About Us
We are a small boutique publishing company that represents songwriters. We strive to place songs on either recording projects, film or TV projects or as a submission to labels. We work primarily with individual songs although we do have a limited number of writers on staff. We invite interested songwriters to contact us through email and we will advise you on how to submit your material for consideration.
Some Recent Comments:
Judges Evaluation From The Great American Song Contest received: April 3, 2017
I found this song to be immediately entertaining! The well-presented personifying hook, while familiar is perfectly utilized and instantly memorable. In conjunction with the impressively crafted musicality, this song really stands out. CONGRATULATIONS! This song has achieved finalist status. We wish you the best and continued success in all of your songwriting endeavors. Good luck. We hope to hear more from you in the years ahead!
Number Ratings: Judges rate the components of each song on a scale from 1 to 10. A rating of ‘1’ suggests a need for major improvement, ‘5’ is average and a rating of ‘10’ signifies excellence.
RATINGS – LYRICS:
Title/Hook 10
Clarity/Theme Progression 9
Imagery/Poetics 9
Rhyming 8
Originality 6
MUSIC:
Melody 9
Structure 10
Prosody 10
Aptness Of Melody 10
DEFINITIONS:
Title/Hook: Is there a distinct and centralized hook, chorus or refrain? Is the title memorable?
Clarity/Theme Progression: Is the meaning clearly communicated? Is the theme developed?
Imagery/Poetics: Do the lyrics contain vivid images and/or memorable phrases?
Rhyming: Is there a consistent rhyming pattern? Are rhymes fresh and engaging?
Aptness of Melody: Does the melody and music convey the emotional tone of the lyric?
Prosody: Is there a cohesive synergistic relationship among the elements of the song?
The Great American Song Contest is sponsored by Songwriters Resource Network
www.greatamericansong.com
Judges Evaluation From The Great American Song Contest received April 3, 2017
NEW! Congrats to John Hamilton who was named a semi-finalist in the International Songwriting Competition and won an Outstanding Achievement in Songwriting Award for his song “Let Love Rule” in the Great American Song Contest.
From the Songwriters Association Of Canada Newsletter dated March 30, 2017
Dear John Hamilton,
I’m happy to inform you that your song ’Let Love Rule’ has been selected by our judges as a Top 5 Winner in the Pop category of the 18th Annual Great American Song Contest.
Contest results are now posted at the Great American Song Contest website, here: http://www.greatamericansong.com/winners.php
In about 3 weeks you will receive a winners packet containing your award certificate and prizes. (Some of our Sponsors will contact you directly.)
As a top winner, you are invited to display an Award logo on your website. Please see: GASC Award banners
Judges praised “Let Love Rule” for its “inspiring theme, consistently engaging lyric and creatively devised melodic structure.”
Congratulations on your excellent songwriting, John. Last year’s competition was particularly strong in your category, making your achievement all the more impressive.
All the best in your songwriting endeavors,
Steve Cahill
President, Songwriters Resource Network
GREAT AMERICAN SONG CONTEST
~ More winners & awards
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GreatAmericanSong.com
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SongwritersResourceNetwork.com
Letter of March 30, 2017, from Steve Cahill informing John of his success in The Great American Song Contest.
Hi John,
Congratulations! A song that you entered has been selected as a semi-finalist in the 2016 International Songwriting Competition (ISC). We received more than 16,000 entries, and semi-finalists make up only 10% of all entries, so well done! To see the complete list of semi-finalists (listed alphabetically by songwriter’s names), go to: http://www.songwritingcompetition.com/semi-finalists.html
Please check your information on the website to confirm its accuracy. Please email info@songwritingcompetition.com with IMPORTANT CHANGES ONLY and put your name and the word “Correction” in the Subject field. We will make these corrections as soon as possible. We apologize if there are any errors, but keep in mind that this information is what was provided to us on the entry form. Please note that the hometown listed is where you were born or raised (or where you consider your hometown to be), not where you currently reside.
