Chapter 14

Writing for the Stage, Screen, Television, and More

In This Chapter

Writing songs for motion pictures and television

Coming up with jingles for commercials

Playing in the gaming market

Creating songs for the theater

Practicing the art of mixing music with visuals

When a songwriter dreams, sometimes his flight of fantasy takes him to a gilded Broadway theater where his songs are being performed by the cast and orchestra of a long-running, live stage production. In his dream’s next feature, he sneaks into the Cineplex for the 8:00 showing of the blockbuster movie where his music is underscoring the action and his song is featured as the “end title.” Just before he awakens, he hears another of his songs being used as the theme music for the hard-hitting drama just picked up by one of the networks for its fourth consecutive season. Then just after the credits roll and the morning sun is peeking through his curtain, he hears yet another of his compositions, which has just been chosen as the slogan and rally cry of a new multi-million-dollar ad campaign. Ultimately, he wakes up — but the vision stays with him all that day and possibly his lifetime.

If you’re anything like other songwriters, you’ve probably had some segment of this dream either in your slumbering or waking state. Dreaming is a big part of what songwriting is all about, and there’s no question that writing for the stage, screen, and television is worthy dream fodder. Writing for these arenas can be inspiring and lucrative, as well as frustrating and asset depleting — depending on your luck, connections, perseverance, and talent. And yet, if any portion of this dream comes true, you’ll leave a giant footprint on the road to success in the world of songwriting.

In this chapter, we show you some of the road signs, detours, entry ramps, curves, straightaways, and deceptive bends down the vast turnpike of stage, screen, and television — and we let you know how it relates to your songwriting.

Songwriting for Film

Whether it’s creating the score for a motion picture or writing songs for specific scenes or areas in a film, this remains an incredible goal for every serious songwriter. The list of songs written for and inspired by motion pictures is long. Table 14-1 shows you just a few notable songs on that list.

Table 14-1 Songs Featured in Movies
Song	Movie	Songwriter(s)	Singer/Performer
“Footloose”	Footloose	Kenny Loggins, Dean Pitchford	Kenny Loggins
“I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing”	Armageddon	Diane Warren	Aerosmith
“Can You Feel the Love Tonight”	The Lion King	Tim Rice, Elton John	Elton John
“My Immortal” and “Bring Me to Life”	Daredevil	Amy Lee, David Hodges, Ben Moody	Evanescence
“Lose Yourself”	8 Mile	Eminem, L. Resto, J. Bass	Eminem
“Sweet Home Alabama”	Multiple movies	E. King, G. Rossington, R. Van Zant	Lynyrd Skynyrd
“My Heart Will Go On”	Titanic	James Horner, Will Jennings	Celine Dion
“Eye of the Tiger”	Rocky III	Jim Peterik, Frankie Sullivan	Survivor
“Accidentally in Love”	Shrek 2	Counting Crows	Counting Crows
“Live and Let Die”	Live and Let Die	Paul and Linda McCartney	Paul McCartney, Wings
“I’ve Had the Time of My Life”	Dirty Dancer	F. Previte, J. DeNicola, D. Markowitz	Bill Medley, Jennifer Warnes
“Iris”	City of Angels	John Rzeznik	Goo Goo Dolls

The various categories of music in movies include the following:

Main title: This is the song that opens the movie and is often heard throughout the picture in various styles and treatments. This song is vital because it pretty much sets the emotional tone for the entire movie.

Songs for specific scenes: These are the songs that are in the background, setting the mood for a specific location in the movie — sometimes the lyric can echo the action on the screen. The song can be featured prominently with a minimum of dialogue (love scenes come to mind), or the song can be barely audible, coming out of some cheap transistor radio on the beach. A somewhat recent trend has been to stick songs by hot groups into a scene, randomly and barely audible, basically so that they can be featured in the movie’s lucrative soundtrack.

End title: This is the song that closes the movie and is another key position because it creates the impression that the movie leaves you with (and hopefully is the song that you’ll be singing all the way home, like it or not). Generally speaking, the music supervisor likes to find a big artist for this “money” song positioning.

Scoring music: This is the music, usually instrumental in nature, that runs through the entire film. It exists to create moods behind the action that emphasize what we are supposed to be feeling. Great orchestrators are worth their weight in gold to a filmmaker because their work makes such a significant impact on a film — think Titanic or Avatar!

