if it’s yours, someone else’s or the collective inspiration. Again, you want a cut!
If you have the holy grail of songwriting experiences and you have the artist “in the room” ask questions. This is not the time to tell them your life story, it’s the time to ask them theirs.
Listen for things that the artist seems passionate about. Work them into the song where ever you can. If you work with an artist and they say it seems like you read their mind with your song you’re so, so close to that cut. If, at the end of the day they say your song would be great for someone that means that someone ain’t them. No cut, no way.
If you have the artist there or you’re able to listen to their work, make some notes. The singers general range is always a good idea to keep in mind.
Never, never, never go rouge on your group and ask the producer or artist to listen to a song of yours that you think would be perfect for them. You’re in this co-write together.
As your day goes on continue to go back to the brief. Are you still headed in the right direction? Trust me, as the deadline looms you can get desperate to finish and go down some alternate routes to the destination you’ve been given.
In Brief
The brief is just that, a brief heads up for the project/song/artist. Nail the brief, nail the cut, nail enough cuts and you’ll get more briefs, keep it up and it will keep you from having a brief career :-) Good luck!!
P.S. These two camps nailed the briefs and many of the songs written are being considered for the artists currently.
Mark Cawley
Nashville, Tennessee
10/30/2019
A big shout out to izotope for providing the awesome Spire units for our workshop!
if you'd like to stay up with iDoCoach including receiving the latest blogs and my favorite 7 Toolbox tips here ya go!
http://idocoach.com/email-newsletter
I'm currently coaching writers worldwide, online, one on one and taking new clients for the fall. Visit my website for more info www.idocoach.com or write to me at mark@idocoach.com
Check out this interview in M Music and Musicians Magazine for stories behind a few of my songs!
Mark Cawley is a hit songwriter who coaches other writers around the globe through his one-on-one, online service iDocoach.com. His songs have been on more than 16 million records with cuts ranging from Tina Turner to Wynonna Judd to The Spice Girls. His book, Song Journey, was released in April 2019 and went to #1 in 6 catagories on Amazon.Mark is a judge for the UK Songwriting Contest, Nashville Rising Star, Belmont University’s Commercial Music program, and West Coast Songwriter events. He’s also a contributing author to USA Songwriting and Songwriter Magazine, InTune Magazine, a sponsor for the Australian Songwriting Association, and a mentor for The Songwriting Academy UK. Born and raised in Syracuse, New York, Mark now resides in Nashville, Tennessee.
