I recently had a bad experience with a song that was sent to me for review. It had started out nicely, caught my attention, had my interest up, and proceeded to go downhill (actually, it went in too many different directions), to where I had to decline it.
So, understandably, I was a bit cautious as I continued to listen to “Sweet Song” from Waking Up Production. Fortunately for me, this one did not disappoint, and, with a smile on my face, I was able to hit the Approve button.
It doesn’t hurt that I was always a Vanessa Williams fan, and this song seems to have that kind of a feel to it. Plus, if you’ve read some of my previous song reviews, I tend to lean towards the songs that take the KISS approach – Keep It Simple, Stupid.
“Sweet Song” is repetitious, sure, but in a good way. They kept it simple, and I didn’t get lost in a lyrical maze or some cryptic message. Plus, wow, they got to it right away.
Sometimes I have found myself giving feedback to an artist and telling them that they took way too long to get moving with their song. It’s then that I also remind them that people in the music industry – any folks who they’re trying to get the attention of, presumably for some kind of bigger opportunity – are not going to hang around and wait and wait to see where your song is going to go, what it’s going to do. And thankfully “Sweet Song” is already off and running in the opening five seconds!
In fact, the Waking Up Production collaborators were so economical with their time that while the song’s running time is only 2:48, they’d accomplished what they needed to early enough so that they had room for a synth bed to finish things out.
What’s unique about that is that I just saw a new single released a couple weeks ago that was more than six minutes long. Will radio stations clamor to get a song of that length on the air? I honestly can’t be too sure. However, “Sweet Song” for sure I can easily see being played on jazz stations.
Now, who knows, the artist might read this and say, “Jazz? More like Adult Contemporary, fella.” And isn’t that the proverbial good problem to have? The point being that maybe you get airplay on a jazz station or two or ten. And perhaps one or more adult contemporary stations do decide to put your song into rotation as well. Who knows, there might even be a wildcard out there that adds the song as well. And now you’re getting your song played, period, which is the goal, after all.
I might be putting the cart before the horse by saying that from there maybe it lands some film or TV placement. But, stranger things have been known to happen. In fact, I just recently declined a song sent to me while still telling the artist that I could see it ending up being successful with sync. So, never say never because the possibilities are endless in this day and age of content creation and the numerous platforms where your song could end up.
It’s worth noting the collaborative effort on this song, as you might’ve guessed from an artist name like Waking Up Production. I didn’t spend time researching who they are, although the copyright notice on Spotify lists three names. There’s strength in numbers, two (or, in this case, three) heads are better than one, and, that’s three times as many people promoting the song than what we’d traditionally see. Collabs, as we all know, have become ever so popular nowadays and there’s a reason for that. Hats off to everyone involved in making “Sweet Song” exactly that.
Are you a music maker and want to bounce something off of me? For almost 20 years I have been helping indie artists from throughout the U.S. (as well as authors, entrepreneurs, actors and filmmakers, podcasters, and small business owners). I invite you to tap into all the experience by calling me through the Owwll app so we can have a chat about you and your pursuits. Let’s talk about any challenges you’re facing and how we can get you continuing forward.