How Song Critiques Help You

Beginner songwriters may not realize that they can fall in love with their own art when working on something as personal as a song. The song has become a living thing to the songwriter, who becomes emotionally attached. As a result, some songwriters can become blind to the flaws of their “masterpiece.” More experienced songwriters know to seek out song critiques from their peers and other trusted and respected people. Songwriting critiques are vital when the songwriter is serious about gaining commercial success; it’s an absolute must when entering a songwriter competition.

Will your circle of friends and associates be able to give you objective songwriting advice? To get a real-world point of view, you’ll need to take your song outside of familiar circles. There are a number of social networks and websites where you can post your music and get a critique free of charge or for a nominal fee. While these could be somewhat helpful, for the most part, you don’t know who the people commenting on your music are or how successful they’ve actually been, if at all.

To get a better picture of how other songwriters view your work, you should look for the services of a professional songwriter, producer or A&R person who has been successful in your particular genre. These professionals are great sources of songwriter assistance because they know what a good song should sound like. Just a few critiques from commercial songwriting professionals can help you understand what you have and how to make it better.

Songwriting critiques from different levels of professionals will provide different values. That isn’t to say that songwriting ideas from friends have less value than songwriter critiques from successful professional songwriters, but you have to give each piece of advice its own “weight,” and apply as you see fit.

Many professional songwriters are genuinely interested in helping new and undiscovered talent succeed. A successful songwriter is all too aware of the difficulties in getting his or her name out there, and would like to help others get noticed. Some of the feedback you get might not be what you expect, but the perspective from someone who can look at your song from all angles – whether it’s from a friend, a website service or an accomplished professional – will help you see (and hear) your song in a fresh, new light.

These are just a few of the advantages of songwriting critiques that Songwriter Institute offers. Call us at 877 WRITE HITS for more information.