Your First Song Doesn't Have to Be Your Best Song

Many artists hold songs back. They have different reasons for doing it.

“I’m not done yet.”

“I don’t think it’s good enough.”

“I feel like something is missing.”

It’s hard to be a musician. You are often your own worst critic, while at the same time needing to be the person who believes the most in your own work.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of asking, Is this commercial enough? Is this good enough? Or listening to a thousand people around you telling you a thousand different things.

And there you are, the person who actually created the song, thinking:

Maybe this isn’t the best one.

My advice?

Stop.

There will always be people around you with opinions. Some will be professionals, some will be other musicians, some will be fans, and some simply won’t like what you do. Artists have been questioned, rejected and told that their ideas wouldn’t work for as long as people have been making music.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t listen to advice. Of course you should. Someone else may hear something you have completely missed.

But there is a difference between listening to advice and allowing someone else to take ownership of your vision.

You have the blueprint for how your music is supposed to sound. Other people can help you build it, but ultimately you have to be the one who decides:

Does this still sound like me?

Perfect According to Whom?

You also need to get around the idea that every song you release has to be perfect.

Only the best song I have ever written will do.

No.

Because your fans probably won’t agree with you anyway.

Ask people who listen to your music which song they like the most and you may get completely different answers. You have your own favourites too, and they may not be the same songs your listeners choose.

That’s part of the beauty of music.

Once you put a song out there, you no longer get to decide exactly what it will mean to everyone who hears it.

So get the message out there.

As a music manager, I have seen many artists and bands trying to get everything right, right away. Instead, I think it helps to see your creations, and your development as an artist, as a journey.

You don’t know where you will end up.

You will discover different influences as you create more. You will change. Your style will change. Sometimes slightly. Sometimes dramatically.

Is that wrong?

No.

A road is never really a straight line between A and B. It’s crooked. There are turns and detours, and just when you think you’re almost there, a bridge is gone and you have to drive a long way around anyway.

Music can be like that too.

I have seen this happen several times.

One artist I worked with had been trying for years to release a particular song. It began as a poem, and several people had tried to put music to it, rewrite it or influence it in different directions.

The result?

There was still no song out there.

When I started working with her, we did something different. We worked from her vision of the song.

Not mine. Not a mid-sized record label’s. Hers.

I could give her pointers. I could help. But she had the final decision.

Could I have tried to make the song more commercial?

Probably.

But would that have been her vision?

No.

That experience reinforced something I have come to believe strongly: advice should help an artist realise their vision, not replace it.

A Release Is a Snapshot

One of the things I often tell artists is: don’t think too much.

That doesn’t mean every idea you write down should immediately be released. But if you thought an idea was good enough to write, it probably has something.

So try it.

Play it at a small show. Make a draft recording and send it to some of your fans. See what happens when the song leaves your own head and reaches someone else.

You will always be able to perfect things.

You can do another take. Add another effect. Change the mix. Rewrite a line. Record the guitar again.

There will almost always be something you could still change.

But at some point, perhaps the more important question is not:

Could I make this better?

It is:

Does this tell the story or convey the message I wanted it to?

If you and the people listening can feel that it does, maybe it is already doing its job.

And remember: a release is not the only and final version of a song.

It’s a snapshot.

When you perform the song live, you may develop it. You may find new ideas in it. Years later, you might record it again. You might release a live version. You may even listen back to the original and wonder why you made some of the choices you made.

That’s okay.

The release wasn’t the final stop for the song, and it certainly wasn’t the final stop for you as an artist.

I have been a musician my whole life. I have released more than 50 songs on different platforms. I have played numerous gigs and performed with a lot of incredibly talented musicians. I have worked with PR agents, labels, radio hosts, editors and social media managers. Some experiences have been more successful than others.

Am I done as an artist?

Not really.

I still feel like I’m just getting started.

Have I written my best song yet?

I really hope I haven’t.

And you know what?

I hope you haven’t either.