I've moved around the country quite a lot over the past few years:
5 houses in 5 years. In one of the first moves, I somehow managed
to lose a bunch of lyrics that I'd been saving for future songs !
That was really annoying ...

Now, if I'd been using Virtual Studio System's "Lyricist" software,
then that wouldn't have happened.

I wanted to tell you about my new book, aimed at unsigned musicians just like you. It's called "How To Get Your Music in Film & TV" and is the only book of its kind. Published by Music Sales (the largest publisher of music books in the world) it gives you all the information you need to find Film & TV projects that are looking for music from unsigned artists ... and then tells you how to sell it to them.

You’ve got your recording (or songwriting) contract in hand and
everything’s coming up roses, right? You get your check,
finally, but it’s not quite what you expected. If you sign not
knowing what’s owed you then you might be shorted some
well-deserved income.

Here is a common problem that one of my subscribers expressed
to me recently...

"I'm 16 and the main problem is, I know what I want to write,
but when I do write it down I just think it sounds lame"

Now she's 16 years old, but I'm pretty sure that this problem
transcends all ages.

I'm sure there have been times where you feel like you just
can't write ANYTHING. It's like, the more you force it out the
less you seem to create. And then when you DO finally write
something -- ANYTHING (a chord, a lyric, a melody or even just a
scratch of an idea) you automatically reject that because you
think it's a crappy one.

Hi. My name is Joshua Thompson, and I have been writing music
since the age of 4. My life goes through cycles, and some years
I am more productive than others. I have been reflecting on what
things I do that keep me creative and productive, and I came up
with these 11 practices that help to juice up my creative
ability. My hope is that you might benefit from these tips as
well.

This is something I briefly touched on in a previous newsletter
- ...over and over I get asked "will I write better songs if I'm
a musician"?

What's the answer?

Yes AND no.

The moment that people create a melody which they feel is
great, many think it already sounds like another song. This is
common, and I suffered from this many times. What you've got to
understand is that ALL SONGS are RECYCLED MELODIES.

It's funny, being a songwriter myself, I always find that
writing songs can sometimes be a chore. But why does it feel
this way? Isn't this supposed to be my passion? Isn't this
supposed to be something that I never get bored of?

Great songwriters seem to have an infinite well of ideas and
inspiration which never dries up. Just how do they manage this?
How is it that they resonate and connect with their audience
over and over? Perhaps they have some mysterious bag of
songwriting techniques which they use again and again. Perhaps
they are just born talented!