Understanding the role of the music supervisor

The music supervisor or supe is the right-hand person to the director and producer of a film when it comes to finding the right music to go with the action on the screen. Music supervision is a relatively new position in film making (it came into its own in the early ’80s), alleviating much of the chaos and last-minute scrambling for music that used to take place in this business. The supe is the person who must understand the script backward and forward, the motivation of all the characters, the mood that must be set overall and in each scene, and, not least importantly, the budget available to work with.

He usually has a great deal of financial incentive to get the job done right. His per-picture fee can run as high as a quarter of a million bucks, and he often receives a substantial royalty on the soundtrack he puts together. That might more than make up for the nightmares of trying to make all the significant entities — film company, director, producer, songwriters, artists, actors, record companies, and music publishers — play nicely together!

Although the budget for a major motion picture is in the $35 to 65 million dollar range, the budget for the music might be a mere $1 to 3 million. It’s often the last thing considered by directors, who are far more concerned with the actors, editing, and storyline than they are with the underscoring or specific songs. It’s only in somewhat recent times that music has become much more than just an afterthought.

After the music supe meets with the director and producer to determine the film’s needs, he then marks out the positions in the movie for specific songs (spots like main title, various key scenes, and the all-important end title as the credits roll). He’ll also start making lists of artists and music producers to fill these slots, and contact songwriters, artists, managers, and publishers while combing the record charts to find hot artists to include (especially if there’s going to be a soundtrack album). He’ll also contact some of his favorite scoring composers to write music that enhances the underlying mood of each scene and start sending copies of the script (often rough drafts) to the artists, songwriters, and composers he is considering.

Never say no to a music supervisor’s suggestion. Instead say, “I’ll try it.” You may be surprised just how well the idea works — and you might also keep your job that way, too!

Don’t be too surprised if the song you labored over is practically lost in the context of the movie. Just like the ubiquitous product placement in films (that’s when, say, Red Bull pays a film company megabucks for the lead character to down their signature drink while getting pumped for an extreme sport trick), often songs are placed inconspicuously beneath dialogue, just so the film company can put the song on the soundtrack album. If you have enough clout, and/or a great attorney, try to get the usage of your song specified in your agreement.

The supervisor must also choose the perfect person to score the movie. Scoring is the job of creating music that plays behind the action of a film. Sometimes it calls attention to itself, like the dramatic scores of Hans Zimmer in Gladiator, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Dark Knight, and many more, and John Williams in Star Wars, E.T., three Harry Potter movies, Jurassic Park, and others. Other times, the background music is more subliminal, subtly emphasizing moods ranging from joyous to creepy. Try to think of the movie Jaws without hearing the ominous foreboding of sawing strings in the background as the shark is about to feast on human flesh.

Scoring is a different art than songwriting, although the two are related. Both crafts have to do with creating moods, but scoring does its job generally without words by laying textures of sound (from celestial to abrasive) on the musical palette with both subtle daubs and bold strokes. The score to a movie is often overlooked, but boy, would you ever miss it if it were gone.

Getting to the music supervisors

If you’re getting the impression that music supervisors pretty much control the music to be considered in a film and that it might be important for you as a songwriter to establish good relations with them — you’re right! But building a rapport with them, even if you are an established writer, is not always easy.

If you’re signed with a major publisher, they’ll undoubtedly have a wing of their staff that caters to the film industry. Many publishers will, in fact, put out monthly pitch sheets that list and describe films in the works that are in need of songs and even list the music supervisor in charge.

I used to be signed with a publishing giant who would routinely send out sheets to their writing staff listing movies that were looking for songs. Much of the time, it was on an all-skate basis, where you and a bunch of their writers would write a song on spec (in other words, you get no fees unless your song is chosen — I’ve learned another meaning for this abbreviation — “Don’t spec to get paid!”). Many times I would bust my hump to get a song written and demo-ed only to hear the roaring silence as I waited for some response. I was never quite sure if the song got to the designated music supe, much less given a fair chance to be “tried to scene” in the actual film — when your song is actually put against the action to see how it works. If you get this far, consider yourself on the home stretch. I finally realized that I had to make personal acquaintances with the music supervisors themselves. When I did this, things started to pop. After one of the great Music & Tennis Festivals held in the ’80s and early ’90s (the brainchild of one of the authors of this book, “Coach” Dave Austin along with his good buddy, Phil Ehart, drummer for Kansas), I ran into noted music supervisor Budd Carr. He told me about a new John Candy movie he was advising called Delirious, and I ended up co-writing the end title, “Beyond Our Wildest Dreams” (beating out “Unforgettable” by Irving Gordon, if you can believe that!). No matter how good your publisher is, there’s no substitute for personal contact.

