Hit
songs sell records. Aren't singles simply sales pitches for the rest of the CD?
(A lot of alliteration there and here!). We worked with one artist, as manager
and label, who recorded 23 original songs for the project ( what were we thinking)
and we settled on 16 of the most "radio friendly" tunes to release and the CD
was highly successful for his career. Of those 16 songs, 5 did very well as singles,
which spanned almost 2 years of airplay. 16 songs is a lot! It seems safe to say
the standard CD release has on average about 10 songs? Of that 10 there are 4
singles, 5 max…. well that's about half the album. So what fills the rest of the
CD is the songs the artist "relates to", songs that maybe thought provoking and
insightful which is how we gain greater respect for the artists. I
think it is a common mistake for artists to seek as many commercial songs as they
can find, because they aren't exactly sure which ones are going to be hits. So,
often, CDs are filled with the "safe" formulaic tunes which are what we hear on
the air most of the time. Many studies have shown that word of mouth still contributes
greatly to record sales, and often it's not the hits people say make the album
it is the songs you don't hear that you want to hear when a friend recommends
a disc. As I've said many times before, I love a good story song, albeit I'm a
big softie and cry at commercials if my hormones are right, or rather, wrong,
however, I LISTEN to lyrics. When a new tune comes on the radio I will tell my
kids to be quiet for a minute so I can give it my full attention. I like being
transported away into a song's story, picturing the narrative, and unfortunately
most singles released to radio don't do that for me, those are the album cuts.
Maybe folks like me are a minority, though strangely; I'm the major demographic
that the powers that be market to: age wise, gender wise, income wise. Has anybody
marketed music based on the listeners' intelligence or emotional quotient (if
there is such a thing) or based on their political leanings or anything OTHER
than population/income figures. It is all determined by who has the money and
what can they play between commercials to sell us stuff. Maybe
they need to begin looking at other factors, 'because the state of the industry
is quite strained these days. I do know there are new radio licenses being submitted
for approval whose formats will be geared towards the 12-17 year old demographic
which actually MIGHT make for some thought provoking material. Don't laugh, kids
these days are more aware of and concerned about social and ecological issues
than the folks over 40 are. Not since the 60's and 70's have young people been
so actively involved in and optimistic for social changes, but I digress. So
if current radio formats are geared towards selling us STUFF and most of the music
you hear between commercials sound like commercials suitable for the intellectually
challenged, don't be disheartened. There is a lot of room for meaningful songs,
but face it, you have to pair them with half a CD full of "songs that sell" in
order to make money. I know we often post articles that offer tips on how to be
a "better" writer, and sometimes they lean towards commercial viability based
on various studies we have also directed your attention to because I believe these
tools are useful in helping you make a career out of songwriting. "Commercial"
is not a four letter word, "poor" is. Would
you rather hold a day job than write commercial music? |
