Here at InsiderMusicBusiness.com, we’re introducing Ed Teja as our new Featured Writer. Ed has already started to write in the last few weeks and as he continues I would like to get to know him a bit more and where he’s taking his writing with this blog. I asked him five questions, and here are his responses:

1. Ed, what’s your background in the music industry?

At first I played for the love of it–high school bands, playing in coffee houses, anywhere there was an audience. Songwriting followed almost immediately, although mostly just to have material that I liked to sing. As music became a more significant part of my life, I studied arranging formally, and took jazz guitar seminars in Los Angeles with Howard Roberts.

Mostly I traveled a lot. That exposed me to a variety of music and gave me the chance to play in bars and other venues in Asia and The Caribbean. In Hong Kong, a friend and I started an outrageous blues band (we played the Hong Kong Convention Centre) and although he is now in Canada and I am in the US, we still collaborate on outrageous music. Moving back to the US got me playing new venues in the US and Canada (I was featured on TV Ontario), including a number of blues and folk festivals, but I grew disenchanted with earning my living playing live. That’s when I really focused on songwriting as serious business. I managed to place some songs I had already recorded in television shows and got hooked.

Today I work through a number of music libraries, write (and cowrite) songs for some emerging artists, and I am cowriting a number of songs with the lovely singer (in every sense of the word) Victoria Lagerstrom (www.victorialagerstrom.com) for her second CD. I’ve also been writing music for videos. I placed a song in a small budget DVD and since have done the music for a number of promotional CDs for book authors. I am also working with some other video makers on some speculative projects. It is all great fun.

2. You’ve been involved for 25 years or more so you’ve seen over a length of time the changes in the music industry. Where do you think the music industry is going? What’s the trend saying?

The way people use and value music is the biggest change. Music is so pervasive in our lives, there is so much that is available, that paying the going rate for a CD doesn’t seem to offer value. Clubs increasingly have trouble charging a cover for live music. this forces musicians, songwriters, music publishers, everyone in the business to be more creative and more businesslike. Like any other change, it has its ups and downs. If someone is comfortable in a niche, they hate to see it go, but change is the currency of the music business, whether you are talking about the music or the way it is presented and marketed.

3. As a songwriter, what do you think is missing from most songwriters knowledge and repertoire these days and what guidance can you give to them?

Most songwriters, myself included, often write songs for themselves. While there is nothing wrong with that, if you want to be successful you need to understand the market you are writing for. Success demands that you develop a feel for the market. And the term “market” is an elusive one, because it includes current trends in the musical genre as well as the changing tastes of the listeners–the consumers (although that term isn’t always appropriate), and the musical formats that are being used. It means understanding the role of video in this market. So the short answer is that what is missing from the knowledge base of many, especially beginning songwriters is how to find out what is going to be needed tomorrow, and then how to create that.

4. What are the kinds of topics you are going to be covering on the InsiderMusicBusiness.com blog over the next few weeks and months?

To address this problem of understanding the markets, I plan to look a lot at various approaches to keeping your finger on the pulse of the business and the genres. I will look at a variety of ways you can get your songs out there, and a lot of what it takes to be competitive. I am going to let some colleagues speak about their experiences in breaking into specific markets, whether it is writing for television or creating songs for artists.

We will take a look at cowriting, which is a specialized form of networking, and how networking in general applies (or doesn’t) to songwriters. And, related to that, we will examine how songwriters need to prioritize their time if they are going to have any songs to take to market. How do you build and organize your song catalog? Do you write songs on speculation, or place them for credit only? These are not simple issues.

The overall intention is to inject some common sense into the business end of things, so the songwriter who is just starting can learn to determine which of the services available are serious, and which are just a way for songwriters to spend money they don’t have.There are many great resources in books and online, unfortunately a number of the people and places that cater to songwriters do little for the money they charge, and are mostly good at finding new things to charge you for.

As we get feedback from readers, I will research answers to their questions and offer strategies to their dilemmas. My hope is that the site will become increasingly interactive.

5. If you had to give one piece of wisdom or advice to upcoming talented musicians, artists and songwriters, what would it be?

Plan to be in the business for the long haul and never stop learning. That sounds like two things, but they are inseparable.

Click here to read posts by Ed Teja at the InsiderMusicBusiness.com blog.

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About the Author

Kavit Haria

adminKavit Haria is the founder of InsiderMusicBusiness.com. He writes and speaks on the topics of music promotion, music business strategy and music entrepreneurship. He's also a Tabla player.

One Response to “Interview with new Featured Writer and Songwriter, Ed Teja.”

  1. I think Ed is a smart man and seems to know what he is talking about. I am really trying to get more in touch with my song writing, I am teaching my self Guitar to help me with this. I feel every great musician knows how to play an instrument! What do you think?

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