—Jim Peterik, performer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist for the bands Ides of March and Survivor, plus writer of hits for .38 Special, Sammy Hagar, and others

The best way to get music to me is proximity at the right time. I was recently on a panel hosted by the Recording Academy, and a songwriter asked “How does one get songs to you?” I then asked if he had a demo CD with him — the answer was no, and I simply said, “Missed opportunity.” Be ready for those special moments when opportunity meets preparation.

—Budd Carr, music supervisor for Terminator, JFK, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, Evan Almighty, Hotel Rwanda, Rock Star, and Platoon

There are specific magazines such as Variety and The Hollywood Reporter with websites that cater to the film industry and movie aficionados. Often they’ll report on movies in the planning stage and films that are in progress. They’ll usually list the film company, director, producer, and sometimes even the music supervisor. Start making inquiries and requests with your own professionally worded letter, or one from your music attorney, reflecting your interest in submitting songs for the project. If you have a publisher, have them make calls to music supervisors on your behalf, or obtain lists from them of the ones that you can approach yourself.

Understanding the creative side of songwriting for films

Writing for film can be a wonderful, though sometimes frustrating, experience. At its best, it gives a songwriter a wonderful storyline, already created, to expand upon. When you get good at it, you can read a script and songs will seem to leap off the pages of certain scenes. Capturing the essence of a scene without being too obvious is an art in and of itself. If you are a composer scoring a movie (as opposed to writing specific songs for certain scenes), most film companies will send you rushes, or film footage, of the dailies (the scene shot that day) from which to score. There is usually a very short turnaround time in which to complete deadlines.

Personally, I love a song that spotlights, fairly literally, the action on the screen. “Let’s Hear It for the Boy” (written by Dean Pitchford and Thomas Snow; sung by Denise Williams) from the ’80s smash feature Footloose is a great example of a song illuminating the storyline. But many directors (and thus many music supervisors) are squeamish about songs being too literal to the scene. It strikes them as corny or operatic (where the songs virtually are the storyline). I learned that the hard way with “Long Road Home,” which I was commissioned to write for Backdraft. In the end, it was disqualified for the line, “still we’re keeping alive the flame” — flames being too literal to the fires that appeared in practically every scene.

—Jim Peterik, writer of 18 Billboard Top 10 hits including the perennial favorite “Eye of the Tiger” featured in Rocky III

I look for music that makes the action in the scene comfortable or effective. When you are out to dinner at a romantic restaurant on a first date, Nine Inch Nails’ music is probably not as appropriate as a jazz piano — although at times in order to heighten tension or amplify action, music can play against the grain of a scene. When looking for a song, sometimes the movie needs a big name or a familiar song for the scene to help the movie. So I’m not looking particularly for the best song for the scene; I’m looking for a combination of the best song for the scene from the right artist. At other times, it is purely the song that works best for the scene regardless if the song is from an unknown or known artist.

—Budd Carr, music supervisor to multiple Oliver Stone films

Songwriting for Television

Billions of viewers can’t be wrong! And as long as there’s TV, there’s got to be music to go along with both its brilliance and inanity. The synergy between songs and television and the exposure you can receive for one of your songs being on a program is staggering. Many a song has languished on a shelf until some visionary director discovers it while station surfing in his Maserati and decides to feature it on the next episode of his series.

Sometimes all it takes for a great song to be recognized is one person in a position of power to hear it at just the right time. When Michael J. Fox’s first show, Family Ties, featured an obscure song by Billy (Vera) and The Beaters, “At This Moment” (written by Bill McCord), the phones at the radio stations lit up with requests for a song that had been ignored for six years! Television can be one of the most powerful stimulants to record success.

