How Can Songwriters Learn to Set Trends Instead of Follow Them?

Posted in The Weekly on August 21, 2018

This month, BMI’s Creative Team focuses on the importance of being a leader instead of a follower. Here are some tips on how to do it.

Nina Carter, Creative, Nashville:

With technology at our fingertips, it’s so easy to access music and fall into the current trends. If you spend too much time online, scrolling through social media, you’re bound to become a follower. Challenge yourself every now and then to take a break from social media and technology to focus on you, your songwriting craft. Get outside and explore. Interact with people, get to know them, connect. Know what’s going on in the world, so you can have meaningful conversations. Read lots of books and focus on the words. Educate yourself. Search for meaning. Create your own stories for yourself and others. Wander and wonder… 

Once you’ve had time to clear your mind and reset, you will force yourself to set your own trends. If you set goals and challenge yourself regularly, you’ll discover things you never knew. Going back to the roots of songwriting is important and often forgotten these days. Put a new spin on borrowed ideas. Be clever with words and unapologetically original. Be timeless.

Krystina DeLuna, Creative, Los Angeles:

It’s important for your music to have a strong foundation, know your unique sound. Honesty and passion will always come through in your songwriting. That’s key when setting musical trends. They have the strongest impact when they’re based in genuine artistry.

If you find yourself in a rut, new minds and sounds always bring forth growth. Technology has put the world’s music at our fingertips, take advantage of that. Listen and study as much music as you can. Tap into your network for writing sessions. Go to live shows, big and small. And be open to all genres! Feeding your creative mind will change the way you make music. That evolution to your sound could create the next new and fresh trend!

Check back next month for another round of insight from inside the industry right here in The Weekly!

SOURCEThe Weekly TAGS Career Advice On the Record