One of the hardest questions to answer these days when it comes to newer writers is
"If you can’t make any money at any of this, what is the point of writing songs? "
It’s a very good question and is one that everyone trying to be involved in this wrestles with constantly. But people write for different reasons.
Some people write for therapy, self-growth, and introspection. Some write for friends and loves ones, family, whatever. Some pursue it as a hobby they had when they were younger. Most younger people try to emulate those ahead of them who are doing the same thing. And yes, some do it for an attempt at the brass ring, to monetize, or build a career. These people probably need therapy, but I digress.
Most everyone is trying to share what is inside of themselves, with as many people that will listen to them.
I’ve never met one writer who wants to be the best writer in their living room.
I liken these people to the game of GOLF. What is GOLF?
It's millions upon millions upon millions of people spending BILLIONS UPON BILLIONS of dollars on equipment, lessons .travel, clothes, greens fees, magazine and literature subscriptions, and less than a percent of a percent of a percent will ever be even in a best ball tournament, at their local course, much less headed for their PGA card.
What is music and songwriting? Millions upon million upon MILLIONS of people, spending billions of billions of billions of dollars on equipment, lessons, travel, clothes, fees, recordings, magazine and literature subscriptions, and less than a percent of a percent of a percent, will ever get anyone outside of friends and family to hear anything they do, much less get deals, hit songs or anything resembling a career. And with the onslaught of AI (Artificial Intelligence) that turns EVERYONE and their phone into a songwriting team, look for that to expand by hundreds of millions.
So what to do?

WHY I WRITE SONGS
I got started with two friends, Ray Parker and Barry Dobbins of Birmingham, Alabama, in 1975 in the basement of my Fathers’ house in Mountain Brook. One night while jamming, Barry played Drums, Ray played guitar and I played bass, badly. And we came across three separate grooves, wrote up some silly lyrics, and we were off and running. To celebrate, my compadres convinced me to break the seal on my Dad’s new fifth of Jack Daniels, and for me, the idiot, to turn it up and drink the whole thing, ala John Belushi in ANIMAL HOUSE. Except HIS was TEA. MINE WAS BOURBON. I was the SICKEST I HAD EVER BEEN, THREW UP FOR A WEEK, AND NEARLY DIED. Literally.
CAUTION!, DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME. You could actually DIE!
But it steered me away from hard liquor for the rest of my life and I can’t even SMELL bourbon without getting physically ill. Sorry about that tour at the JACK DANIELS distillery a few years ago. We haven’t been invited back.
At any rate, that is what kicked off this habit of mine, and through the bands BITTERSWEET AND 24 KARAT, and then my move in 1988, to Nashville, where I actually had to learn to do this stuff, It has been an interesting experience. I have written over 4000 songs, over 2500 written from Oct 2003, when a couple from California, Cliff and Bev Nelson, convinced me to start teaching it. And that is where I have been since then. You can blame or thank them.
When I approach songwriting, they are what I call
“TEACHING LESSONS WITH A PRACTICAL APPLICATION EFFECT.” They are REAL SONGS, to the best of my ability, written with all types of people. Young newbies, experienced, grownups, older people in their Golden Retirement years, all types and creeds, some with stars in their eyes, some artists, some doctors, lawyers, teachers, scientists. pilots, military people (and their wives) and more than a few honky-tonkers, jazz dudes, blues aficionados, bluegrassers, gospel folks, comedians, you name it, I’ve probably written it.
And yeah, I’ve had some success. From my first cut on my first night in town. “THAT’S WHERE IT HURTS” (written with my Dad, Grady Ross Barnette, and my Birmingham Mentor, Ron Muir) that wound up in a WILLIE NELSON/KRIST KRISTOFFERSON TV movie, ANOTHER PAIR OF ACES, performed by artist, SHEBLY LYNNE, cuts on country artists, JOHN BERRY, DAVID LEE MURPHY, FRANKIE BALLARD, SHAWN MURPHY, and classic rock legends, IDES OF MARCH. Yeah, its been a lot of fun.
In the teaching aspect, hundreds of those songs have taken on lives of their own, some I don’t even know about. Rarely does a week go by that someone doesn’t send me a link to a video or a song or tell me of something we wrote 5-10-20 years ago, that has gone on to help them. Some have helped people find deals, win contests, pass auditions, and have helped them open doors they didn’t even know existed.
Some, have taken very interesting turns. The woman in California, who was going through Cancer, who in one session, we wrote a song about her struggle and victories. A couple year later I would receive a call from her son, telling me she had passed, and one of her greatest experiences had been writing that song, “IN IT TO WIN.“ She had played it for her Cancer awareness group, and had the framed lyrics and the CD on her table beside her when she died. Other groups
That’s why I write songs. TO TOUCH LIVES.
So when I write songs, it is about MUCH MORE THAN JUST THE SONG. It’s about the PROCESS OF WRITING SONGS. That is what I’m paid for. Not to write. TO TEACH ABOUT WRITING. And I always have to have my own criteria.

#1. Is the participant (participants) lives, stories, relationships, encapsulated in this song?
Does it do something for them, they didn’t think about?
#2. Is this song something they DON’T have in their catalogue?
#3. Is this song easily relatable to the general public? Will it be something they can sing along with, laugh to, cry to, does it hit their emotional lives but also the physical lives?
#4. Does this teach the participant something about their overall songwriting approach? Does it make them look at the rest of their material in a more disciplined way?
#5. When this song is played, live, recorded, videoed, does it stand up every time?
#6. When the participant performs the song, does it make their performance stand out? Does it make audience, or even more important, other song writers, talk to them, invite to perform on more opportunities, does it help them rise above others in their co-writers, their writers’ nights, their gig opportunities, their overall standing in their community?
#7. Do the songs have lines, ear worms, singable melodies, that stick with people and become quotable or is it just the same average rhymes, story, subject matter? Is there a “twist on the tail” or “rope of hope” that picks the song up and leaves the listener with a better feeling for having heard it. There is nothing more flattering as when someone comes up and quotes you lines from your songs or mentions it in conversation.
#8. Does the song hold up over time. It’s very interesting and rewarding when someone either sends me something we wrote and recorded years ago, or something I didn’t even know they had recorded, and the song is STILL FRESH and interesting and holds the listeners attention.
#9. Does the song meet the BIG REQUIREMENT? To elicit TWO responses from the listeners:
“Oh My God, you’re writing my life! Or
“Oh my God, you’re writing my life, and I NEVER THOUGHT OF IT LIKE THAT!”
So that is my approach and my directive. I’m very fortunate to have done this for many years, and I have very little that I regret. I have always felt fortunate by the people I have met written and performed with, interacted with and overall just had a great time with.
And if you have ever written, or performed with me, learned anything from my teaching, workshops, tours, I want to thank you for sharing your life with me. Thank you for allowing me to help you in your overall journey, Whether you are on top of the charts, or just the best for your friends, I hope that I have brought a little something to you that has helped you out.
It's more like the “teach a person to fish” analogy. Give a person a fish, and they’ll eat that day.
Teach a person to fish and they’ll eat forever.
I hope I’ve helped people learn to fish.
It's like that old phrase from one of the songs.
“YOU DON’T CHOOSE MUSIC, MUSIC CHOOSES YOU.”
I hope when it comes to me, you feel it’s chosen wisely.

Marc-Alan Barnette
May 12, 2025
www.musicchoosesyou.com