Made It In Music: Interviews With Artists, Songwriters, And Music Industry Pros · Full Circle Music: A Nashville Recording Studio & Online Music Education Academy

The Publisher/Songwriter Relationship (Part 1)

·23 min·1 clip

Tim says the real goal is finding “a believer” who becomes a champion.

1. Made It In Music: Interviews With Artists, Songwriters, And Music Industry Pros focuses this episode on the publisher/singer relationship and what publishers look for in writers. 2. Riley Taylor introduces Tim Hunzey, the VP of publishing at Big Machine Music, and notes his background at Rhythm and Grooves Records, Great Cumberland Music Group, Stage 3 Music Group, Parallel Music Publishing, and Anthem Entertainment Group. 3. Tim says the episode is about “publishers and writers” and opens by making the discussion “all about you.” 4. He says the music business does not happen without songs, and he frames the basics as a hit writer, a hit artist, and then everything else taking care of itself. 5. Tim says a writer has to “find you,” because he wants to hear what makes that writer separate from everybody else. 6. He contrasts authenticity with imitation, saying writers may start by copying Ashley Gourley, Seth, or Chris Tomlin, but eventually need a true voice. 7. Tim says he often knows something is there from four or five songs, but usually one song reveals the melody, the thread, or the unique point of view. 8. He says he is “a lyric guy” and values writers who can turn a phrase or say something different. 9. Tim names Bobby Pinson and the song “Try Going Back” as the example that made him keep a cassette tape in his home office. 10. He says writers need practice, and tells the room that anyone who has written fewer than 100 songs should write more. 11. Tim says writers in general write 80 to 100 songs a year, and he calls those first 100 songs practice. 12. He says he does not believe in rigid rules like verse-chorus formulas because songs that break the mold still become hits. 13. Tim says a song still has to move him, whether that is through lyric, story, or energy that makes people jump up and down. 14. He describes one writer who turned in stronger songs after going through a painful divorce, and he says emotions have to be put on the page. 15. Tim says even positive life changes, like marriage or a first child, can produce the song that connects. 16. He gives an example of a writer named Jeff who kept returning every six months with new songs after Tim told him “my door’s open.” 17. Tim says Jeff eventually came back with grittier material involving Ryan and Matt Fleener and the band the Dirt Drifters. 18. The panel style is loose and conversational, with Tim saying he works well off questions and does not use slides. 19. Writers and early-career songwriters who want practical publisher advice will get the most from this episode. 20. Listeners looking for a tightly edited hit-story episode may find the rambling panel format less direct.

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