Many people enjoy being the center of attention and in the spotlight all the time. Others simply have a gift for songwriting, but don’t want to be in front of the crowds, or don’t have the instrumental ability to do so. Don’t fear, for many people have become extremely sucessful by becoming a songwriter.A songwriter writes songs for record companies or artists and gets to see their music performed by others. So lets begin on the path to becoming a professional songwriter.
First of all you’ll want to train your songwriting talents to further your understanding of music. This step is really essential in becoming a songwriter. Make no mistake, Bob Dylan and John Lennon didn’t write hits right off the bat. They took years developing their craft in order to be successful songwriters. You should do the same. If possible, take some music lessons, and not necessarily in songwriting. By learning different instruments, you can become a better songwriter as well just by learning which part they play in making a song. For example when learning guitar, most of my compositions would be very lead focused and lacking in rhythm. After learning bass my rhythm composing became much better. By playing multiple instruments, you can do the same. You’ll want to listen to music consistently as well and analyze what each artist is doing. By doing so you will gain influences, allowing you to recreate parts of music that you like. Also if you haven’t done so, check out our Songwriting Tips page. It has some helpful tips to help develop your songwriting talents.
After you feel comfortable writing a song, record your best songs on a demo tape. If you are unable to perform them yourself for your recording, find someone who can. Once you have a recording, you’ll want to copyright it, and submit your songs to record companies, music publishers, or artists together with your resume and biography. Don’t stop there though! Becoming a great songwriter is a neverending path, and you’ll always have something more to learn. So keep writing songs!
