Formatting Successful Lyrics

Posted on April 1, 2013 by Rick Dean

As a music publisher I get many songs sent to me along with lyric sheets and sometimes only as lyrics. I always require songwriters to include a lyric sheet with each song submitted. Incomplete submissions rarely get considered. The problem is that it’s sometimes difficult to understand the lyric simply by listening to it. Having the lyric sheet removes all doubt possibly bettering your chance of a successful submission.

So how should lyric sheets be formatted? This would seem like a good question, right? Well, in all the years I’ve been in the business I can’t think of a single time anyone ever asked. I’m not 100% positive there is an exact way to format lyrics but I do know a very simple, easy to follow, concise and professional format that’s widely accepted and appreciated by the industry. Follow along:

Fonts:

Always use Book Antiqua as your font. It’s a very pleasant font that’s ease to read.

Font Sizes:

  • The title line should be 20 points.
  • The songwriter’s name line should be 14 points.
  • The body of lyrics should be 12 point when there’s enough room to get the entire lyric on one sheet. Use a smaller font size of no less than 9 point if you must to get the entire song on one sheet. If you can’t get the whole song on one sheet, it’s probably too long to start with.
  • The contact line at the very bottom of the page should be no less than 8 point.

Tabs Are Our Friend:

  • Title line and songwriter line is left justified.
  • Verses are full left aligned along with the title line and songwriter name line.
  • Choruses are in one tab only.
  • Bridges are in two tabs only.
  • Outros are aligned one tab in with the bridge.

What To Do:

  • Only the Title Line should be bold.
  • Use small caps for the title line only.
  • The entire page should be justified left.
  • Only include your First and last name on the songwriter line which is just below the title. If there are co-writers involved, simply use a ” / ” between each name.

What Not To Do:

  • Do not have anything bold except the title line.
  • Do not use italics for anything.
  • Do not use caps on the entire lyric.
  • Do not use center justify for anything.
  • Do not use section titles like “verse, verse 1, chorus, bridge” . This is what the tabs are for.
  • Do not use quotation marks for anything.
  • Do not use any color font other than black.

Contact line:

Only include your name as you want to be known and with no initials being used, your phone number, and your email address. Don’t put your snail mail address or website address because I can all but guarantee you no one is going to write you a letter or take the time to go to your site. We (the industry) will either call or email our response to you.

Heres a quick example:

 

I have a more comprehensive guide available if you’d like a copy. Just let me know and I’ll be happy to email you one. And remember, we’re always looking for new original songs to place in the industry.

 

Rick Dean
The Dean Of Music Publishing Group
Nashville Tennessee
ASCAP, BMI & SESAC Affiliated

 

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More on Writing The Bridge.

Posted on January 14, 2013 by Rick Dean
Writing The Bridge
First, determine if your song calls for a bridge. That’s right, not every song has a bridge, and not every song needs a bridge. If your song already has an intro, verse, pre-chorus, chorus and musical break, forcing a bridge may be overkill and tends to make the song hard to follow. If you do decide to use a bridge you should consider what parts of the song you wish to connect, and the length of the bridge should be relative to the song it’s self.
The bridge should present a new thought or lyrical idea in consideration of the previous verse and chorus. Let me give you example. If the verse refers to losing your dog and the chorus covers the sadness you feel over it, the bridge might be about the joy of finding a new one. A good bridge often takes the storytelling details of the verse and the often emotional build in the chorus and reflects on them like, for example, the loss of you dog then talking about how sad your dog must be to be lost.
Make sure the bridge transitions well from one part to another. It should present a twist, but not sound so out there as to be awkward or clash with the main key and chords of the song. Many songwriters have a collection of bridges stored up to use when they need one, but make sure they actually fit before putting them in a song. Consider the parts before and after the bridge so the transition is smooth. The bridge is often a good place to raise the key of a song, but be sure to maintain this key change going into the next part of the song.
Try using new chords or try switching from major to minor chords to take the song in a new direction. Consider the tempo of the verse and chorus progressions. Try slowing down or speeding up the bridge. Some of histories greatest songs used different rhythms in the bridge which is something I’ve tried and it works. The chorus melody of the song should usually be higher in pitch than the verse. The bridge usually comes before the chorus, and you want to make a dramatic entrance into the chorus to stress its importance.Therefore the bridge should build in pitch and energy to create a rise in the listeners emotion.
Some prominent songwriters consider where to place the bridge based on the overall energy of the song. Sometimes a bridge might sound better right before an instrumental break rather than before the last chorus. Songs that use this trick usually have a musical hook in the break but its not a must. I suggest you try different combinations and you’ll soon realize new ways to broaden your songwriting abilities. Try placing lyrical or melodic hints to the bridge in different parts of the song. In the AABA song form, a somewhat older songwriting form lacking a true chorus, the bridge, or B section, usually occurs once or more in the song, whereas the main A, or verse, section appears more often. One of the many famous songwriters I have working with my company is Beverly Ross who wrote LolliPop LolliPop and 166 or so other cuts. I’ve never heard her say the word “chorus”. She only talks about the verse and the bridge.
Hope the helps and makes it a little easier to write a bridge.
Rick Dean
The Dean Of Music Publishing Group
Nashville Tennessee
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The “NEXT” Project, Literally!