Knowing what songs work well in television

Producers of television shows are constantly calling publishers to license preexisting songs for use in their episodes. But in addition to this, they also commission new songs, incidental music (the music that plays under specific scenes), and theme music to flesh out this season’s “big push” series. Even though the budgets are slimmer for TV shows and time limits are tighter, they’re still a worthy goal for any songwriter, due to the exposure received and the monies generated by repeated performances of the same show. Can you imagine being the composer of the I Love Lucy, Baywatch, or Cheers theme? You could literally retire on those royalties!

The fees generated for writing the background music for a half-hour sitcom or drama might be around $10,000 (and you pick up the recording tab!). But for theme music, get ready to receive from $10,000 up to $100,000 for writing the main song for a “major push” series (and get the wheelbarrow ready to collect the performance dollars that ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC will be sending to your door!). See Chapter 17 for more details on performance dollars.

When a song of yours is being licensed for a particular scene in a television show, your fee will be substantially lower than you might expect — usually between $1,000 and $10,000 — but don’t forget the added bonus of performance fees generated by its use.

Recognizing the exposure value of television

Many songwriters and artists have been boosted to fame from exposure on television. Singer Vonda Sheppard found the public ear through her appearances on Ally McBeal (making major bucks for the songwriters featured in her inspired re-interpretations of soul and rock classics). In addition to Vonda-type stories, many songs have found an audience by being exposed on the small screen. You may find opportunities for title songs like “I’ll Be There for You” (written by D. Crane, M. Kaufman, M. Skloff, P. Solem, D. Wilde, and A. Willis), the theme for the smash series Friends by pop-rock group The Rembrandts. Not only do they get their moniker on the crawl (the tiny and rapidly moving credits that roll as the theme music fades), but they get the added promotion of the weekly exposure on a network smash. This song was catapulted to #1 because of its extreme catchiness and the mass acceptance of this show. The Rembrandts just happened to capture the essence and demographic of this inventive ensemble comedy.

Keep in mind there’s power in numbers, such as evidenced in the commercial phenomenon called American Idol. Writing a song specifically suited to one of those participants is not only an honor but a great opportunity for massive exposure. Even if it’s just for your own personal practice in songwriting, make it a habit of creating songs that you feel would be perfect for one (or several) of the varied “Idol” contestants (that is if it’s still going strong in the year 2030 — otherwise get out a recorded copy or find a re-run of the show). Besides, if you are never able to get one of your songs pitched to any of the top ten finalists, you may just come up with a “winner” for yourself!

Especially if you are a singer/songwriter, you can increase your chances of success by sending your songs to television production houses and clearance services (the agencies that specialize in licensing preexisting compositions for use in television shows). The song “Superman (It’s Not Easy)” (written by John Ondrasik; performed by Five for Fighting) was brought to the public’s attention by its inclusion in the WB channel’s series, Smallville — the hook line, “It’s not easy to be me,” fit like a glove into the premise of Superman living among mortals in the small town of Smallville, U.S.A.

I was totally taken by surprise a few years back when Bo Bice sang my song “Vehicle” on American Idol. I’d been doing some co-writing in Nashville and wasn’t checking e-mail, so I’m riding the elevator down to go to dinner when I get a call from our drummer. “Dude, get back up to your room! There’s some guy that looks like Jesus covering the be-Jesus out of Vehicle.” I ran back up upstairs and sure enough there was Bo doing a bang-up job covering my song. Turns out my publishing administrator had been trying to reach me to get my permission — then went with her common sense and granted the show the rights. I received a decent fee but the real icing on the cake was that he recorded the song (with Richie Sambora from Bon Jovi doing the lead work that I’d originally played) and it went on to sell more than 850,000 copies! Ah . . . but the power of television seems to have no equal.

—Jim Peterik, writer of 18 Billboard Top 10 hits

As a budding songwriter, make a list of songs you think would be appropriate for some of your favorite shows, or better still, target certain shows to write for. Even if they don’t hit their intended goal, they may serve as songs you can use or pitch for other applications.

I get asked all the time how a composer/songwriter gets their music into the right hands to be considered for television. My reply is simple: persistence in following your dreams. Keep your vision in front of you.

—John D’Andrea, composer and arranger on productions such as TV series Baywatch and feature film Dirty Dancing

Pre-fab groups like the Monkees and The Partridge Family (and okay, also The Brady Bunch) actually paved the way for songwriters for hire to submit songs to be considered by major sitcoms. As manufactured and artificial as these groups were, they inspired many catchy songs by the likes of songwriting teams like Carole King and Gerry Goffin, Neil Diamond, and John Stewart to do some of their best writing. Apparently TV is one of those media types that strike a responsive chord in people, whether you are merely watching or participating in its creation.

