We NEVER Tell Songwriters If Their Songs Are Good
30sThe blunt refusal to rate songs as good or bad shocks songwriters and sparks curiosity.
▶ Play ClipAI Summary
This video discusses a core principle of the How to Write Songs community: never tell a songwriter whether their song is good or bad. Instead, feedback should always be specific, actionable, and kind, because every song has something to teach the writer.
Chapters
[00:03]
The Songwriter's Request
A songwriter in the community expressed a wish: "I just wish that someone would tell me whether my songs are good or bad."
[00:34]
The Never-Do
The community's policy is to never tell a songwriter that their song is good or bad, no matter what.
[01:04]
Feedback Principles
Feedback given to songs and songwriters is always specific, actionable, and kind.
[01:19]
Every Song Teaches
Every single song you write has something to teach you, regardless of its quality.
[01:33]
Better Than It Already Is
The focus of feedback is on how to make a song better, no matter what state it is in.
[01:49]
Judgment Kills Learning
Imposing a good/bad judgment on a song misses the opportunity for growth and learning about songwriting.
The video argues that labeling songs as 'good' or 'bad' is an unkind and counterproductive habit; the purpose of feedback is to help songwriters improve, and every song is a learning opportunity.
Mentioned in this Video
Study Flashcards (4)
What is the one thing the community never tells a songwriter?
easy
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What is the one thing the community never tells a songwriter?
easy
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Whether their song is good or bad.
00:34
What three adjectives describe the feedback given to songwriters?
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What three adjectives describe the feedback given to songwriters?
easy
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Specific, actionable, and kind.
01:04
Why is it risky to label songs as 'good' or 'bad'?
medium
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Why is it risky to label songs as 'good' or 'bad'?
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It misses the opportunity for every song to teach us something about songwriting.
01:49
What is always the focus of feedback on a song?
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What is always the focus of feedback on a song?
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How to make that song better than it already is.
01:33
💡 Key Takeaways
⚖️
Never Good or Bad
Establishes the core principle: the community refuses to judge songs on a good/bad scale.
00:34
🔧
Specific, Actionable, Kind
Defines a constructive feedback framework that can be applied to any creative work.
01:04
💡
Every Song Teaches
Shifts the mindset from outcome to learning, a powerful reframe for artists.
01:19
⚖️
Judgment Misses Opportunity
Warns against the danger of binary evaluation in creative development.
01:49Full Transcript
[00:03] made a request of us a little while ago. And this request is something that we And this request is something that we will never ever heed. And I want to tell you what the request was. And I want to tell you why we will never ever do what
[00:19] >> [gasps] >> the songwriters that come to our membership community are often coming to get feedback on their songs. And this particular songwriter made a post inside the community. And the post essentially
[00:34] said, "I just wish that someone would tell me whether my songs are good or bad." And this is something that inside the How to Write Songs community, we will never ever do. We
[00:51] will never ever tell a songwriter that comes to us with a song comes to us with a song that their song is either good or bad. And I know it sounds counterintuitive because I know where this request comes
[01:04] from. I understand it. People don't want to waste their time. They don't want to waste their emotional energy on something if it maybe doesn't have legs. But when people come to us for feedback, the feedback that we give to songs and
[01:19] the feedback that we give to songs and songwriters is always specific, songwriters is always specific, actionable, and kind. Which means we are never going to do the unkindness to the song or the songwriter of putting a
[01:33] judgment on a song as being good or bad because truly every single song you write has something to teach you. And the feedback that we give on songs is all about, "How can you make this song, no matter what state it's in, better
[01:49] than it already is?" Because if we impose the judgment of good or bad on a song, what we do is we miss the opportunity that every single song has opportunity that every single song has to teach us something about songwriting.