Posted on December 7, 2012 by Rick Dean

The “Next” project is about a new song. But that’s where the normality ends. First and foremost, this new song “Next” was written by none other than Beverley Ross. Doesn’t ring a bell for you? How about her history making song that I promise will get stuck in you head the moment you read the title, “Lollipop Lollipop”. See, I told you so! I’ve known Miss Ross for several years and have always considered her a very good friend. Finally one day she asked if I’d be interested in “helping” with a song? With all things considered, you’d have to be an idiot to turn this veteran of the big time down. So I said sure, if it’s a great song. Well let me tell you, it’s a great song for sure. This is one song that every mainstream female artist would love to have in their list of hits! I picture Reba having a number 1 hit with it.

 

But that’s not all the story. This photo was taken while we were at The Tracking Room tracking the music. In the photo is the veteran hit maker Beverley Ross on the left and she’s discussing vocals with none other than Adley Stump who was kind enough to step in and provide a stellar vocal track! No one can sing ‘em like Adley! She’s agreed to sing as many female demos as we can throw at her providing she has the time. Adley’s busy putting her own career together as an up and coming Star! We’ll have the demo ready to go soon, and I can’t wait for the girls that sing the hits to have a chance to hear it! Going to be exciting to say the least!
Beverley Ross has several new songs that my company, The Dean Of Music Publishing Group, is fortunate enough to work with.  We work currently work with some of the biggest names in the business and I’m sure, with our continued success, we’ll be working with even more. Stay tuned!

Rick Dean
Nashville Tennessee

 

 

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What Are You Waiting For?

Posted on December 2, 2012 by Rick Dean

Being a music publisher isn’t always a walk in the park. As a publisher, I also wear the hat of most everyone else like loan officer, big brother, psychologist, motivator, purveyor of ‘that-a-boys’ and many other things. Probably the most often hat I’m asked to wear is that of a miracle worker.

A day doesn’t go by that one or another of the songwriters we work with contacts me to know if I have “any good news” for them. This translates to “Has my song been picked”? On the extremely rare chance that I did just get the news of a hold, or better yet, a cut, the very moment the songwriter asked…. well, you know where this is going, right?

Let me get to the point. If you write a song that a publisher likes and thinks he or she can make something happen with it, don’t stop writing and take up guard post on this one song. Move on to the next and then the next. With the current landscape, the chances of a song becoming a cut is pretty small. The ones that are successful are what I call the cream of the crop, of the cream of the crop. What gets a songwriter to this pinnacle is nothing other than practice. And the only way to practice writing songs is to write more songs. So what are you waiting for? Asking if we’re there yet doesn’t get us there any sooner. It just frustrates the driver.

 

Rick Dean
The Dean Of Music Publishing Group
Nashville Tennessee

 

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Most Songwriters Should Hire A Professional Demo Singer!

Posted on August 16, 2012 by Rick Dean

I’ll make two quick points here. The number one most important aspect of a song demo is the vocal part. And secondly, the easiest way to guarantee your demo will fail to make a mark is when the vocals are lousy. I’ve asked songwriters to send me an instrument only music file with a lyric sheet after listening to the first demo sent and not being able to wrap my mind around the less than stellar vocals. Continue reading →

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The Gate Keepers

Posted on August 5, 2012 by Rick Dean

For a few years now there’s been tales of how the digital age would finally engulf us all in the thing we call “the music business”. And to a certain extent it has. However, the impact just wasn’t what the predictors thought it would be. Many said that by now it would culminate in the independent songwriters and artist being able to compete on a level playing field with the corporate big dogs. But think about this, if the corporate gate Continue reading →

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What Does A Music Producer Do You Ask?

Posted on May 21, 2012 by Rick Dean

A music producer can do anything from making coffee to just sitting back and listening. That sounds like an easy job, and it can be. When you have a great recording engineer doing the recording, and great artists and musicians around you creating great music a producer’s job becomes very easy. But when you are on a budget with very limit studio time, a busy schedule, a singer that keeps messing up the vocal track because he/she is Continue reading →

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What Is A Record Producer?

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Rick Dean

A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording (i.e. “production”) of an artist’s music. A producer has many roles that may include, but are not limited to, gathering ideas for the project, selecting songs and/or musicians, coaching the artist and musicians in the studio, Continue reading →

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