The hit show CSI uses The Who’s classic, “Who Are You” to open every show. Aimee Mann’s “That’s Just What You Are” was regularly featured on Melrose Place and appears on the soundtrack for the show. It really doesn’t matter the vintage or style of a particular song. In television, all that’s in contention is the impact it has in context of the scene.

Getting to television music supervisors

Television, just like movies, uses music supervisors; they are your first choice in submitting songs to get yours placed on a show. In fact, because music budgets in television are almost always smaller than movies, a new songwriter usually has a better chance of getting their song on a TV show than in a movie. The music supervisor for television usually doesn’t have the budget for an established or current hit, so when a great song comes across their desk that fits what they need, it’s a win-win situation — they can usually get the song under contract within their budget and the songwriter/artist gets valuable exposure, not to mention a great credit and a reasonable amount of money to add to their bank account.

Many times The Hollywood Reporter or Variety Magazine will list production schedules and the music supervisors who are signed on. An annual publication called the Music Supervisor Directory lists over 600 music supervisors complete with their contact information. If you’re really adventurous, you can also explore who the picture editor is for a show (the person who takes the film dailies and pieces them together into a rough cut for the producer/director to review the work in progress) and send that person your song as well. The picture editor usually likes to create their rough cuts to music for added impact, mood, and ambiance. When a producer/director is reviewing the rough cuts, they might just like the song so much they’ll ask the music supervisor to include that song in the final cut.

Songwriting for Commercials

Okay, so you didn’t become a songwriter to sell beer and tires, but neither did a great many famous songwriters of our time, who created a win-win for themselves by helping to sell products without selling their souls. The jingle, as it has been called inexplicably for the last three decades, is a source of inspiration and income for songwriters and composers that could well be considered manna from Heaven. Many composers and songwriters make a very good living writing specific songs for specific products. Some of these songs have actually crossed over to the hit parade. Songs like “No Matter What Shape (You’re Stomach’s In)” written by Stormie and Michael Omartian, performed by The T-Bones (from an antacid commercial); “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)” written by William Backer, Roger Cook, Roquel Davis, and Roger Greenway, performed by the Hilltop Singers and The New Seekers (which started life as a Coke jingle); and “Percolator Twist” written by Lou Bideu and Ernest Freeman, performed by Billy Joe and the Checkmates (the Maxwell House coffee song) have all percolated into Top 40 hits. Other songwriters have made millions by licensing their old hits to huge conglomerates for elephant bucks. Still others have actually found that leasing their latest release to a product line is a great alternative means to promote their record, especially when traditional airplay on radio can be so hard to come by.

Take a look now at the basic ways you can harness your songwriting talents to enter the world of commercials — and make big loot to boot!

Writing jingles from scratch

Writing a jingle from scratch requires the expertise of the songwriter to spotlight the product, service, or company in the desired light. Whatever the image of that company or product is — it’s the goal of the jingle writer to cement that into the hearts and minds of the listening and viewing audience. Catchy melodies, rhythms, and catch phrases are the stock in trade of a good jingle. An effective jingle is like a hit song on speed — you only have 30 to 60 seconds (or less) to make your impression, get your message across, and set up the product you are helping to sell. Jingles are usually very simple, repetitive, and full of the kind of sound effects that catch the ear. To write a good jingle, it’s important to get as much input from the client (the actual people writing the checks to the ad agency) as possible, and to get a clear-cut picture of the entire campaign they are planning. Oftentimes, a jingle house will do several treatments of the same slogan or catchphrase in an attempt to please the consensus at the company level. Many of the same principles we examine for writing a full-length song can be applied to writing a jingle. Rhyme, rhythm, and melody all come heavily into play. But remember, due to the time constraints of the average commercial, when it comes to the element of song structure, the jingle is often limited to chorus only.

Fees for coming up with a new jingle for a product can range as high as $50,000 and may include renewal fees for every period the lease is extended. In addition, the jingle writer will usually play on his own song, reaping heaps of additional income for radio, network, and cable television airplay from the musicians union. If he sings on the spot as well, he’ll also receive payment from the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA). Now how does all that grab you?

