Songwriting Craft & Inspiration
ROBIN FREDERICK TAKES YOU INSIDE TODAY'S HIT SONGS.
Ingrid Michaelson has had over 90 original songs used in dozens of TV shows, films, trailers, and commercials, most them placed multiple times. And that’s excluding performances on competition shows—I’m just talking about episodic TV series, movies, and national commercials. I haven’t found any other artist who comes close to that achievement! Sounds like a record for song sync placements to me.
More and more indie songwriters are getting their songs in TV commercials. It’s a market that pays high fees and offers great exposure if you’ve got what they need—songs that express the energy and emotion they’d like people to associate with their product.
Let’s take a look at three songs used in national ad campaigns for major brands. Listen to the songs, watch the ads, read my analysis, and then see if you can write and record something in a similar style.
by Robin Frederick
I’ve been thinking a lot about the art and craft of songwriting (as usual) and I keep circling back to a couple of obvious facts:
It struck me that this process is something like the workings of a machine, a Machine for Making Beautiful Things. And like any machine, it needs a “User Manual.” So here’s my idea of what you might find in…
Congratulations on being the owner of a marvelous Machine. You are in possession of something that is both universal (a creative mind) and yet totally unique to you. With proper care, it will give you a lifetime of remarkable service.
Your Machine for Making Beautiful Things is made of countless shining parts whose angles and planes reflect the world like mirrors in the moonlight. It has conveyor belts and cogs that make unexpected connections between ideas and images. Everyday objects, events, and words become intriguing, alluring, strange, or compelling when the Machine goes to work on them.
“Highway Don’t Care” is a great example of Contemporary Country songwriting. The lyric paints a vibrant, detailed picture of the characters and situation, offering an original approach to a familiar theme. And even though we all know “lyrics are king” in Country music, the melody played an equally important role in sending this song to the No. 1 spot on the music charts.
Songwriters: Mark Irwin, Joshua Kear, Brad Warren, Brett Warren
TECHNIQUES TO HEAR AND TRY:
“All On Me” is the breakthrough debut single for Country artist Devin Dawson. It zoomed up to #2 on the Nielsen Radio charts, topping 19 million views on YouTube and 95 million listens on Spotify (and still climbing). A remarkable achievement for a single by a brand new artist.
I love digging into songs that propel a brand new artist up the charts. Those artists don’t have a billion fans breathlessly waiting for their next release, guaranteeing it shoots like a rocket straight into the Top Ten. Nope. Their releases have to make it on the strength of the song and performance. It takes an exceptional song with a lot of appeal to make that happen and that’s what makes these songs so much fun to pull apart.
Writers: Devin Dawson, Jacob Robert Durrett, Austin Taylor Smith
TECHNIQUES TO HEAR AND TRY:
