Choosing The Right Song Title

Choosing the right song title

Today, we’ll be looking at an interesting topic; choosing the right song title. Ever found yourself in a situation where your friend just released a 14- track album and you know you don’t have the patience to stream all 14 songs on Spotify or Boomplay? Usually, what we do in such situations is select which ones to stream based on how interesting the song titles are, isn’t it?

This simple illustration shows us the importance of choosing the right title for your song. And I know a lot of musicians struggle with this, especially upcoming musicians. I know this because, I’ve heard good songs with very poor titles over the years. In fact, this article was inspired by one that I heard recently.

What’s the use of a title?

So, before we get into how to choose a song title, I think it’s important for us to know what role the title plays. Simply put, a song title is to the song what a person’s name is to the person. Now, I’m not sure if that was simple or rather confusing (smiles). What I meant was that the song title is the name of any song. It’s what we use to identify the song. It’s the first thing we hear about your song (before we even listen to it). Your song title can make someone to either want to hear your song or it could make him not want to hear it at all. It’s important that you give your song a title that suits it, especially in this age where music streaming is the order of the day. Music streaming sites have millions of songs; what usually informs someone’s choice of which music to listen to is the title.

So, how do I title my song?

I’m writing this with the assumption that you have already finished writing the song. Now, choosing a title for your song could be likened to choosing a heading/ caption for a news publication. Think about news headlines, I’m sure you’ve noticed how they are captioned, right? Usually, the headings gives you an idea of what the news is about, yet they are captioned in such a way that you definitely want to read that news. That’s exactly how you should title your song.

  1. Summarize the song

So, the first thing you should do is to try to summarize the entire message of the song using a single phrase/ sentence. The shorter, the better. Make sure that phrase captures the main theme/ message of the song. Now, the phrase does not necessarily have to be a line from the chorus. In fact, it doesn’t even have to be a line from the song.

  1. Make your title unique

The next thing you should do is try to make your title unique. As much as possible, don’t use clichés or song titles that are too common. For instance, titles like “You are great” are common in the Christian music industry; avoid titles like that. If the summary of your song’s message rhymes with a very common song title, try and use synonyms to get something different. For instance, instead of using “God’s Mercy” as title for your song, you can substitute it with “The Father’s pardon” or something similar. That way, the message is the still the same but the title is a little more unique.

 

  1. Make title attractive

As I mentioned earlier, News headlines are captioned in such a way that you would definitely want to read the news. Apply this technique to your song title. Think of how to phrase your title in such a way that it arouses the curiosity of anyone who sees and makes them want to hear your song. I will give one example. The first song I published talks about the truth that God cares for his children in a way that no parent can. But guess what I titled the song, “Father like a mother”. Now, there’s no way you’ll see that title and not be curious to know what the song is about. That’s what I mean by making the title attractive.

This is where I’ll stop on today’ article on choosing the right song title. I hope you have learnt a lot from it.

Want an honest review of your song?

I do song reviews for both published songs and songs that are yet to be published. The reviews could be private (for your consumption only) or it could be published on our site. If you’re interested to get your songs reviewed, send an email to jeplunemusic@gmail.com . Attach an mp3 of the song to be reviewed. Also state if you would like a private review or if you would want it published. And make sure you check your mails for replies.

Faithful in little

Faithful in little

Today’s devotion on Christian Musicians’ Corner is titled Faithful in little. You would recall that we announced some weeks ago that we would also begin to publish insights from Scriptures written by various Christians here on this blog. We call it Devotions. This is the first of it.

Where did I get this thought from?

Lately, I’ve found myself repeating the phrase, “If you are faithful in little, more would be given..” a lot to my wife. Actually, the phrase is found in Luke 16:10. Jesus told a parable about a certain manager who was wasting the master’s possessions. At the end of the parable, he said, “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities”. Jesus taught this same principle in several other places in the Bible. For instance, we see it play out in the parable of the talents in Matthew 25 and in Luke 19. Even in the Old Testament, we see this principle a lot. For instance, Joshua was faithful under Moses and he became his successor in leading Israel. Elisha was faithful in serving Elijah and he got a double portion of his anointing. David was faithful in keeping his father’s flock, and he became the next king of Israel. I could go on and on.