We encourage you to promote your Semi-Finalist status in ISC 2016 via the “2016 Semi-Finalist Button” which you can download here – CLICK HERE FOR BUTTON Feel free to use this button on social media, your website, press, CDs etc. If you would you like us to ‘Like’ your Facebook / Twitter posts promoting your Semi-Finalist song, download the promo button and tag us in your posts (Facebook – @International Songwriting Competition / Twitter – @intlsongcomp) and we’ll like your post. It’s that simple.
This group of semi-finalists will be narrowed down to the finalists who will be sent to our celebrity judges who will then select the winners. Finalists will be announced within a couple of weeks, and winners (including those in the Sing Your Heart Out, Pick Your Cause, and the Stocking Stuffer promotions), will be announced once the judging process is completed.
We wish you the best of luck in the remainder of the competition, and thank you for entering ISC!
Entries for ISC 2017 are now open at the Early Bird discounted rate of $25 per entry. To enter ISC 2017, please click here
Best,
Candace Avery
Founder/Director
International Songwriting Competition (ISC)
3940 Gallatin Pike
Nashville, TN 37216
ph: 615.251.4441
www.songwritingcompetition.com
“the songwriting competition to take note of…” – New York Times
Letter of February 28, 2017 from Candace Avery informing John of his success in the 2016 International Songwriting Contest
Comprehensive Assessment Details – Songwriters Association Of Canada
Structure – Rated: Poor, Fair, Good, Very Good and N/A Assessment Results
| Criteria: | The structure is clear. The song has a beginning, middle and end. |
| Assessment: | Very Good |
| Comments: | The song is a very good structure and follows his narrative through a very natural progression. It sounds like you’ve written a few songs and have a good grasp of structure. |
| Criteria: | Title is well placed in the song. |
| Assessment: | Very Good |
| Comments: | terrific title placement with lots of repetitions to make it certain to your listener that the hook is the title. Great work. |
| Criteria: | Verse, chorus, and bridge are distinct |
| Assessment: | Very Good |
| Comments: | What I really like about this song and admire about the writing is that your sections have their own distinct nature but there is a really great flow to the song as it moves from part to part. |
| Lyrics – Rated: Poor, Fair, Good, Very Good and N/A
Assessment Results |
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| Criteria: | The title summarizes the idea of the song. |
| Assessment: | Very Good |
| Comments: | Absolutely. You could wish for a more clever hook but you would then miss the pure simplicity of the songs core message. A lot of song coaches have trouble with simple because they are on a constant search for the intrigue that comes with clever and they miss the truth that comes with simplicity. |
| Criteria: | The lyrics are original, not cliché. |
| Assessment: | Very Good |
| Comments: | This is my favourite kind of lyric because it is both original and universal at the same time. Again, it is quite easy to mistake songs that are universal as being cliché and that is not true. In the business that I am in which is song coaching you have to be able to distinguish between the two. I always use the analogy that when we like people we call them diligent and we don’t like them the same quality is considered stubbornness. there is a lot of that going around these days. You have found a terrific way of creating an original song that is both definitions of the word original in that it is original sounding in that I don’t think I’ve ever heard it before in other songs but it’s also nicely grounded in tradition which is the other definition of original. Great work. |
| Criteria: | The lyrics are easily understood |
| Assessment: | Very Good |
| Comments: | I got your song right away. |
| Criteria: | The lyrics are conversational |
| Assessment: | Very Good |
| Comments: | You are really good storyteller and so this is a great conversation sung to a tune and played by a great band. Lots to like. |
| Criteria: | The lyrics are well focused |
| Assessment: | Very Good |
| Comments: | You stay on topic really well and you have to for a song like this that drives a single message to its listener but I hope you also are able to challenge yourself by writing songs that also have more visual metaphors and images. Not good materials for this song and again it is good that you knew the difference. |
| Criteria: | The rhyme scheme is clear. |
| Assessment: | Very Good |
| Comments: | In a song like this it is imperative to use lots of perfect rhymes so the listener can sing along. The rule that you try and use imperfect rhymes (moon/room) for your verses and perfect rhymes (moon/June) for your choruses does not apply to this kind of song. |