For many years, my voice was heard in the context of commercials. I had what the jingle houses referred to as a beer and tires voice — kind of gruff and macho. I came to really respect the songwriters behind the jingles I sang. Can you remember, “Look out for The Bull, look out for the Schlitz Malt Liquor bull” or “The friendly skies of your land, United Airlines?” These were a couple of the memorable songs I got to sing. I also sang a treatment of “Good Vibrations” for Sunkist Orange Soda — the new hook was “I’m drinkin’ up orange vibrations, Sunkist Orange Soda taste sensation.” Finally when my own hits started coming and I hit the road, I pretty much had to give up the jingle scene. But I’ll never forget those jingle producers telling me to “put more smile in it!” the time I had to sing “like a rice crispy,” or the cat food commercial where my one enthusiastic line was, “The meat/fish group!”

—Jim Peterik, writer of 18 Billboard Top 10 hits

Writing jingles from scratch makes up perhaps 50 percent of the work we do. The other 50 percent is adapting songs for new campaigns. Of the original songs I come up with, about 70 percent are instrumental tracks and 30 percent are sung. Fees vary greatly depending on the client’s budget and the music house’s reputation for success. Typical creative fees for a spot run anywhere from $5,000 to $50,000 (for a big campaign with a corporate behemoth like McDonald’s). The jingle writer can also look forward to performance money when the jingle is played because both BMI and ASCAP monitor airplay activity on your commercial (but don’t expect publishing income because it’s pro-forma that the ad agency retains the publishing on songs it commissions). In addition, if you play and sing on your own spot, you’ll be printin’ money!

—Matt Thornton, creative director of Track Attack music house

If you’re eager to break into the world of jingle writing, put together a reel of some of your best material. You may even want to “mock up” some jingles for products that may or may not exist to give examples of the kind of work you are capable of. Go around to the ad agencies in town and introduce yourself and your work. Another way to go would be to take your demo reel to existing music houses to try to get hired there. Sometimes learning the ropes and making contacts at an established company is the best primer for moving on later to your own company.

Getting your songs placed in commercials

If you have a song or a number of preexisting songs that you think would be ideal for the commercial market, contact the various ad agencies and request permission to submit those songs to their musical supervisor. Whether you’re an established songwriter or a beginner, this process is much the same. There are many well-known songwriters who compile samplers of all their hits to remind the various advertising agencies of their songs. All it takes is one “ear” at the agency to hear a song and say, “Hey, that would be perfect for our client’s product!” Even as an unproven songwriter, if you put together a professional looking and sounding CD sampler of your songs (complete with lyric sheets and all contact information; see Chapter 15), one of them just might catch the imagination of an ad executive. Some of the big agencies you’d want to get your material to are Leo Burnett and ddb in Chicago, BBDO and Lintass in New York, and McCann Erickson in Troy, Michigan.

Songwriting for Video Games

Film and TV aren’t the only markets to place your songs. Video game music has grown rapidly and is now a force to be reckoned with. The opportunity for exposure in this category is tremendous for some songwriters — and we’re not just talking about the rock legends of Guitar Hero and Rock Band. Exposure via video games can sometimes propel indie artists/bands from relative obscurity to overnight sensation in very short order.

Think about the successful X-games sports-based video games that have provided massive reach for artists whose music is featured in these games — Tony Hawk, Need for Speed: Underground, or Grand Theft Auto. Also, take a look at the huge popularity of Rock Band or Guitar Hero — granted, the songs featured there are that of well-established bands and hit-makers, but you never know, anything could happen if you put your mind to it!

Just type “submitting music for video games” in your favorite search engine and see what pops up — a long list of possible outlets to submit your songs to in this ever-popular market. Always research both the credibility and professionalism of any service you choose to work with. Here are a few resources to check out (remember they’re not limited to just video game submissions either — TV and film music licensing also fall under most of their areas of expertise):

Pump Audio

Rumblefish

Broadjam

Taxi

In addition to checking into what’s available via online resources, you might also want to visit conventions such as GenCon and other big gamer conferences for inspiration as well as networking.