What about modern times?

This is a universally accepted truth and it is timeless. There is no argument about it; if you are faithful in little, more would be given to you. This applies both to resources (like money) and to responsibilities given to us. We’ve heard people say it over and over that the reward for hard work is more work. I’m pretty sure you might have experienced it play out in your life, at one point or the other, where you were faithful with an assignment and then more was given to you.

How does this apply to us as musicians?

Many times, we find ourselves complaining about what we don’t have. We feel we can’t accomplish much because we don’t have those resources that we think we need. We only see what we don’t have and rarely look inwards to recount the little that we have. But the truth about life is that if we are not faithful in little (that we have), we would never get the bigger resources/ opportunities that we need.

Let me give practical examples. You could keep lamenting that the reason you are not writing songs is that you don’t have money for studio sessions to record them. But if you really look at it, you have a phone with which you can record videos of yourself singing. You have friends that both have and can play guitar for you while you sing. You even have friends that could do back-up for you if you need them.  Be faithful in using the little resources you have. It is only when we are faithful in using those little resources that we can get more.

A real life testimony

Today, we all sing and celebrate Grace Lokwa’s ‘Kumama Papa’ song. But you know, before he got the studio versions that we hear today, he just did an acapella video of the song with his friends and posted on social media. That video went viral unexpectedly. Today, Grace Lokwa has been signed to a record label, he has a complete studio album, and he is celebrated in churches. Imagine if he was not faithful in using the little resources he had, do you think he would have gotten the greater opportunity he has today? I don’t think so.

So, to conclude, I just want to remind you again, to use what you have now faithfully. It is only when you are faithful in little that you can get more. I would love to hear your testimonies/ encounters with regards to being faithful in little. Please share your experiences in the comments below, let others learn from yours too.

 

 

 

Do you have insights in scripture that you would want to share to others, to either encourage them or correct them? Especially insights that would benefit Christian musicians. Please feel free to contact us and we will publish them on our blog for our readers to be blessed. You can send an email to jeplunemusic@gmail.com with the title, “DEVOTIONS”. Alternatively, you reach us on WhatsApp. God bless you.

 

Mr Politician – Silas Aduma (Song review)

Mr Politician Free Download

Mr. Politician is a song by Nigerian Gospel music singer and songwriter, Silas Aduma. He originally  released the song on the 4th of November, 2018. The song has a total play time of 255 seconds (4 minutes 15 seconds) and can be classified under the genre of Christian Contemporary Music.

General Overview:

Mr Politician is the kind of song that gets you to sit and reflect on the lyrics. The song is basically a wake-up call to politicians (and everyone in general), that political positions are not for amassing wealth for the leaders and their families. Rather, those in political offices should use those positions to seek ways to improve the lives of the people.

Strong Points:

  • Relevant message. This is the strongest point of this song. Mr Politican’s  message to both politicians in power and aspirants of the various political offices isvery relevant. The message of the song is clear and easy to understand. Silas Aduma did well in using simple words to convey his message in Mr Politician.
  • Beautiful song composition. Another strong point of Mr Politician by Silas Aduma is how well the song was composed. The melody of the song is beautiful. The choice of the chords used was soothing for the message of the song and absolutely commendable. There were dynamics throughout the song; the melody change from verse to chorus was beautiful. I especially enjoyed the complete change in the chords at the bridge.
  • Good Production. The production of the song was also beautifully done. I commend the choice of instruments used by the producer. The slight use of strings added to the emotions of the strong. The creativity of the producer in creating dynamics between the verses and the chorus, despite having the same chord progression is also commendable.
  • Great backing vocals. The backing vocals did a great job.

What could have been improved:

  • Mr Politician would have been much better if Silas Aduma had featured someone else to do the second verse, as well as the adlips in the chorus and the bridge.

Conclusion

Mr Politician by Silas Aduma is a beautiful song. I enjoyed listening to it. On a scale of 1-10, I would rate the song 7/10. You can listen to the song for yourself on Soundcloud or download it free on Jeplune Music.   You can also watch the lyrics video for the song on YouTube.

 

 

 

Do you want to hear the truth about your songs without sentiments?

Get your songs reviewed by professionals without bias for just a token. You’ll get honest appraisals as well as constructive criticism of your songs. This would help you get better in your music. Plus, other people who might never have heard about you before would get to listen to your songs when they read the published reviews (who knows, they might even turn to fans). If interested, send an email to jeplunemusic@gmail.com with an mp3 (please don’t send wav files) of your song and a few details like release date, artists featured, your artist bio and a link for people to listen to the song.  Check out some music reviews we’ve done in the past. Terms and conditions apply.

 

Milestone 2; the biggest rock concert in Northern Nigeria

Milestone

The biggest rock concert in Northern Nigeria, Milestone 2, will be taking be place in the city of Jos. This will be the second edition of the concert, but this time, it’s bigger and definitely better. And I’m personally excited about this.

Those of you who know me personally would have known that I am a huge fan of rock music (and rap music too). This is basically for two reasons:

  1. The huge amount of skill and musicianship invested into creating Rock music and
  2. The depth of the lyrics in rock songs.

So, you’ll understand how excited I am that 5 Rock bands from across 4 cities in Northern Nigeria will be teaming up to have one big concert; Milestone 2.

I talked with the management of Chapter 5 band, one of the organisers of Milestone 2 about the theme of the concert.

 This is what he said:

“Milestone was birthed from Acts 20:28. As a mission instructing us to watch over the flock God has given us as ministers. We realised that we can only achieve a little if we try doing it alone but we will be able to achieve much more by joining heads together with other bands with same vision and mission.
So we joined forces with 4 other bands from Kaduna, Zaria, Keffi then those of us in Jos.
Simply put Milestone is a victory stepping stone on making head way to spreading the gospel and planting seed of the Goodnews in young people through Music- Rock music.”

I also talked with the management of StageOneNG, on the organisers of Milestone 2, about what to expect in the concert.

He said,

“Expect fire. All bands are 100% rock, all with the aim to glorify God. We’ll be having The Northmen from Keffi, God’s Rock from Zaria, Fish & Anchor from Kaduna, and of course, Chapter 5 and StageOneNG from Jos.”

Milestone 2 will be held on 26 th of June, 2022, at GodLife Assembly, Yingi, Rayfield, Jos. The time is 3pm.

I can almost tell you ahead of time, that this is not the kind of concert you would like to be told about. Rather the experience is something you should have for yourself. Get ready for Milestone 2.

 

 

 

Do you want to hear the truth about your songs without sentiments?

Get your songs reviewed by professionals without bias for just a token. You’ll get honest appraisals as well as constructive criticism of your songs. This would help you get better in your music. Plus, other people who might never have heard about you before would get to listen to your songs when they read the published reviews (who knows, they might even turn to fans). If interested, send an email to jeplunemusic@gmail.com with an mp3 (please don’t send wav files) of your song and a few details like release date, artists featured, your artist bio and a link for people to listen to the song.  Check out some music reviews we’ve done in the past. Terms and conditions apply.

Ant Man Strategy

Ant Man Strategy

Today, on Christian Musicians Corner, I would like to share what I call, ‘The Ant Man Strategy’. The first time I wrote this article, it was for publication in the maiden edition of Jogama Magazine, 4 years ago. But I think the message is still relevant for us today.

I am a lover of science fiction and super hero movies. One of my favourites is ‘The Avengers series’. The Avengers are a group of people; some with supernatural powers, some with scientifically modified bodies, some others with highly sophisticated battle suits while others just have unique skills used in battle. They all have one thing in common; they fight to defend the people from external or internal threats to human existence. Now, one of the Avengers that particularly interest me is called Ant Man. He has a special suit that allows him to shrink to the size of an ant. This makes him almost invisible to his opponent, while still retaining the strength of a full grown man. This unique ability allows him to enter a well guarded enemy territory and carry out operations that would have been impossible for others to carry out.

The war we are in

Now, as Christians we are at war (both spiritually and physically) with the devil and the world system. The devil and the world system have been consistently fighting to win the hearts of believers over to their side. And now, they have the same ability as the Ant Man; that means we don’t see them coming at us. The strategy they are using now in this war is the media. Just like Ant Man, the media penetrates our homes and does great havoc to our spiritual lives without us noticing. Our kids are being influenced away from the godly principles and values that we are trying to teach them. Yes, we still have morning devotions with them at home, and yes, we still being teach them in church, but right now, the majority of what an average teenager/ young adult believes strongly are things he/ she learnt from movies and music. Our territories have been invaded by the enemy like Ant Man.

Let me give practical examples

Over the years, just like Ant Man who enters without being noticed, the media have continuously projected an idea to the mind of young people that without money, life is worth nothing. Music artists portray this message in their music videos and the movies pass the same message too. The resultant effect is that greed has become the order of the day. The average young person now has this idea that whatever a person does is justified as long as it yields material gain at the end of the day. And so, they are willing to do anything, I mean ANYTHING at all, even if it is morally unthinkable, as long as they would get money. It is therefore not surprising, the rise in the cases of ritual killings and fraud by young people. Another example is the consistent degrading of the female gender and their portrayal as mere sex objects. This has made our young girls lose their sense of human dignity and so can condescend to any level. Check the kind of videos we see on social media today about our girls and you’ll understand what I’m talking about. But I think, we already got the point.

Now, how do we fight this war?

The solution is obviously not to ban the use of Television or the internet in our various homes. That would be like attempting to stop a moving car with your bare hands (except you are superman). In warfare, one of the best ways to defend yourself against the enemy is to attack the enemy. We need to use the same Ant Man Strategy to attack.

  • Yes, we ought to keep praying for our youth and teaching them at home and in church ( which by the way is VERY IMPORTANT). But in addition to that, we also need to start invading the media and bombarding it with QUALITY godly content.  If we are truly going to engage young people, we need to throw away that ‘mediocre’ mindset. We need to start providing media content that could compete with every other one out there, in terms of quality. Let’s include expertise in our productions; whether we have to spend years getting it or we spend money to hire it. We need to get into the mainstream entertainment industry, like Ant Man, but with our Christian message. By all means, let the content we put out be of great quality and be able to meet up to industry standards. And we don’t have to compromise our message to achieve this.
  • We also need to break down those mighty walls of ‘the secular vs the sacred’ in music genres and entertainment generally. By this, I do not mean that we should start compromising our Christian values in our productions, but let’s reduce the categorization. We should just have rock songs (not secular rock and Christian rock) or rap songs (not Christian rap and secular rap) or movies (not Christian movies and secular movies). Let the audience do the categorization themselves.
  • Another thing is that we don’t have to sound ‘preachy’ all the time in our songs and movies (although sometimes, we need to sound ‘preachy’ and be firm in our message). But what we need to do more is ‘gently’ (without compromise though) re-introduce godly principles, standards and values to the younger generation. In 2Timothy 2:25, the Bible says, “Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth…” Did you notice the word ‘gently’? I could almost replace that word with the phrase, ‘like Ant Man…’ That’s how God expects us to fight this war. A quick example of what I’m talking about is the movie ‘The Chronicles Of Narnia’ by C.S. Lewis. Another example is the movie, ‘The Lost Medallion’ written by Bill Muir. At face value, you would not tag any of these movies as ‘Christian movies’. But when you watch them, you’ll find that they pass strong Christian messages without compromise.

This has been a long article, but it is worth it. If I had broken it into two, the message wouldn’t have been complete. I hope you gained a lot from it though. Let me hear your thoughts in the comments below.

 

 

Do you want to hear the truth about your songs without sentiments?

Get your songs reviewed by professionals without bias for just a token. You’ll get honest appraisals as well as constructive criticism of your songs. This would help you get better in your music. Plus, other people who might never have heard about you before would get to listen to your songs when they read the published reviews (who knows, they might even turn to fans). If interested, send an email to jeplunemusic@gmail.com with an mp3 (please don’t send wav files) of your song and a few details like release date, artists featured, your artist bio and a link for people to listen to the song.  Check out some music reviews we’ve done in the past. Terms and conditions apply.

A true-life story of Ric’s brother and lessons from it

Ric's brother

There’s  this very good friend of mine, Ric.  I met him in 2012 during his one-year compulsory service to Nigeria (NYSC). At that time, I had just finished mine. Over time, we began to grow close and bond. Today, because of how close we are, I can say we’ve grown beyond friends to brothers.

