As in any creative profession, songwriters often struggle with writing new and interesting content that will make a splash with fans. Inspiration (like so many things in the music business) takes work, so we here look at seven songwriting blogs that might help get the creative juices flowing.
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Guest post by Angela Mastrogiacomo from the TuneCore blog
It’s not always easy coming up with creative content that speaks to the masses. In fact, while it might seem like your first few songs came to you in full-on inspiration, the reality is that true inspiration takes work.
One of the first things you tend to learn when you make your creativity a career is that you can’t just wait around for the perfect inspiration to strike—while that does happen occasionally, more often than not you have to make your own inspiration.
Sometimes that’s found through taking a day off and going out into the world so you can live the experiences you’ll later write about. Other times it means sleeping in on a Sunday and watching your favorite movies all day. And often it means sitting down with pen and paper for four hours staring blankly at your notebook until you finally start to have a breakthrough. It’s all part of the process.
But because we know how much that sucks, we’ve compiled a list of seven amazing blogs that can help inspire you when you’re feeling just a little too stuck in your process.
FLYPAPER (BY SOUNDFLY)
Soundfly is a wealth of knowledge, with opportunities to dive head first into courses (including tons of free ones), one-on-one mentorship, and of course, a ton of incredible blog articles – including those written exclusively with songwriters in mind.
Their blog articles are relatable and their tips are actionable, so you won’t just be reading about what to do to lift that pesky writers block or find your next collaborator—you’ll actually walk away knowing how. (ed. note: We regularly share great articles from Soundfly here on the TuneCore Blog!)
SONGWRITING MAGAZINE
Songwriting Magazine helps songwriters through providing guest blog articles and op-eds by successful artists on their own processes, struggles, and triumphs. It’s like one giant case study filled with actionable tips that you can apply to your own career.
SONGFANCY
This blog is a plethora of information. There are workshops on starting a song when you’re completely uninspired, courses, and tips within the blog, all of which makes SongFancy is a songwriters haven.
There’s also a host of helpful resources on here including songwriting tips, prompts (for when you’re really stuck), and songwriting challenges to help you gain new insight into your process.
MODERN SONGSTRESS
Modern Songstress offers a ton of resources for songwriters, including a free e-book on building your career from the ground up in seven months or less. If you’re looking for more (free!) resources, Modern Songstress also offers a free resource page that includes a songwriting checklist, key signatures/guitar chords/and piano chords reference sheets, a lyric planning worksheet, and more.
Plus the blog offers some awesome articles including an album release checklist, tips for working with a producer, and even a very appropriately titled article “where songwriters can find inspiration” (couldn’t have planned that better if I’d tried!).
SONGTOWN
A community filled with writers and pros around the world, SongTown is exactly where you’d want to land if you were having a writer’s block. In addition to a course library and a social network filled with writers, they also have coaching programs, song feedback, live classes, and tons more.
Even though they offer a paid community option, there are tons of free resources on their blog.
SONGWRITERS ON PROCESS
Kind of perfect, right? This blog features interviews with songwriters across all genres to explore the songwriting process from beginning to end.
What makes this site so special is the kind of questions interviewer Ben Opipari asks—he gets to the hard of the inspiration and the process. Some of the latest interviews include artists from My Morning Jacket, Pedro the Lion, and Courtney Barnett.
CARI COLE
Cari Cole needs no introduction, but just in case, she’s a renowned vocal coach, and her blog is full of goodies including titles like: ‘5 Quick Tips to Sing Better High Notes’), ‘7 Vocal Methods (and magic tricks) to Make Your Voice Rule the Word’, and ‘The Singer’s Gig Bag Check List’.
When it comes to songwriting, it’s not always a perfect process—and trusting that sometimes you’re going to create some duds before you get to the good stuff is just par for the course.
But knowing that there’s a whole community of songwriters out there doing the same thing you are, feeling those struggles, and, just as often, celebrating those wins? And that you can reach them at any time through these blogs and communities? It’s pretty amazing.
Angela Mastrogiacomo is the founder and CEO of Muddy Paw PR, where her artists have seen placement on Alternative Press, Noisey, Substream, and more, as well as the Co-Founder of Music Launch Co.