Songwriting 101: Watch For The Hook

We all know that the music business is very competitive. As music continues to change daily so does the members involved. The songwriters are challenged all the same way. The fact is every artist in the game most likely has an arsenal of songs they are marketing and creating daily. The music industry is bursting with countless melodies, lyrics, and hooks all competing for the coveted spotlight

Everyday this week I will leave you with some important info to make your Songwriting "WERK!" Today lets look at the chorus and the hook.

The Chorus Section & ‘The Hook’

The chorus of your song should be the part that everyone sings along with; the part that really drives your message home. When people ask about a song and don’t know the name, people will say, “Sing me the chorus.” This usually leads to the answer. You want the chorus to be the strongest part of your entire song. It can help you get the main idea across and establish the key of the song. From there, you can try to build your verses and bridge around the main chorus concept. Beginning to write from a verse is all right too. However, without a chorus idea in mind, it is often easy to lose focus of what your song is truly about.

When composing the melody for the chorus, it is best to keep your listeners in mind. Keep things simple. The simpler your chorus is, the more people will be able to sing along.

Special emphasis should also be placed on ‘the hook’ of your song. Often times, the hook means the song title’s placement in your chorus. Some songs will just repeat the hook or song title throughout. Other songs try the hook out first. One of the most popular places for a hook or title is at the end of the chorus. Using this hook placement, your title will be the last thing the listener hears during the chorus section. Since most songs end with the chorus, the title will also be the last thing the listener hears when the song ends.

It can be argued whether the title or the hook chorus placement is the best. Regardless you want your title to stick out in your song. This can be obtained by using a catchy melody or by musical arrangement ideas. If you begin writing by building a strong chorus, you have already established your main idea and you can now draw inspiration from that idea for the other sections of your song.

Stay tuned for part 2 tomorrow!

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Remaking A Hit....Legal or Illegal?

We all have songs that we would love to remake. If the opportunity was there how would you go about it. We all understand once a song is released commercially it is for public use. Anyone can record it. As long as it follows the compulsory license.

A compulsory license is a license that a songwriter - once certain conditions are met - must grant to anyone who wishes to use their song For instance, if you want to record a version of “Boom Boom Pow” on your own record, you don’t have to get anyone’s permission to do so. Because of the compulsory license law, you can record anyone’s song that has been commercially released and put it on your record, and the writer (or publisher) of that song must grant you the license to do so.

Before you go running to the studio, compulsory license law also establishes certain guidelines to ensure that songwriters are compensated in a fair and timely manner when their songs are used on other performers’ recordings.

Rules of Compulsory Licenses:

Here’s how it works. You may record someone else’s song on your own record if:

1. It has already been commercially released on a record.

2. You pay the song’s copyright holder (the writer and/or publisher) a fee - a mechanical royalty based on the “statutory rate.” That rate is currently 9.1¢, for songs under five minutes long. It increases periodically.

3. You pay this fee for every recording you manufacture on a fixed medium such as CD, download/mp3, cassette, or vinyl, whether you sell the recordings or give them away for promotion, etc.

4. You pay 9.1¢ per song. So if you use four songs by the same writer, you must pay 36.4¢ per CD made.

5. You pay the copyright holder of this song every month.

If these rules sound a bit harsh, put the shoe on the other foot. When someone uses one of your songs on their album, think of how it benefits you to have them held to the above standards.
The only way around these compulsory license laws is to negotiate a rate with the copyright holder to change some of the above terms. Should the copyright holder not want to negotiate with you, you must adhere to the rules.

So, while no one can stop you from recording their song once the song has been commercially released, it doesn't mean that you don't have to pay the piper...so to speak.

One note, you can NOT substantially change the song you are recording - neither the lyrics nor the melody. Doing so creates what is called a "derivative work," and only the copyright holder can do this. Similarly, you can not record a snippet of someone else's song (sort of like recording a sample.)


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