Published November 07, 2022 by Slick for SFR Beats
So I decided to do something a bit different this time. I’m copying and pasting a reply I sent to one of our customers because I think there’s a lot we all can take away from this. Now don’t get me wrong, in SOME instances, this may be ok, but in most cases, all that’s needed is… well, just read on.
A little backdrop… a customer of ours (we’ll just call him Jay) first emailed us asking to have the ocean sound removed from a piano instrumental of Lisa’s. At first we were like, cool, stem trackouts come with each part separated so you can remove as you desire, but then Jay mentioned the reasoning behind needing the stems… And it quickly became apparent to me that he was listening to bad advice and he really didn’t need to order stems at all. Jay said a “promoter” told him he sounded dated and the ocean sound was the culprit, plus the promoter was trying to sell $1500 of songwriting coaching saying this would fix Jay’s “issue” in a few months. The promoter explained that’s the only way Jay would land a position on his Spotify playlist. Of course, being the producers we are and having seen this type of ‘game’ before, we had to speak up. So here’s the email the promoter sent our customer (with privacy markouts):
And here was our response:
Hi Jay, thanks for sending, so it was reviewed and we didn't see any association of this promoter's opinion to the ocean sound in the piano. We have a variety of music and some of it is meant to sound current and others are meant to sound like the 90s, 80s, or even further back.
That said, we suggest that you try a different promoter. The reason is because there were a few things that were suggested by the promoter that seemed unnecessary - mainly the part about getting songwriting coaching for $1500. There is no quick fix to bettering your songwriting skills except continuing to make songs. As you make more songs and release them, and get feedback from your fans, your fans will tell you what songwriting they like best, and you will naturally progress. Just like riding a bike, or learning how to walk... you didn't pay a coach for that right? So our suggestion is just to just keep writing. They say 10,000 hours put into it will give you the practice you need.
PLUS... We have tons of FREE songwriting advice on our music help blog that you don't have to pay anything for - https://sfrbeats.com/music-help - this advice comes directly from the best and most successful songwriters in the world.
So as far as the stems, though you would have to pay for those, we don't think you need it and it wouldn't make much difference in the final product from what the promoter is saying, as he said the production already matches what you did with your vocals. Don't worry about the opinion that you sound "dated"... some people like a "dated" sound. It's not about what one person likes. It's about what your fans like. And with digital tools today, you really don't need one "gatekeeper" telling you what's good and what's not.
Hope this helps Jay.
So there it is! And again, if you know you’re at that point in your career when you need songwriting coaching that costs $1000’s, then cool, by all means. But don’t think that’s the quick fix or replacement for consistently writing songs and slowly but surely getting better over time. Let me know what you think? Do you agree or disagree? Leave a comment below!
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