Anyways, last month Ric’s elder brother visited him from the south-eastern part of Nigeria. And within the period of his stay with my friend turned brother, they scheduled that I meet with him. Actually, Ric’s elder brother is an ordained minister of the Gospel. But he is also a talented singer. He had recorded two full albums ten years ago, but they were not distributed and definitely not promoted. So, only members of their family and just a few friends heard the songs in the albums.

What we did

Basically, the major aim of the meeting was to consult with me on how they can revive and publicize those albums. I think I need to pause a little here to give a little explanation of the albums we are talking about. Ric’s brother recorded both albums like medleys, so each song flows into the next and it continues like that till the end. So, you could have 30 minutes of continuous play time without stop. Also, he sang all the songs in Igbo. After talking with them for a while, we agreed that we need to separate the individual songs in the albums, to stand as single songs and then make lyrics videos for each of them. The job was contracted to Jeplune Music Studios, one of the music companies in Nigeria that make beautiful lyrics videos. Within a few weeks we had separated the songs in the albums and started work on the lyrics videos. We also created a YouTube channel for Ric’s brother.

Now here’s where the story get’s interesting. We uploaded the first lyrics video on his YouTube channel (you can see for yourself here) and the result was massive. Within a few days, Ric’s brother got over a hundred views on the video and some subcribers too.

So, what happened?

First, this was the first time the public was hearing this album that Ric’s brother recorded 10 years ago. To them, it’s a new music release. Secondly, due to the fact that we released the songs as lyrics videos, we could project the English translation of the words of the song that was originally sang in Igbo. This made it possible for everyone to both enjoy the sweet melody of the songs and still understand the words sung. Finally, we were able to direct all the traffic to his YouTube channel since we didn’t upload the songs on any other platform.

Ric’s brother is feeling a lot more fulfilled right now because his songs are finally being heard and the message which were in Igbo can now be understood by people who aren’t Igbo. All this because he got awesome lyrics videos for the songs from Jeplune Music.

You too can get beautiful lyrics videos for your songs and increase the views on your YouTube channel, like Ric’s brother. It doesn’t matter if they are old songs or new ones. You can check out a few of the lyrics videos we have done for various artists in the past here.

Melody Album – Frank Edwards (Music review)

Melody album - Frank Edwards

Melody is the eight studio album of Nigerian Gospel Music icon, Frank Edwards. It was released on the 29th of April, 2022. The album has 10 tracks with a total play time of 3,025 seconds (50 minutes 25 seconds). It is difficult to assign Melody album to a particular genre of music because the songs are of different genres. Some of the genres you’ll find include, Afrobeats, traditional gospel, contemporary worship, even 80’s punk.

General Overview:

Melody album by Frank Edwards is basically a collection of songs that ascribe praise and worship to God for who He is and what He’s done. Like I said earlier, the songs have different genres. And the moods of the songs differ. Some of the songs are calm reflective songs, while others are groovy kind of songs that would get you dancing. However, all the songs are easy to sing along.

Overview of the tracks:

  1. ‘Imela’ ft Sinach is a song of praise and appreciation to God for His goodness and love.
  2. ‘Unchangeable God’ is a song of worship that acknowledges God as One who can never change.
  3. ‘Hallelujah Still’ ft. Nathaniel Bassey is another song of worship. Hallelujah, the sound of heaven is sung throughout the song.
  4. ‘The One For Me’ is a song of love to Christ. This is basically a response of Christ’s great love for us.
  5. ‘Buru Hallelujah’ is a song of praise to God; singing Hallelujah to God.
  6. ‘Another One’ is a song that praises God for the great things he has been doing. The song acknowledges that whenever we share testimonies of God’s goodness, He does more.
  7. ‘Victorious’ is a groovy song that talks of the fact we are victorious in life because of what Christ did for us (on the cross). The song has this 80’s punk kind of feel.
  8. ‘Onye Eze’ is a beautiful song. As a matter of fact, I would say it’s the best song in the album. The song acknowledges the Holy spirit as the Boss and Leader. The one who leads believers through life here on earth, and whom we ought to follow.
  9. ‘I Cast My Crown’ ft Don Moen is a song of worship to God. The phrase, “anyi na-asi gi I di mma” was repeated several times. And it translates “we testify that You are good”.
  10. ‘Melody’ is a danceable song of praise and gratitude to God. The praises, according to the song, is from a heart of joy.

