By Michael Laskow

Musicians get a bad rap for being artistic, but not very well motivated. I disagree based on the number of songwriters, artists and composers who ask me how they can keep their music motivation level high.

The best tip I can give you is to write down your goals. If they’re staring you in the face every day, you’re bound to stay more motivated. Guilt is one of the great motivational forces.

But writing down your goals may not be enough. Choosing goals that are realistic and achievable will keep your music motivation level high as you tick them off one by one.

Some examples:

  1. Write down at least one song title per day.
  2. Create at least one simple melody each day.
  3. Write down at least one lyric idea per day.
  4. Revisit your lyric, melody and title ideas at the end of each week.
  5. Take the best of those ideas and put them on their own page and use them as a song starter.
  6. Read a songwriting book. Try to read one chapter each day – optimally when you have the time to act on what you’ve just learned.

Maybe the best idea of all is to stay abreast of what record companies, music publishers, and film & TV music supervisors are currently looking for. If you know what the targets are, you’ll be much more motivated to create songs ad tracks that you can pitch to them.

The best way I know (and I must admit, I’m somewhat partial) is to sign up for TAXI’s Industry Listings. They’re free, and you’ll get updates twice a month. You can look through 100 different requests for music from some of the top companies in the music business. If that’s not enough to keep your music motivation at an all time high level, I don’t know what is!

Here’s a link to get your free subscription to TAXI’s Industry Listings.

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