This weekend I was inspired to go back and look some of the emails I have received from hopeful songwriters. Most were embarassingly unprofessional. If you happen to be one of the hopefuls then let me share with you a few do’s and don’ts that came out of my review. And I will also freely admit that there may have been a time that I violated some or all of the "don'ts" myself --fortunately I don't remember.
DO be professional and business-like. Most of the people you will be writing to are full-time industry professionals. Treat them that way.
DON’T write to an industry professional in ALL CAPs, multiple colors or all italics. I got one email written down the page with only 3 or 4 words per line, each line a different color font. I guess that was intended to catch my intention. It did. I questioned the mental stability of the sender. The email I got in all blue italics was very long, very distracting and very hard to read.
DO send your best songs. I got an email from someone who first told me that they wrote all their songs while in prison. And? I’m not sure why I should care where you wrote the songs. When I pitched my own songs back in the day I don’t recall telling the person I pitched to that I wrote the song in the shower or in my bedroom. Or maybe I did! Nevertheless, the bigger point is what the writer said next. The hopeful (who sent 3 unsolicited MP3s) told me they were not his best 3 songs. What!!? Why would you send me your worst songs? I don’t think I need to elaborate on this one.
DON’T send unsolicited MP3s, photos or other large files. That makes me angry before I even read what you want. It is an intrusion into my space that is not appreciated. Ask first. I almost always agree to accept submissions or at least forward them to a song plugger, although I might suggest that you use a service like yousendit.com so I can download the files myself.
DO hire a singer. This hopeful went to a lot of trouble explaining about the quality of his demos. Home recordings. I can live with that. If the hopeful has invested in the right equipment and software the his home recordings may be very good. However, he then explained that he sang the songs and that he cannot sing! Seriously folks. If you cannot sing then do not sing. Spend a few dollars and hire a demo singer. That doesn’t cost that much. Why risk having your listener not be able to focus on the good qualities of your songs because they are laughing so hard at the vocals?
DON’T tell me that you or everybody you know tells you the songs will be hits. That only really matters if everybody you know is a successful songwriter or a&r person. And if they are then you probably don’t need to be writing me about your songs. Write me about reviewing the contract you were just offered.
If you are a songwriter I hope this was helpful. If you are an industry professional I haven't told you anything you don't already know.
Copyright © 2011 C. Stephen Weaver
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