From Musician To Artist

Writing lyrics can be hard! I've got some tips to help make it a bit easier for you. So you can spend less time frustrated at lyrics writing, and more time in preparing the release of your new song. This video has 3 or 4 tips that I think will really help you write song lyrics, I've made them nice and quick for you as well, I hope this improves your songwriting! FREE songwriting checklis...

Maybe you know how to write a hooky melody, or you at least know your melody needs a hook. In this episode I chat about writing multiple hooks in your melody, make sure all your melodies are hooky, this gives you a super interesting song, and a bunch more opportunity to have your song connect with your audience FREE songwriting checklist at https://www.dottedeight.com/artist I use cubase pro by st...

What chord structure should you use? how do you write chord structures? I unpack these questions in this episode, and honestly.. It's such much easier than we think! We put way too much pressure on ourselves when It comes to chords Songwriting download - https://www.dottedeight.com/artist The most powerful tool we have in songwriting is melody, and simple chords in our songwriting gives us th...

Songwriting structure, how do yo you write a song with good structure? In this video I lay out how I go about creating good structure in my songwriting.  Songwriting download - https://www.dottedeight.com/artist You'll notice that I place a huge amount of importance on song structure, I think it play such a huge role in good effective songwriting. This quick songwriting tip about structure wi...

Creating the vibe during your songwriting stage will help you point you in the right direction. I believe it will help you to finish writing your songs, not just start writing your songs. I've been songwriting like this for a while now, and the clear direction it provides makes it a really valuable songwriting technique, and should certainly be one of your favourite tools to write a song. Fro...

I've been using a DAW for my songwriting for years, It's easily the best way to write songs, In this video I explain some of the benefits of using a DAW for your song writing, and I hope that as a result you see a huge improvement in your songs, and ultimately make the songwriting process a ton easier for you. FREE songwriting checklist at https://www.dottedeight.com/artist I use cubase...

I want to show you the best way to share you music files online, so that you never get caught out having to scroll your own YouTube channel or Spotify profile to madly try and copy links send of to a potential label or venue. In this video I show you a couple of simple ways to have all your links in one place ready to send straight away! This will safe you a ton of time, and make you seem a lot mo...

Coming up with lyric ideas! how do you come up with fresh lyrics over and over? I have a simple technique that will get you endless inspiration for new lyrics, allowing you to tap into the kind of deep emotion that your audience can really connect with, and ultimately write better songs. SONGWRITING DOWNLOAD - https://www.dottedeight.com/artist The technique explores the emotion of an existing cha...

Writing good lyrics is one of the most important skills in songwriting, and working on that skill of writing lyrics will make you a better songwriter. In this video I unpack a popular song by Billy Joel, and look at the clever way he writes lyrics to connect with his audience, its about giving them enough of the lyrics, that they can finish the song off in their own head. This is powerful songwrit...

How to make this the best year for your music, I love the start of a new year, you can look forward and set goals for what you want to achieve! The perfect opportunity to make some decisions about where you want to go as a music artists, and plan out what steps you need to take to get there. I also celebrate the 50th episode of 'from musician to artist' which I am super excited about. Fr...

I'm talking talking videos with Sam Holland, how to maximise and idea and get maximum traction from it. The secret is really in quantity, making sure you expand your idea into multiple pieces of content! As music artists, music videos are the best way for us to do this. Check out Sams channel here! - https://www.youtube.com/c/SamHolland Sams LUTs - https://youtu.be/d8dBA_NbBns We chatted for...

What content does your audience want to see? How should you use social media as a music artist? Sam Holland is absolutely brilliant at creating content, and shares his insight in this episode. He mentioned that posting a lot was important, today he defines what that means, and talks about posting the right sort of content. He always breaks down the art of taking one idea and turning that into mult...

The most important aspect of growing an audience, is getting to know your audience! I spoke with Sam Holland and leaned on his experience in growing an audience on YouTube. Sam understands what it takes to look at your audience, learn from them, and create music and content that they will resonate with. Fascinating discussion, I'm sure you'll get something out of this! Check out Sams cha...

I'm continuing my chat with Sam Holland, this week its about growing your music career, I asked Sam how he would go about starting his music career from scratch using all the knowledge he has now learned over the years, and his answers were fascinating! I learn't a lot, and I'm sure you will too! How main points were: Post a lot, and go all in, give it 100% Check out Sams channel he...

Sam Holland has taught me a lot about video over that last couple months, because I have done some heavy binge watching of his YouTube content. During this time I learn't he has a big background in music, So I reached out to him to ask if he could help teach us some of the knowledge he has learnt about both being a music artist, and growing an audience (currently with 13k subs!) Check out Sam...

I recently worked through the entire music making process with local artist Robbie Mortimer. From the initial concept all the way through to the released album. In this video I share the crucial 5 stages that an artist has to go through in order to find success as a music artist. Those stages are Vision/Branding, Playing Live, Songwriting, Recording, and Promotion. I had the pleasure of getting al...

What's the best way to release music in 2021? We have more resources and more opportunity then ever before. I have been really following Ed Sheeran's latest release journey leading up to his new album =. It's been fascinating to see the sheer amount of content he's been able to pump out in support of his singles, and now album. In this video I take a look specifically at the st...

Good songs need good melodies. So how do you write a good melody? The great thing about creativity is that there is more then one way to do it. Today I'm exploring 3 ways to start your next melody. three different ways to get the ball rolling, The first two you've probably tried before, the 3rd one I reckon will be something new for you. This video is for a music artist stuck for inspira...

It's easy to hate Spotify and feel like they are ripping you off as a music artist. And perhaps you're right! But what if we just looked at Spotify and Apple Music in a different way? What if we just used it as a powerful marketing tool, and then created personalised music experiences for our audience as a way to earn an income from our music.  I discuss the latest proposed changes for t...

Connecting with your audience in a real and genuine way is probably the most important aspect of being a music artist, perhaps only second to creating music that actually means something to you.  This week I had a chat with music artist Clinton Hoy, because he understands and puts this concept into practise better then probably any one I’ve seen.   From our chat I reckon you’ll pick up the followi...

A common question for the music artist is 'should I try get signed to a record label, or should I stay independent?' I came across some research this week put together by the digital distribution company 'Gyrostream' who surveyed a ton of artists with this very question. I found the results fascinating! They then dove deeper into the question and survey why music artists want t...

Getting signed to a record label is such an attractive idea for the music artist. Why? Because the labels know the music industry, and the have access to the audiences we want to be in front of. Maybe it's not a label you're looking for, maybe it's just music publication or some sort of professional music representation. So what exactly do you need in order to get noticed by these g...

What do we actually need on our music website? We talked about having a key purpose for your site, and how that should take the focus. But what are all the other common website features we should be using. I think your website should be able to answer these 3 questions for your audience 1. Who are you? 2. Where can I find you? 3. How can I connect? This episode chats through these questions and th...

Music artists websites! How can we make the most of ours? In this episode we pull up Ed Sheeran's music website to see what we can learn from him. What is the purpose of his website, and where does it lead us, the audience? I also take a look at Amy Shark, Robbie Mortimer, and 5 seconds of summer. Plenty of useful tips, plus do's and don'ts for making your own music artist website ...

We might think that growing our socials is more important than building out a website. While socials are probably the best tool for generating interest and gaining followers, your website is your opportunity to turn those followers into fans. And it's the fans that ultimately buy your music, and fund your career. In this episode of from musician to artist I lay out a ton of benefits to the mu...