Vote now for SOCAN’s fifth annual ECHO Songwriting Prize SOCAN has launched the fifth annual ECHO Songwriting Prize, designed to identify what’s next and what’s best in current Canadian independent music. This prize will honour some of the most innovative and artistic songs created in the past year by emerging songwriters in Canada. The writer(s) [...]
Posts under ‘Songwriting’
Songwriting Strategies
Tom Slatter of Indiesongwriter.net is putting together a series of “songwriting strategy podcasts”. Episode One was delivered by Tom himself and dealt with key changes, while Episode Two covered Nadia Cripps’ process to compose a new piano instrumental in one of her songs. Check out the Songwriting Strategies podcasts and may the Muse be with [...]
NASA Wake-Up Song Contest
Image via Wikipedia Would-be songwriters will get a chance at fame by penning a wake-up song for NASA’s last space shuttle mission, officials said. Wake-up songs, beamed up to astronauts when designated sleep periods end, are a longstanding space tradition dating back to the Apollo program. Traditionally, the wake-up songs are selected by friends and [...]
NASA Wake-Up Song Contest
Image via Wikipedia Would-be songwriters will get a chance at fame by penning a wake-up song for NASA’s last space shuttle mission, officials said. Wake-up songs, beamed up to astronauts when designated sleep periods end, are a longstanding space tradition dating back to the Apollo program. Traditionally, the wake-up songs are selected by friends and [...]
Lennon Letter to Folk Singer
John Lennon wrote a letter to calm a folk singer who once complained that success and wealth could ruin his songwriting, the musician has revealed. Steve Tilston was just 21 in 1971 when the star read the interview he had done with now defunct ZigZag magazine. In the hand-written letter, now revealed for the first [...]
ESongwriter Songwriting Contest
From a recent press release: July 2010 was the official launch of a new kind of international songwriting contest from Esongwriter.com. With the music industry going through an overhaul of changes, Esongwriter jumps in to bridge the gap between artists and gigs, film and television. “The right songs can generate millions of dollars” says Christa [...]
Insider Secrets to Great Songwriting
For over 25 years, Diane Warren has written top ten hits for some of the greatest voices in the recording industry. She reveals her secrets to great songwriting. And Jack Perricone, chair of the songwriting department at the Berklee College of Music, talks about songwriting across musical genres. You can listen to the NPR Talk [...]
Drake’s Songwriting Tip: Use a BlackBerry
Image by Getty Images via @daylife Maybe it’s conducive to his rap style of music, but Toronto-born artist/musician/songwriter/actor, Drake, uses his BlackBerry to write his raps: In this clip from the upcoming doc, Drake bops to the track Kanye West produced for "Show Me a Good Time" and then picks up a BlackBerry and starts [...]
Recent Songwriters Hall of Fame Gala
Last weekend, singer Phil Collins received the prestigious Johnny Mercer Award at the Songwriters Hall of Fame gala. The singer, who has sold over 100 million records as a solo artist and with the band Genesis, said writing a popular track is "a complete accident". This year’s inducted songwriters included Leonard Cohen, Jackie DeShannon, David [...]
Acoustic Guitar: Jakob Dylan
I really enjoyed the article in the latest edition of Acoustic Guitar magazine that featured Jakob Dylan. He discusses his latest, Women and Country, and waxes poetic on songwriting in general. Here’s a little snippet, but check out the whole article: When you’re working on a song, do you feel as if you understand what [...]





