the AMP Issue 15

"You write what comes out of you. And that’s the best that you have to offer at a given moment. That moment when you take something that’s just in the air and suddenly you make it physical. That exact moment is quite indescribable..."
— Bruce Springsteen

In This Issue... [9 pages, approx 13.5 minutes to read] You'll Get...

• RECOMMENDS— the American Songwriter

• TALKABOUT— Singer Songwriters: Passion or Profit?

• GUEST ARTICLE — 10 Songwriting Tips from Bruce Springsteen

• BACKSTAGE PASS — Hard Is Good. Harder Is Better, Because... from Robert Fritz

• PS from PS — STOP! Playing It Safe

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Here’s the playlist
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• RECOMMENDS— the American Songwriter

Here's a gem that belongs in every Songwriting community necklace: American Songwriter, 'The Craft of Music' is a rich resource for Singer Songwriters who weave stories through melodies and capture emotions in lyrics. American Songwriter is a continual source of inspiration, education, and industry insight.

You can count on American Songwriter for consistent Diverse and Rich Content. Their Features section is a treasure trove of interviews, behind-the-scenes stories, and career advice from top-notch songwriters and artists. Whether you're just starting out or you're a seasoned pro, you'll find these narratives relatable, enriching, instructive, and motivating.

Staying current is crucial in today's fast-paced music world. American Songwriter's News keeps you informed on the latest happenings, releases, and trends. It's like having a finger on the pulse of the music business, ensuring you're always in the know.

And the site abounds with Educational Resources. You'll be learning from the best with their in-depth guides on songwriting techniques, recording tips, and the business of the music business. These resources are designed to elevate your craft and sharpen your industry knowledge, making American Songwriter not just a source of information, but a tool for personal and professional growth.

Last but never least are the Networking Opportunities. By featuring the works and thoughts of your peers, American Songwriter connects you to a broader community of like-minded talents. It opens up a lane for networking, collaboration, and support among those speaking the universal language of song.

If you Google 'American Songwriter' you'll come across some poor reviews. Okay. New Music Lives™ focuses on the positive, the informative, and the constructive when it comes to recommendations. Although contests are a part of the landscape (and the cause of the negative reviews), we've chosen to highlight the aspects of American Songwriter that align with our mission to support and empower Singer Songwriters by bringing the best to your inbox— and American Songwriter does that.

Add American Songwriter to your reading list. It's a very good thing. Tap here: American Songwriter and HEY! Always feel free to drop us a line if you come across any resource you think deserves a shout-out. We're all ears— okay, fingers and feet, too— for the next harmonious chords in the playlist for Singer and Songwriters.

in partnership with the Eleven Music Career Center and Matt Jacoby

• TALKABOUT— Singer Songwriters: Passion or Profit?

Both.

Horse and carriage— and okay, more Gen Z and Millennial: Hardware and Software. User Name and Password. Streaming and Bandwidth. The point, a Singer Songwriter— whether all you want is a self-sustaining hobby/avocation, or a full-time professional career— your music requires both. And without profit, your creative passion and contribution may struggle or even die. Here's why...

• Sustainability: Making money from— our word is moneytizing— your music isn't just about wealth; it's about sustainability. It's important to earn from your art so you can continue doing what you love without financial stress and strain. Your music career is like any other career— it needs to be financially sustainable to be viable in the long term.

• Investment in Your Art: Earning money allows you to reinvest in your craft. Whether it's better equipment, higher quality recordings, or marketing your work, financial resources can significantly improve the quality and reach of your music.

• Freedom and Control: Financial independence gives you creative freedom. When you're not financially dependent on labels or sponsors, you have more control over your art and the direction of your career.

• Professional Recognition: Making money from your music is a sign of professional recognition. It means people value your art enough to pay for it, which is both a significant achievement and a validation of your talent.

• Broader Impact: Earning income from your music can enable you to have a broader impact. It can give you the platform and resources to reach wider audiences, collaborate with other artists, and even contribute to causes you care about.

• Personal Well-being: Financial stability contributes to your overall physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. Worrying about money can be a huge stressor, and achieving financial stability— or even financial serenity— through your music can bring happiness and peace of mind, allowing you to focus more on creativity and contribution.

• Being an Inspiration: By making money from your music, you set a positive example for other artists. You show that it's possible to be both artistically successful and financially viable, encouraging a healthier, more sustainable arts ecosystem.

• Career Longevity: Financial success can lead to longevity in your career. It allows you to weather the ups and downs of the industry and continue making music over the long term.

• Legitimizing the Profession: Making money from music also helps in legitimizing the profession. It challenges the stereotype of the 'starving artist' and reinforces the idea that creative work is valuable and deserving of proper compensation.

The importance of moneytizing— again, making money— isn't about diminishing the artistic aspect of your Singing and Songwriting, but about ensuring that your passion is supported by a stable life and work style foundation. It’s about balancing the joy of creation with the practicalities of making a good-to-great living.

• GUEST ARTICLE — 10 Songwriting Tips from Bruce Springsteen
by Jacob Uitti, for American Songwriter— August 28, 2023

"Anything That Starts Intellectually Usually Sucks"

They call him "The Boss" for good reason. He’s an authority. He knows what’s what when it comes to songs. For evidence, look no further than "Dancing in the Dark" or "Born in the U.S.A." Indeed, he’s Bruce Springsteen.

So, who better than Bruce to learn from from? We’ve looked far and wide (on YouTube) and culled 10 crucial songwriting tips from The Boss. Yes, 10 ideas that he prescribes for any SongWriter— and, really, any artist.

1. That’s writing for you. You don’t know how and what shape and when different pieces of work are going to come along. You write what comes out of you. And that’s the best that you have to offer at a given moment. That moment when you take something that’s just in the air and suddenly you make it physical. That exact moment is quite indescribable. But when it happens, it’s such a wonderful thing.

