Discovering Your Successful Songwriting Process John Chisum

MODULE 3 - Music Business Models

Hey and welcome back everyone - - in the last video I was talking with you about how God Himself longs to be heard through you, through your songs, because He knows the power He wants to release through them to change the world.

In this video I want to talk about how the music business itself all boils down to the song but that, actually, striving to be in the music business isn’t the right focus for you - - - only pleasing God as you faithfully steward this gift in you is worth focusing on.

When you think about all the people who touch the music making process - - songwriters, artists, record companies, managers, PR agents, CD duplicators, tour managers, radio promoters, people who sell ads on streaming services, and all the way out to the public - - - it’s like an inverted pyramid that rests on one thing - - the song.

[INVERTED PYRAMID GRAPHIC]

Pretty cool, huh?

So you are at the beginning of this entire food chain, if you will, the whole sequence that employs tens of thousands of people and that affects the entire world - -

It’s like we can all harmonize with the old Barry Manilow song, “I write the songs that make the whole world sing….”

Because that’s what we want to do - - gather the hearts and minds of the entire world around the love and power of Jesus to save, heal, deliver, and to experience something of what we feel about Him.

But that can seem so discouraging when you don’t know how to get your music to the whole world, right?

We can get really discouraged and even give up because it seems impossible…

and we know we can never get an appointment with “the right people in Nashville” and get a record deal and a publishing deal and it seems like God didn’t give us as much talent as He gave to Kari Jobe or Matt Redman or Lauren Daigle or whoever you love to listen to.

But I’m here to tell you that’s “stinkin’ thinkin’” and is just the sin of comparison.

God made you to be you - there’s no one who could ever be with you and He’s got a unique place in this world for you - - only you hear His song in you the way that you do and without your song we lose a part of God’s expression of Himself.

For years in my concerts I would say at the beginning, “Good evening, I’m Steven Curtis Chapman…”

It got a laugh, but there was always a part of me that really wanted to be Steven Curtis Chapman…

He had a band, a big touring bus, lots of hit songs on the radio and there were times I felt like God only gave me a little talent when He gave Steven a lot.

Well, that’s actually a biblical truth according to the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25 - -

God DOES give out measures of talents that are unique to the individual - - Steven has unique talents and so do you - - it’s an actual sin to covet what he or anyone else has in comparison to what I have, but we do that all the time, right?

I can’t make myself or you more talented than God did.

But here’s the truth we often miss - - success isn’t based on the talents God has given to us.

Spiritual success is based on one thing only - the obedience to use the talents we have and to make more out of them.

Instead of burying our talents by accusing God of not giving us enough, He’s pleased the most when we do what we can figure out to do with them and trust Him for the results.

That’s the only thing God’s holding me or you accountable for and you’ve probably heard enough sermons on that to know exactly what I’m getting at here.

I never got the tour bus or the band or as many hit radio songs like Steven did.

But I’m standing here talking to you fulfilling my call and using my talents the best I know how, trusting God that my obedience and faith to follow Him pays rich dividends now and in the future when I stand before Him face to face.

Here’s the bottom line…

“Making it in the music business” is no worthy goal.

Setting your sights on getting deals or being like other writers and artists misses the point.

Properly assessing the talents God has given you and beginning to make more of them is the point.

You have a very important role to play in people’s lives that you don’t even recognize if God is wanting to pour songs through you, so the sooner you can become objective about it and get busy, the better.

Whatever you’re stumbling over or letting keep you from obedience in your song ministry, I encourage you to press into it, get it out of the way, and get going strong on this call.

You don’t have to be an amazing musician. You’ve just got to have something worth saying.

Many successful songwriters don’t play or even sing well, but they understand what makes for great song ideas, hooks, and lyrics.

So here are… T wo Important Qualities You Need for Success

The two most important qualities you need to become a great songwriter is some measure of musicality and a strong love for language.

Two of the most prolific and successful Christian songwriters I know are ladies who don’t play, sing, or perform, but they have an amazing command of language and have used it to write literally thousands of songs each.

In fact, one of them was so prolific she had to write under several pseudonyms because her publisher was concerned about having so much material out with her name on it.

Maybe it goes without saying that you need to LOVE music and songs themselves to have a good shot at writing something others will love, too.

In seasons when I’ve been burned out or disengaged with my own love for music it’s all but impossible to write anything anybody else would care about.

Keeping yourself immersed in the love of music and language are central to becoming an outstanding songwriter.

I’ve had writers tell me they don’t read much or even listen to a lot of music other than their own songs.

But that is a very serious mistake and a horrible mindset for an aspiring songwriter.

I currently read or listen to an average of 2 - 4 books a week and listen to as many diverse styles of music and songs as I can on any given day.

In seasons where I’m trying to increase my songwriting output I listen and read even more… because...

How can you expect to write beautiful words if you’re not filled with them?

How can you expect to write innovative and engaging melodies if you’re limiting yourself by not listening and reading?

Listening to a lot of music gives you more options in your songwriting.

Reading a lot gives you many more song ideas and the command of the language you need to write amazing lyrics.

So, the most important things you need to write powerful Christian songs are your own testimony that fuels your mission,

some basic understanding about how songs generally should work, and an insatiable love of words and how they can form Gospel-centered messages that reach past the mind and hit people’s hearts with love, emotion, and impacting images that draw them deeper into worship and in love with Jesus.

Having a home studio and all the latest gear won’t do you any good if you don’t have a real mission and a love to communicate well in words.

You don’t have to have any kind of music degree or any formal music training to tap into an innate knowledge of music and build it to the point of effective songwriting.

It is helpful to be organized with your song ideas with something as simple as the Evernote App on your phone and laptop or desktop and just a simple voice recording app on your phone to capture your ideas.

But until you get to the demo stage with your songs, you simply don’t need much else besides a powerful imagination and the tenacity to learn how all this works.

I have very little recording gear and I’m not very good at home demos, though I can get by.

But if I spend my time trying to learn about producing, I’m robbing myself of precious time I could be developing concepts for songs and writing powerful lyrics to help others connect better with Jesus.

So I choose to leave the recording process to those who are better at it and lean into my strengths as a wordsmith, or someone who can think of ideas, hooks, and write lyrics.

But let’s go back to our pyramid graphic for a moment... [PYRAMID GRAPHIC AGAIN]

Music fills the world, of course, and you have a contribution to make.

Keeping the main thing the main thing is central to your success and understanding that professional songwriting is a skill that is developed over time is very important.

Thing is, there’s never been a better time in history to be a Christian songwriter. You can now go straight from the bottom of this inverted music business pyramid to the masses if you write just one song that goes viral…

Technology allows you to skip the managers and promoters and radio and marketing and all the other parts of the business, but only if you write a song that can change the world.

That’s your real focus, your real challenge, to get so good at identifying universal hooks and bringing massive value to the world that your songs are irresistable.

Our songs aren’t really for us, in the end, but for the millions who can be blessed, transformed, and changed for the words we speak into their lives.

Writing great songs is about doing great ministry.

Being able to make your writing time much more valuable each week is critical to your success.

If you’re not growing and writing the same song in the same style over and over, it doesn’t matter how many songs you write if you’re writing ineffectively.

Take the lessons you’re going to learn in this course to heart and put them to work in your life and your songs will take on a whole new level of power to reach new listeners.

In the next video we’ll go even deeper into how to discover your own successful songwriting process - see you soon…