Be it unfettered access to the wealth of inspiration from their lives or other people’s lives, catching creative drifts from conversations, situations, and beats, or navigating the sheer incidental poetry of words, the job of music songwriters sounds like it is filled with fun and ease, but it is not that simple. If you have ever wondered what the job description looks like, here is some research we have done for you.
Who are Music Songwriters?
The most understandable way to describe music songwriters is that they are lyricists, recorders of words in lines to be sung later. Music songwriters are interpreters of thoughts that could only be (better) passed through music. These thoughts could become just one song, a small EP, or an entire album. Whatever the case, the job of songwriters is to note the genre of music an artiste wants and write lyrics that align with that genre of music. If a song primarily comes off as shallow or tacky to listeners, the music songwriter is the first person who has failed.
What do Music Songwriters Do?
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Identify genre
Most lyrics are born from the genre of music the artiste is looking out for. For instance, if an artiste wants an R&B, the lyrics must elicit a richly emotional and rhythmic response in the listeners. The responsibility of a music songwriter is to pen down words that will have that exact effect when they become a song.
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Make creative contributions
The music songwriter’s job is to suggest meaningful and impactful ideas to the artiste about the kind of song being written. If the artiste is looking for an Afro number and has decided to have sentences like “It’s snowing here in Korea,” the music songwriter can just chip in, quite politely, that an Afro song should be about the vignettes of Black or African heritage and conditions, and so “It’s snowing here in Korea” would not work at all.
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Branding
As a music songwriter, your tasks include ensuring that your artiste’s songs stay fresh and up-to-date. Your greatest tool is creativity. You have to come up with new ideas, different ideas, to keep the brand of your artiste polished. There is a target audience for every song, so work with that. Be prolific because words that would appeal to a reggae audience might be missed by lovers of rock, no matter how similar you think both genres are. Your artiste needs to remain relevant, so keep the brand marketable with how flexible you are with your lyrics.
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Protect the Artiste’s Interests
Loyalty is central to a songwriter’s responsibilities. The songwriter must guard the artiste’s talent, nurture it, and promote it. Since the songwriter can offer suggestions, these suggestions must not overshadow the artiste’s interest, which must come first. The songwriter’s job is to find a middle ground that will please the artiste and, at the same time, advance the public image or reception of the artiste’s works.
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Network
The right associations are essential in music. Who you relate with and the connections you make all matter. The relevance of an artist in connection to songwriting cannot be overstated. If a songwriter does not relate with other music makers to access updated information and identify styles and strategies that will spice up their skill and output, the artiste will be stranded at mediocre levels and could be isolated in the rush of refurbished talents that goes on in the music industry.
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The Miscellaneous Things:
This rests first on the relationship between the songwriter and the artiste. Other factors are the career stage at which the artiste is and the size of the artiste’s staff. A music songwriter can double as the chauffeur, manager, accountant, or even personal assistant to the artiste if necessary.
Yikes! That looks like some heavy research. Please note that an artiste can be their songwriter, too, especially if they are into certain spiritual music. Gospel singers usually write their songs.
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