Now here’s an outside-the-box thought — you’re a hot (and very enterprising) new songwriter and decide to market your own music to the gaming world. You begin by posting your songs on the various online music distribution sites with the intent (and marketing angle) of people paying to download your creations and saving them to their own customized gaming soundtracks — a common feature on the latest game consoles by Xbox, Wii, and Playstation. Ha! You’ve now got your original music on the latest video game, were paid for it, and have the bragging rights to go with it!

Songwriting for Musicals

The excitement and lure of the Broadway stage has inspired writers to come up with some of the greatest songs of all time. Before there were motion pictures, there was the theater. Live dramatic presentations were the way playwrights and composers brought their stories to life. It remains, to this day, a vibrant messenger of emotion, song, and story. The excitement surrounding a top-notch musical can be electric — and to imagine your song being performed by a major star in the context of a powerful story is pretty good motivation to come up with a great one. Songwriting teams like Rodgers and Hart and songwriters like the Gershwin brothers made their considerable fortunes from the songs they wrote for Broadway musicals.

Submitting your songs for musicals

If you’re a songwriter eager to break into theater, it may be best to start at the local level in community theater. You’ll start to get a grasp of the breakdown of responsibilities of the various people who comprise a theater company and get to try out your music in front of a sympathetic audience. Try to make acquaintances with local directors and discuss their musical needs. Attend as many theater workshops and round tables as possible (for a comprehensive guide to U.S. theater companies and workshops, be sure to check out the book Songwriter’s Market). And above all, attend as many top-notch musicals as you can afford to see where the bar has to be set to make it all the way to Broadway! Make contact with the musical director if you can — she’ll be the one making decisions on what songwriters will be involved in a play’s production. Your demos can be sent in care of that person to the musical’s main production headquarters.

Understanding the creative side of songwriting for musicals

All the business stuff won’t mean too much if you don’t have some great songs to go along with the excitement and drama onstage. This is your chance as a songwriter to get large, wear your emotions on your sleeve and your heart in your throat. The scale of most productions is big enough to accept songs that are sweeping in their panorama of feeling.

I have learned to paint with broad strokes in the songs I write for the stage. I try to keep lyrics simple and not too busy because in an ambient theater, words are easily lost. All the great words in the world won’t mean a thing if intelligibility suffers. Also, it is important to use musical devices that assure heightened drama — like key modulations at choruses and sometimes a second modulation upward at the final chorus. Extreme dynamics from loud to soft is another way to wake up your audience. Many of these writing cues were created for Broadway for specific dramatic effect. When I write rock ’n’ roll, I have to hold myself back a bit from it from becoming too Broadway.

—Jimmy Nichols, musician and composer

Writing songs for musicals is much like writing songs for other purposes. Big titles and memorable melodic hooks become even more important in the theater. It’s the goal of every songwriter who writes for musicals to send the people away singing the featured songs. Generally, the lyrics of these songs mirror the action and emotion of a particular scene. Keep in mind that the plot of a musical can be a constantly changing thing. With those changes, the songwriter has to be open to adapting his songs to the ever-changing shape and landscape of the play.

In writing music for musicals, flexibility is the key. Unlike writing a popular song, where the composer is in total control of the musical and lyrical content, in musical theater, oftentimes the composer must be cognizant of the ever-changing facets of the book. In Broadway terms, the book means the script of the stage play. If the director cuts a scene or wants quicker character development, the book is always changing; therefore, a song that was appropriate at one point of the play’s development may no longer fit the new scene. Even when the play finally opens, there is inevitably fine-tuning of songs and scenes. Showboat was written 75 years ago and they’re still fooling around with the book!

—Dennis DeYoung, noted composer of the musical adaptation of The Hunchback of Notre Dame and founding member of platinum rock band Styx

Practice Makes Perfect

Throughout this book, we talk about preparation meeting opportunity. If you are serious about your songwriting, you can’t do enough to prepare yourself for moments of opportunities. In this practice, we’d like you to pick three of your favorite shows. Record an episode of each on your DVR. Turn off the volume, and begin imagining what music you’d put under the scenes. Then also try your hand at writing a song that fits a particular scene — because these are your favorites, you probably know most of the lines anyway, so turning off the sound shouldn’t hinder you much. As you do this, you may discover that you have a real knack and love for doing this kind of writing, so put your best work on a demo CD and then get your networking shoes on. Who knows when you’ll be at the right place at the right time, and when the opportunity to get your CD to the “right people” will arise?