| Music – Rated: Poor, Fair, Good, and Very Good | |
Assessment Results
| Criteria: | The melody is appealing |
| Assessment: | Very Good |
| Comments: | Very appealing. |
| Criteria: | The melody is memorable |
| Assessment: | Very Good |
| Comments: | Very hooky. I had it memorized in 2 listens. |
| Criteria: | The melody complements the lyrics |
| Assessment: | Very Good |
| Comments: | Great match. |
| Criteria: | The melody is consistent but not repetitive |
| Assessment: | Very Good |
| Comments: | Perfect. |
| Commercial Appeal – Rated: Poor, Fair, Good, Very Good and N/A
Assessment Results |
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| Criteria: | The presentation is contemporary |
| Assessment: | Very Good |
| Comments: | Very contemporary But also nicely rooted in tradition as well. I could easily hear this on the radio and not feel like it stood out as not fitting in But if I heard it on the radio today I would pay attention and want to know what was. |
| Criteria: | Plausible contemporary covers |
| Assessment: | Very Good |
| Comments: | This would be a great song for you to release obviously since you are a very good singer but I could also picture a Jason Mraz kind of artist wanted to do this song for sure. |
| Demo – Rated: Poor, Fair, Good, and Very Good | |
Assessment Results
| Criteria: | Recording quality |
| Assessment: | Very Good |
| Comments: | This is a great recording and it really does help sell the song. |
| Criteria: | Words and melody audible |
| Assessment: | Very Good |
| Comments: | Great vocal. |
| Criteria: | Vocal performance |
| Assessment: | Very Good |
| Comments: | The great vocal performance but I felt that this second and third verse lyric did not sit as nicely on the melody rhythmically as the first verse did and this sometimes happens when the lyric is a little more wordy than you wanted to be to fit in the pocket nicely. It is a constant fight for getting the words to make sense but also getting them to fit in the pocket. I might approach this as an opportunity to edit the lyric of these two bottom verses to see if you can get the lyric to sit better or it may be an opportunity to rehearse those two verses till they sit better. It almost sounded to me as if you hadn’t fully decided where the stress syllables were going to land and how all the words were going to fit in your making those decisions as you were singing on the recording and those are better decisions to be final before you record and better decisions made with plenty of repetition so your melodic rhythm is completely predetermined and snug. |
| Criteria: | Instrumental performance |
| Assessment: | Very Good |
| Comments: | Really a fine playing recording. |
| Criteria: | Demo sells the song |
| Assessment: | Very Good |
| Comments: | Absolutely. This is releasable. |
| Overall – Rated from 1 – 10, 1 meaning “Poor” and 10 meaning “Excellent” | |
Rated from 1 – 10, 1 meaning “Poor” and 10 meaning “Excellent”
Assessment Results
| Criteria: | Artistic Level (Overall) |
| Assessment: | 8 |
| Comments: | When I write songs like this I love them because audiences and up having a good time, they preach a positive message and they are fun to sing and play. When people refer to songs like this as a ditty I feel like it is a shortsighted perspective for sure but I also hope that writers like you and I who can write a fun song that also has a profound message can then also write a song that has metaphors and images that are poetic and a gorgeous use of language as well. I hope you join me in striving for this duplicity in your artistic goals. |
| Criteria: | Commercial Potential (Overall) |
| Assessment: | 10 – Excellent |
| Comments: | The commercial potential for this song is through the roof. It would be comical to think that a song like this would not be able to attract a very large audience I hope you are able to take this song to market and prove me right. |
| Criteria: | Song Quality (Overall) |
| Assessment: | 9 |
| Comments: | There was a ton of upside to this listening experience and this was a very fun song to do an assessment on. To go over the two places that I felt you could work on would be redundant so moving forward the only thing to suggest would be to promote this song to give listeners a chance to enjoy it And I know listeners who deserve a fun song like this and also to keep writing to further explore the kinds of art that can come out of this talent you have been given and the skill that you have built. thank you for sharing your music with me today |
Detailed song assessment from The Songwriters Association Of Canada from November 14, 2016.