Strongest points:

  • Great production. This is the strongest point of Melody album. All the tracks in the album are very skillfully and professionally produced. The choice of instruments for the various songs was perfect.
  • Awesome mixing and mastering. This is next to the production of the tracks. The mixing and mastering of the tracks in Melody album were top notch.
  • Great melody/ composing. Another strong point of this album is the melody of the songs. All the songs were composed with beautiful melodies.
  • The Artists featured in tracks 9, 10, and 11 were good. They all ‘know their onions’ and that added spice to the songs in which they were featured.
  • Great backing singers. Not all the songs had backing singers in the album. But the ones that did were beautiful. The backing singers were exceptionally good.

What could have been improved:

  • Honestly, I believe Melody album would have been much better if Frank Edwards had worked with a lyricist in writing the songs. There is no argument about the fact that he is a great composer (the songs already prove that). But most of the songs were filled with common words/ phrases from other popular Nigerian Gospel music. Some of these words/phrases have almost turned to clichés in Nigerian Gospel music industry. And to be honest, their constant repetition is beginning to be a bit of a ‘turn-off’ for people who have good taste in music. So, for subsequent releases, I would suggest he works with a lyricist. He can come up with the basic ideas for the songs and the melodies, but let a professional lyricist help him with the lyrics of the songs.
  • I don’t know if it was done intentionally, but personally, I feel some of the songs in Melody album were too long.

Conclusion:

Melody album by Frank Edwards is a beautiful album. I particularly enjoyed ‘Onye Eze’ more than the rest of the tracks. On a scale of 1 -10, I would rate this album a 7/10.

You can listen to the album yourself on Deezer or Boomplay.

 

 

Do you want to hear the truth about your songs without sentiments?

Get your songs reviewed by professionals without bias for just a token. You’ll get honest appraisals as well as constructive criticism of your songs. This would help you get better in your music. Plus, other people who might never have heard about you before would get to listen to your songs when they read the published reviews (who knows, they might even turn to fans). If interested, send an email to jeplunemusic@gmail.com with an mp3 (please don’t send wav files) of your song and a few details like release date, artists featured, your artist bio and a link for people to listen to the song.  Check out some music reviews we’ve done in the past. Terms and conditions apply.

 

 

 

Songwriting tips from top musicians in Jos

songwriting tips from musicians in Jos

I would like to begin by explaining that I chose the title, Songwriting tips from top musicians in Jos, simply for S.E.O reasons. Yeah, in all sincerity, so this publication should have been titled, Songwriting tips from top (selected) musicians in Jos with great songwriting skills. But that title is quite long,  I shortened it the way I did. I know there are many other great musicians in Jos, and some of them might even have better vocal quality than some of the ones I selected. But I selected these musicians because of their strong songwriting skills as displayed in the songs they have released so far. I believe that as far as songwriting is concerned, these are the people worth learning from.

Why songwriting tips?

Now, some of you might be wondering, what is it with you and songwriting tips? Those of you who have been following my blog for the past 13 months will have noticed that I have written more articles on songwriting than on any other subject. Let’s just say I’m passionate about good music and great songwriting contributes to having good music. I listen to a lot of music, both Nigerian and foreign. And to be honest, we have a lot a people talented with beautiful voices. We also have a lot of skilled producers that create magic. But then we have very few skilled songwriters. Many times, I’ve listened to songs with great production, beautiful vocals, but then the songwriting spoils the song. That’s why I hammer a lot on songwriting tips.

Why Musicians in Jos?

Let me just put it this way, Jos as a city in Nigeria is like Nashville in the United States. You can call Jos the music capital of Nigeria; not in terms of the market, but in terms of raw music talents. I dare say that there is no other city in Nigeria with the abundance of music talents that Jos has. In one of the blog posts I made this year on Top 3 DAWs used by music producers in Jos, I explained this in detail.

