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The world of introducing songs to the public has been a state of change long before AI was in the picture. When I was a teen there were albums in a small record store. I could spend an afternoon in there looking at covers and if something intrigued me, there was a booth in the back and I could...

I'm all over the place on AI. Most of the time I just think, if it makes somebody happy to use it, let them have their fun. I don't know how it impacts what I do. I certainly have no illusions that there will be any profits from my songs. Just a big money pit that I do for love. But I...

Meta just announced a new program that I find chilling. Everybody who works there has to let each keystroke and mouse click be documented by Meta's AI. There is no opting out. So everybody at Meta is being forced to train the tech that will cause a large portion of them to lose their jobs. I...

I don't believe that my newest song has to be better, but the reality is that, since I started bearing down and spending months polishing songs, I learn dozens of lessons from writing each one. Mistakes I don't want to repeat. New approaches. New ideas that I elaborate. I have become more...

I recently watched the video of John Cleese's speech on Creativity in Management. But it crystalized a lot of what I've come up with on my own. He starts by saying there was a guy in Monty Python who was much more imaginative than himself, but somehow he was able to do better work. So why? He...

I know everybody is going to think I am insane, and maybe I am, but I’ve recently started writing essays about the songs I want to write. I write about what I hope and want them to be. I am not saying this is anything that anybody else should ever do. I’m not even saying that I should or will do...

In my opinion, every way that people write songs is equally good. Whatever works. But I have to write the lyrics and melody together. Both of them creep forward one day at a time in tandem. For example, I'm working on a song now. There was one line in the verses where the melody and lyrics on...

@Wykilla @David Cuny The only thing that works for me is to keep trying. I consider the words and notes in Synth V to be clay to be pounded and molded into a song. I output every day to my phone and walk around listening to it a dozen or more times. When I'm at the early stages, it's painful...

I'm glad that this post has been woken up again, because I think it's maybe the most useful post ever on this forum, along with all the other posts by @Nekujak Maybe it's a place where we all could add our own ideas for crafting songs? If people disagree, let me know. Maybe this should stay...

Paying for seats has been a part of the movie business as long as I've been in it. It's very important to get a decent gross for an indie film on the first weekend, or you'll be tossed out of the theatre. You might not even get a full week. Small companies don't ever do this, but some indie...

After I wrote what I wrote above, I started thinking about how I might have learned a lot from collaboration. What if I had meet somebody when I was young who was sympatico and good to work with? I think of Taylor Swift getting her parents to move her to Nashville as a teen. She had stories...

I've thought about this since I was twelve. Even when I was in a band with other songwriters, I've never done it. I've always written about something I felt strongly about or events that just happened (a girlfrend leaving me, etc.) and I didn't know how anybody else could tune in to the emotion...

Another story. He's written countless great songs, but if I had to pick a favorite, it would be "Strawberry Blonde." He told me it took a long time to write. When I asked him why, he said "because it was so sad." When I listened to it later I realized that Ron really doesn't write hopeless...

I used to know Ron Sexsmith a little bit. This is how it happened. An actor friend of mine used to invite me to her place in the Catskills each year for a few days around New Year's. I earned my way by doing chores and bringing my guitar and singing. One year, she told me that Ron was going...

I'm writing every day. I was working a little too frantically last year trying to complete my first album of all new songs. I was writing many songs at the same time, as well as hiring singers, doing arrangements, working with a mixer, etc. Chaos. My plan was to revive my old YouTube Channel...

There's a thought-provoking thread on this forum about AI and songs. It started out being about Synthesizer V, but the focus broadened into larger issues of AI and songwriting. What is an AI song? If somebody types in a prompt on Suno or Udio and clicks generate, I think we can all agree that...

I was listening to tech journalist Kara Swisher on her podcast "Pivot" today and she said that instead of labeling things as "AI," we should instead label everything that doesn't use AI as "real." I think she was talking about AI pictures and videos, which are always fully generated (music is...

This is a songwriting community. It matters enormously to me that on this forum, this issue is worth debating. I am uncomfortable on Muse Songwriters, which is drifting into AI. I have been mocked there standing up on this issue. Some people have left for this reason. So this conversation is...

No matter how music is defined, there are a million songs going up on Spotify each week. I believe that 99% of the ones that matter to listeners will be written and performed by humans. Adele, Taylor Swift, Bruce Springsteen, Billie Eilish, Dylan, Ed Sheeran, and whoever floats your boat...

Wonderful job, Tom and Josie! I do want to thank you Tom, for introducing me to Josie, by bringing her to this forum. I was lucky enough to work with her on two songs this year. Folks, don't be satisfied with the results you can get out of Synth V. Josie will astound you with what she can...