Customer Reviews

How to Write a Hit Song: The Complete Guide to Writing and Marketing Chart Topping Lyrics & Music

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Molly-Ann Leikin is without doubt a skilled songwriter, but her book 'How to Write a Hit Song' barely begins to convey the complexities of this particular art form. Written with typical American hyperbole and Californian eccentricity, I found the book more and more annoying and irrelevant as I went through it. Sure there are some good ideas and some nifty tips, but when only eight pages are devoted to lyrics and four pages to rhymes without any explanation or examples of the different types of rhymes songwriters employ, one has to wonder if she is interested in communicating her knowledge to others. I was hoping for a book packed full of examples of song lyrics - only two appear in the whole book! How can budding lyricists/composers be expected to progress in their chosen art form if copious examples of excellence from others are missing? Her chapter on making time to write seemed to be written from the perspective of one at the top of her profession, with its attendant lifestyle. Frankly, knowing that she spent an entire flight locked in the aircraft toilet so she could write in peace, or that a friend of hers parks by the Queen Mary to do his composing is of little practical use to me. The one section I was hoping would be useful was on marketing and publishing one's work. Again, a disappointment as everything seemed to revolve around Power Phoning, Power Packages and Power Lunches. Well, it might work in the good ol' USA, but we do things differently here. Ever heard of agents? Sorry Miss Leikin! If you want a really good book on writing songs read 'The Song Writers Idea Book' by Sheila Davis. That will tell you just about everything you want to know.

I've been writing songs for twenty-two years with the usual confusion and heartbreak. But THIS book pulled it all together for me. I just got three big cuts and I owe it all to Molly Leiken's "How To Write A Hit Song."
Bravo.

It felt like Mollie was talking just to me. What a good coach. Improved my melodies immediately. Now we're talking. I listened to the whole course three times while stuck on the Long Island Expressway. Now I'm a staffwriter with several cuts. Still stuck on the Long Island Expressway, but at least now I'm paid to do what I love." I found this completely inspiring."

This book is not about writing hit songs but more about how to persist and make contacts. If that's an art form then this is a useful book but I have read many pep-talk books in other topics in the past.

This book will not tell you how to write a hit song, if such a thing can actually be taught, which I very much doubt. What this book will tell you is that you need communication skills and constant persistence to succeed. And even then you still need a lot of luck. However, there may very not be a science to writing hit songs other than that one must be willing to do anything, write anything and go anywhere. Most unsuccessful songwriters either can't or won't. 4-stars because I read it cover to cover so it certainly isn't boring.

I bought this book in order to learn how to write lyrics and make great songs. Not only did this book help me accomplish my dreams but it took it another step further! The author is a RENOWNED hit songwriter, with an Emmy Nomination, gold records from Anne Murray and Placido Domingo and four ASCAP Country Music awards. She wrote the theme songs for 28 television shows!! Who better to learn from than a pro already in the industry with great successes.
The book is organized very well by chapters as follows:
1. Song structure
2.The melody
3. Rhyming
4. The all important title
5.Collaborationg
6.Making time to write
7.Stimulating creativity
8.Overcoming writing Blocks
9.Publishing your songs
10.Making money in the meantime
11.Seasons
12.Music on the internet
THis is the newest addition. It is the 4th edition and I especially like the chapters about marketing your songs. This was a great help, becuase most musicians do not have a clue what to do with their songs and who to send them to.
Buy this book... it is a great resource for all singer songwriters!

This is an "idiot's guide" to music producing and it takes you from the first baby steps up to the terrain of the big bucks. The book will show you everything that you need to know about promoting your music, abut writing it and about choosing the best artist to perform. This book will surely teach you to produce a No1 Hit that will get you famous in no time. With an easy structure and the step by step style it's easy to understand and follow, innovative and a pleasure to read.

Songwriting consultant and recipient of two gold records, one platinum record, and one double-platinum records, and composer/writer for 38 television themes and movie scores, Molly-Ann Leikin draws upon her considerable experience and expertise to show aspiring song writers how to not only create hit lyrics and compose successful melodies, but such essential songwriter tasks as crafting song structure, collaborating, securing a publisher, recording the song, and marketing music on the Internet. How To Write A Hit Song is a fundamental necessity for any aspiring songwriter, and an ideal introduction, instruction, and reference guide regardless of the category, genre or niche of their music.

Molly provides a more humorous approach to the "psychological" aspect of songwriting, in a way EVERY songwriter (who's really trying to do this for a living) can relate to!