So, let’s get to the songwriting tips:

  1. A songwriter’s job, just like a poet’s, involves saying old things in fresh ways. Cliché`s are therefore not a songwriter’s friend.

Doug Kaze (JOGAMA Award winning Afrofolk/Afrosoul singer, songwriter and performing artist).

 

  1. One of the ways to write better songs is to write your own experience. It will help you put in the emotions in the words and even vocal delivery that would make the song a great one.

Kespan Yaron  Zaki (Mulitiple Award winning Singer, songwriter, and music producer).

 

  1. I strive to find the fewest words to send a profound message when I write songs. This involves studying the message and finding synonyms in order to say a lot using few words. This helps me not to have songs overstuffed with lyrics.

Neken Chuwang (Multiple Award winning singer, songwriter and performing artist)

 

  1. I usually take time to write my songs. I generally do not rush my songwriting process. I make sure every word I write connects to my spirit. There are some of my songs that took me 5 years to complete. And I keep going back to a song and keep making adjustments till every word sounds right in my ear.

Philip Dobson (Singer, songwriter, and performing artist)

 

  1. Most of my songs are introspective. So, I write songs from my own life and experiences. It’s easy for me when I say things because it’s really what is happening in my life or an experience that I passed through or a lesson that God has taught me over time.

Vblaiz (CHH artist and music producer)

 

  1. Be deliberate in your songwriting. Write with the consciousness that the lyrics of your song has power. And this power is active first in the ear, which is the passage way to the hearts of your listeners. Whatever the message of your song depicts, whether joy, pain, encouragement, sadness, etc, let the effect of your words be powerful enough to affect the mind of your listeners.

Skiffy Kanees (Inspirational singer, songwriter and performing artist, Co-founder Jeplune Music)

 

  1. Stick to one theme (message) when writing a song. Some songwriters often write about multiple things in one song. This makes it difficult to understand exactly what the song is centered on. After you choose the subject to write about, try not to deviate from it in in your songwriting.

SON Chuwang (JOGAMA Award winning Singer, songwriter, and music producer, Founder SON-city Records)

 

  1. There’s a lot of recycling going on in the business of songwriting due to the lack of capacity for pure creative instincts, laziness, skillfulness and craftsmanship in the business of songwriting. To avoid this, I constantly develop what I call my ‘word bank’. There are a couple of sources from which I do this; reading scriptures, listening to intelligent discussions, radio/TV, nature, other people’s music, etc.

WordSmith (Worship leader, Singer, songwriter and music producer. Founder, Word and Sound Music group)

 

So there you have it; 8 songwriting tips from 8 different musicians who are very good songwriters. You can also check out the series on Songwriting that I wrote last year for more tips tat will help you improve on your songwriting.

 

A song for people in pain; After the Rain – Skiffy (song review)

Skiffy- after the rain

After the Rain is a single by Skiffy. It was released on the 15th of May, 2020. The song has a total play time of 303 seconds (5 minutes 3 seconds). The genre of the music is a blend of Afro- Cuban music and Contemporary Christian Music.

General overview:

After The Rain is a calm, reflective song, though it also has the tendency to get you tapping your feet to the rhythm unconsciously as the song plays. The lyrics of the song and the melody are aimed at encouraging people who are downcast or feeling overwhelmed with life’s problems and giving them hope.

Strong points:

  • Great lyrical content. This is the strongest point of this song. After the rain is worded with deep, meaningful and relevant message. The message of the song is basically that tough times do not last forever and so anyone going through difficulties in life should hold on, have faith, and not give up because after the rain comes the rainbow. The lyrics of the song was also beautifully arranged such that it was pleasing to the ear.
  • Great Melody and composition. This is another strong point of this song. The melody of After the rain is beautiful and soothing, especially considering the audience the song was written for. The choice of chords was carefully done such that it just portrays the message of hope that the song is about. Also, there was dynamics in the composition of the song which makes it very interesting. Generally, the songwriting of this song was highly professional and beautiful.
  • Great vocal delivery. Skiffy did a great job with the vocals. Her voice depicted the message of the song completely as she sang. There was empathy in her voice as she sang the verses and yet you could hear hope in her voice as you listen to the chorus. I could say she is indeed a very talented singer.