2. It’s like a garden. You seed it with experience and time. And then you wait. And you don’t know how long you’re going to have to wait. Unfortunately, creativity does not work as the seasons do. If I knew I was going to get a batch of songs every winter, I’d be a lot happier every summer. But you seed it and eventually something— there’s an incident of an event or something in life sort of sets it off and they come.

3. If you’re lucky, you’ll catch a metaphor, you’ll catch a title, you’ll catch a line and the songs start to lead the way. Sometimes I start with music, sometimes— more often you have a line, or if you pick the guitar up and you’re lucky if you get a title. If you get a good title, you’re on your way. If I can write a song and make that title work, I’m good.

4. Sometimes you pick the guitar up and [the song] comes out of your mouth. I write when the writing is there and when I’m sort of inspired. And I don’t worry about not writing. It’s simply not predictable. And you’ve got to get used to withstanding that anxiety.

5. You always feel like that after you’ve written a good song, you go, ‘Oh, I hope that’s not the last one.’ But I’ve gotten used to that being part of the natural state of writer's consciousness. Even after all the craft that you’ve learned, you just don’t know how you do it. And so you go, ‘I know it will come along at some point, I don’t know how or when.'"

6. I’m comfortable with the anxiety. It’s sort of like— you start your car and it runs. Oh great! An album comes out. You start your car, it runs for half an hour, it breaks down. It doesn’t run for two weeks. Start it again— rrr, rrrr, rrr, rrr. Nothing. Records are made like that. I’ve written six songs that I think are really record-worthy and then spent a year trying to write six more.

7. I don’t operate from deciding first. I operate from an internal hunger and my decisions come from there. Anything that starts intellectually usually sucks. I almost always depend on some inner life sending a message to my brain to get active and to employ the mechanics that I’ve learned and the craft I’ve learned over the years. But it always comes out of the heart and soul first.

8. I have one leg being the creator and I have another one that’s the audience. And they’re there simultaneously. And if I come up with something that’s moving I think I feel the same response even while I’m creating it that the audience is going to feel.

9. One and one makes three. In music, if it makes two, you’ve failed, my friend. If you’re painting and all you have is the paint and the canvas, you’ve failed. You’ve got to find that third thing that is truly coming up from inside of you.

10. You have to zero in on the truth of those particular emotions. So, every song has a piece of you in it. A spiritual truth, an emotional truth. You have to draw up from inside of your essence. If you don’t reach down and touch that thing, then you’re just not going to have anything to say and it’s not going to feel like it has life and breath in it.

• BACKSTAGE PASS— Hard Is Good. Harder Is Better, Because...
— from Robert Fritz

Author, director, composer, and card-carrying Renaissance man, Robert Fritz, told me this story of one of his most important lessons learned as a student at the New England Conservatory of Music. His instrument was the clarinet— which he'd go on to play professionally with the Dave Brubeck Quartet.

At his first lesson, his instructor came into the studio placed a page of sheet music on the stand, and had Robert play it. It was a hard one and he didn't kill it. He murdered it.

His playing was awful.

He took the piece home and practiced. For hours. Back in the studio expecting to play that piece, Robert was surprised when his instructor placed a new sheet of music on the stand and had him play that. It was more complex and difficult than the one he'd practiced all week. Awful. Again.

This went on for a number of weeks. Robert would mangle the new, harder piece every time.

Finally, in frustration, he exploded. Demanding his instructor explain why he was torturing him with harder and harder pieces of music each week.

Silently, his professor put another piece of music on the stand and told Robert to play it. It was the very first piece of sheet music he'd attempted to play back at the beginning. This time, Fritz killed it. Close to perfect.

His instructor put the second week's piece he'd given him on the stand and Robert did very well with that one, too.

"If I'd left you to your own inclinations," Robert's professor said, "you'd have practiced that first piece over and over and over... And you still wouldn't have it down. By giving you harder and harder pieces to play, you stretched your ability each time getting better and better and better."

It was a lesson Robert Fritz never forgot.

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• PS from PS— STOP! Playing It Safe
Daring to Be Different Is the (only?) Path to Artistic Growth

Why settle for good enough when you can be remarkable?

Many Singer Songwriters I speak with are content to play it safe. They choose the predictable songs for their albums, cover similar artists, and perform in familiar venues.

But what does this comfort-zone caution lead to?

In a word: Stagnation.

Let’s do a re-write on those lyrics.

Embrace Your Hidden Gems: Revisit your album. Those songs you shy away from performing live— aren’t they the most unique, challenging, or personal? These are the diamonds in the rough waiting to shine. Polish them. Imagine the wondrous surprise of your fans when you reveal these unexplored facets of your artistry. Brilliant? Can be.

Redefine Your Covers: If you're a country singer, why only cover country songs? Take a leap! Imagine a Texas twang rendition of AC/DC's "TNT" or an innovative twist on "The Devil Went Down to Georgia." Your unique versions should be reinventions, not repetitions. Dazzle your audience with the unexpected and watch their excitement. Be so hot your audience either melts or ignites!

Innovate Your Venues: Playing the same circuit over and over is a sure path to the creative graveyard. Why not curate an event at an unusual location— a serene lakeside or a grand old hall, perhaps? Don't do house concerts? Try it. And try collaborating with other local artists and transform your solo shows into sought-after events. Less can be more and more can be less when each performance is a unique experience for your audience.

Safety doesn't foster growth. The key to artistic evolution lies in originality, in taking the road less traveled. Be bold. Be different. Take a risk. Or three. Let your creativity soar. Your fans— and your art— deserve nothing less.

Thanks for reading. Give us your feedback.

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