SHOULD I PAY TO HAVE MY SONG CRITIQUED?
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iDoCoach.com blog
Over the weekend I noticed a thread on Facebook that was all too familiar to me. A well known and respected magazine was offering a paid critique service for songwriters. The critiques are to be done by pro-songwriters.
Just the mention of critiques is enough to bring out some haters. If you’re in social media songwriting groups you’ve no doubt read some comments to the effect that “I don’t need some pro-songwriter just trying to make a buck tearing my song apart”. That’s a pretty tame post as these go, seen much worse. I feel in turn, bad for the pro-songwriters who are being dumped on as well as the ones who come across as bitter and frustrated.
Pro?
I coach songwriters all over the world and I imagine I would be considered a “pro” by virtue of making my living from songwriting over the course of my life. In my mind the word “pro” does not make me better than the songwriter who’s writing just for the love of it, just means I had commercial success.
I don’t offer a separate critique service and never have. I’m not saying it’s not valuable, just not the way I decided to go about working with songwriters. So having cracked open Pandora’s box, to my point.
Pandoras Jukebox
Critiques can be a huge learning curve especially if making a living from writing songs is your goal. I understand that’s not the reason everyone out there writes songs and that’s fine. If getting your song critiqued is not for you there’s no reason for you to sign up for one of these offers. If you’ve been writing songs for awhile you know people are going to have different opinions, sometimes wildly different but…until the day you work with a publisher this may be the only avenue for you to get wisdom from the people who are doing exactly what you want to do. Their opinion is not the be all end all for your song but, with the right person doing the critiquing you stand a good chance of getting some hard earned experience and wisdom. What you do with it is always up to you.
Yes i would have
If it were me starting out I would have jumped at the chance to have a pro listen and give me constructive criticism but it was not available at the time. Might have saved me from writing a slew of bad songs.
Bottom line
You need a thick skin to put your songs out there. You also need to do your research whenever your money is on the line. Make sure the people behind these offers are the real deal then decide if this investment makes sense for you.
Lastly, most of the songwriters I know are not desperate for your money. The ones I know are wanting to give back. No matter if you agree with me keep in mind it’s up to you to decide if these services are a benefit. If not, just don’t use them but I hope you won’t begrudge the writers who choose to. Believe me, there’s room for every kind of songwriter out there.
This has been a hot topic for a long time. Here’s a blog of mine from August 1, 2014 if you’d like to read more.
Mark Cawley iDoCoach.com
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, Joe Cocker to Wynonna Judd and Paul Carrack to The Spice Girls and many more. His book, Song Journey, was released in April 2019 and went to #1 in 6 categories 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, In Tune Magazine, and Songwriter Magazine, a sponsor for the Australian Songwriting Association, and a past mentor for The Songwriting Academy UK. Born and raised in Syracuse, New York, Mark now resides in Nashville, Tennessee.