 What could have been improved:

  • It seemed as though the song lacked body, maybe because Skiffy naturally has a ‘high- pitched’ voice. It would have been nice if some of the instruments were EQed in such a way that they would have some more weight at the low-mid or bass frequencies so as to balance the high frequency of Skiffy’s voice.

Conclusion:

After the rain is a beautiful song skillfully written and professionally delivered. I enjoyed listening to it (I still do). On a scale of 1 – 10, I would score the song a 9/10.

You can download or listen to After the Rain for yourself here.

Music distribution in Nigeria

Music distribution in Nigeria

A lot of people, even music artists, confuse music distribution with music promotion. I see a lot of upcoming artists distribute their music and then they cross their feet (and relax), thinking they have promoted their music. So, I decided to write this article to explain the difference between music distribution and music promotion and what they entail. I will also offer advice for upcoming artists with low budget. So, let’s dive into it

So, what is music distribution?

Music distribution is simply getting your music releases (whether albums, Eps or singles) to places (or platforms) where your listeners can easily access them. Music distribution is a very important aspect of the career of any music artist. No matter how beautiful the melody of your songs are, or the depth of the messages they carry, if they don’t get to where your audience are, then your efforts in creating the music has been wasted. It’s a like a business person selling a particular goods (let’s say clothes). Imagine he has very beautiful clothes for sale, but he leaves them in his warehouse. As long as those clothes remain in his warehouse, people will never be able to buy them. But the moment he brings the clothes to his shop or boutique, people who need those clothes would see them and buy. That’s how important music distribution is for music artists.

Music distribution in Nigeria in the early 2000s

Before now, music distribution in Nigeria entailed getting your music album to one of the major CD distributors in Alaba (Lagos). Those guys had a wide connection with music stores all over Nigeria. So, if they were to distribute your music, your music CDs would be sold in music stores all over Nigeria. And when that is combined with very effective music promotion, you would become famous. However, music distribution in Nigeria has taken a complete U-turn in recent years. Nowadays, nobody buys music CDs any more (at least not like they used to). Music releases are now done on the internet. So, getting your music to those major music distributors is no longer necessary.

So, what does music distribution in Nigeria entail now?

Music distribution in recent times entails getting your music on platforms and stores where people can easily find them and stream or buy. Some of the major platforms where you can get your new music releases on includes Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, Boomplay, YouTube Music, Soundcloud, etc. There are several other streaming platforms, but these are some of the major ones in the world. Audiomack is one of such and it’s gaining grounds in Nigeria. There are also stores where you can upload your music for people to buy and download, such as itunes and Amazon. In Nigeria, artists also use selar.co to sell their music albums.

However, to get your music on these streaming platforms and stores, you need to employ the services of a distribution company. Yes, as an independent artist, you cannot get your music on these platforms/ stores by yourself. Think of these distribution companies like those music distributors in Alaba back in the days. They help you get your music to major stores/platform that you cannot do yourself. But you’ll be required to pay a fee (usually yearly). There are many distribution companies available now. Some of them even offer some free services. Just google music distribution companies and you will find many of them.

What’s my advice?

After reading several reviews of the various music distribution companies, I would recommend either Distrokid or Tunecore to independent artists. It’s not free, but a yearly fee of less than $20 for unlimited uploads of all your music is not a bad deal. When you really break it down, it’s less than N1,300 per month. And I think it’s a worthy investment to get your music to major platforms/ stores. Let me say this here (even though I will still dedicate an article to write on this), getting your songs on major streaming platforms does not take the place of promoting your music. Music distribution is not the same as music promotion.

Another thing new artists do is upload their music for free download on several blogs. You may argue that it gets more people to know about your music. But in the long run, it’s better to have your music on recognized platforms. A better alternative would be for you to pay bloggers to direct all the traffic to those streaming platforms where your songs are. I will talk more on this when I write about Music promotion in Nigeria.

I believe you have learnt a lot about music distribution in Nigeria today. And I believe you will no longer confuse it with music promotion.

For further reading, you can check out this article by our friends at Cresthub on the benefits of music streaming for artists in Africa.