Hit, Hits, Hits!

It's got to be the hits, man!

Ok, I get that, but in truth, hits, or hit songs, are for the vast majority of songwriters, out of reach. The basics require a lot of legwork, networking; preferably in the hometown of the genre, think Nashville or LA, and, foremost, songs that are being looked for. Music publishers, agents, and the like, are the gatekeepers between you and your targeted star and the thrill of hearing or watching said star playing your song. And no matter how brilliant, fun, hauntingly beautiful your song may be, if it's not what they're looking for, it's just another song in a sea of millions.

But take heart, there's a beavy of folks out there ready willing and able, for a small fee, to get you to the golden land. I know, I get they're emails all the time. And I don't begrudge them for taking a moment of my time, but I went through this years ago.

At some point you have to decide what you want and how far you're willing to go to get it, and, and this is a big and which a lot of people don't like to own up to, are you or do you have the esthetics, which is a fancy term for the look, to present to your target audience wha they expect to see?

That's big.

And it buries a lot of performers and bands.

But we're talking about the hits! Bands without hits go nowhere, no matter the talent level. Every town has talent, players who will take you to the cleaners; that's life, but their bands never made it or only made it to a certain level, say local versus national. Some may have been one hit wonders. I remember that back in the 80's, the guitarist playing with Jill Sobule had been the guitarist for Sugarloaf (Green Eyed Lady), Bob Webber. And that's not a knock on Bob, he's had far more success than most of us ever will, but anyone who has been in this business knows, life turns quick and you do something different.

In my case I just wanted to make my music without a lot of direction, change, and most of all, a lot of debt. I did it my way and because of that, and a lot of obstinacy, I am an unknown, but I'm ok with that. And I don't mind writing songs for people and I try to give them what they want, but what they get is a Mr Primitive tune...something not too many others have (wink, wink, nudge, nudge).

Looks like I went off-track

As everyone will tell you; don't try to write a hit. Write what you write and go from there.
You never know.