We chat with Vika & Linda at the 2023 Whitsundays Songwriter Festival, to shine a light on their journey as artists and songwriters - from singing with The Black Sorrows, to discovering their artistic sound as a duo, finding the songs to record for their first album, and how they started writing songs as established artists.

Timestamp:
2:27 - Exploring Song Selection for Albums
4:47 - The Evolution of Choosing Songs
6:59 - Diverse Sounds and Genre Experimentation
9:08 - The Gospel Album Journey
12:07 - Refining Song Choices Over the Decades
12:40 - Entering the World of Songwriting
15:27 - The Rolodex and Collaborations
15:54 - Listening to Demos and Musical Intuition
18:05 - Authenticity Over Spit and Polish

About Vika & Linda: Vika & Linda have enjoyed a remarkable musical journey over the past 3 decades. After three classic albums with The Black Sorrows, Melbourne’s Bull sisters, Vika & Linda released eight studio albums, two live albums and a chart-topping anthology. They have also sung on number one albums by Paul Kelly, Kasey Chambers and John Farnham, done gigs for the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela and the King of Tonga, and been nominated for six ARIA Awards. Contact Vika & Linda: Website / Facebook / Instagram

This episode was recorded at the Whitsundays Songwriter Festival.

Find out more and contact us at I Heart Songwriting Club & Francesca de Valence.

Get your creativity, confidence, and songwriting output flowing. Join The Club and receive the support and structure to write 10 songs in 10 weeks and get feedback from a private peer community.

Just getting started on your songwriting journey and need more hands-on support? Establish a firm foundation and develop your musical and lyric skills with our Beginner Songwriting Courses.

Don’t struggle to write your next album - write an album a year with ease! Watch our Free Songwriting Masterclass.

Get songwriting insights from I Heart Songwriting Club: Instagram / Facebook / YouTube

Be inspired by Francesca on socials: YouTube / Facebook / Instagram

Theme song: “Put One Foot In Front Of The Other One” music and lyrics by Francesca de Valence

If you love this episode, please subscribe, leave a review and tell everyone you know about The Magic of Songwriting.

Not every songwriter will get a publishing deal, so we pose some questions to Mark Sholtez that may help songwriters understand how they can succeed as a songwriter without a music publishing deal. Having had success both as a published and self-published songwriter, Mark offers invaluable insights to this question.

Timestamp:
3:00 - What is an essential element of being a songwriter?
5:25 - Tips for getting in a room with other artists
8:06 - What does having a publisher mean for a songwriter and is it still necessary to have a publisher?
10:40 - How can you make the most of your publishing deal if you’re not an artist?
12:25 - What quality of demos do you need for pitching your songs to artists?
13:39 - Mark shares the key steps that enabled him to get his publishing deal

About Mark Sholtez:

Mark Sholtez is an ARIA nominated and APRA award-winning songwriter and recording artist currently signed to EMI Music Publishing Australia. He was the first Australian artist to record for the legendary Verve record label in New York, and his career to date has included collaborations with music industry icons including Tommy LiPuma (Barbra Streisand, George Benson, Miles Davis), Grammy Lifetime Achievement recipient and noted veteran engineer Al Schmitt (Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson), multiple Grammy winning producer Larry Klein (Joni Mitchell, Herbie Hancock, Tracy Chapman), as well as internationally renowned artists and songwriters including Don Walker (Cold Chisel), The Veronicas, Iain Archer (Snow Patrol), Troy Cassar-Daley, and Wendy Mathews. Contact Mark Sholtez: Website / Facebook / Instagram

This episode was recorded at the Whitsundays Songwriter Festival.

Find out more and contact us at I Heart Songwriting Club & Francesca de Valence.

Get your creativity, confidence, and songwriting output flowing. Join The Club and receive the support and structure to write 10 songs in 10 weeks and get feedback from a private peer community.

Just getting started on your songwriting journey and need more hands-on support? Establish a firm foundation and develop your musical and lyric skills with our Beginner Songwriting Courses.

Don’t struggle to write your next album - write an album a year with ease! Watch our Free Songwriting Masterclass.

Get songwriting insights from I Heart Songwriting Club: Instagram / Facebook / YouTube

Be inspired by Francesca on socials: YouTube / Facebook / Instagram

Theme song: “Put One Foot In Front Of The Other One” music and lyrics by Francesca de Valence

If you love this episode, please subscribe, leave a review and tell everyone you know about The Magic of Songwriting.

Music publishing is an area of the music industry that is complex and hard to get a handle on so we ask publisher and 2019 Billboard International Power Player, Rachel Kelly all the hard questions: What is a music publisher? How do they support songwriters? And do you really need a publishing deal? This episode is a solid overview of music publishing and how they can support songwriters.

Timestamp:
4:45 - What does a publisher do?
8:50 - How do publishers pitch songs to artists?
15:00 - We talk selling songs vs selling catalogues
19:35 - Pitching for Sync vs Pitching for A&R Cuts
26:00 - Examples of publishing deals
33.50 - How to get a publishing deal?

About Rachel:
With over 20 years’ experience in music publishing, Rachel Kelly has held executive roles at both major and independent publishers including Downtown, BMG Rights Management, J Albert & Son (Alberts) and Warner/Chappell. In 2019 Rachel was named as a Billboard International Power Player. She served for two years as a board member for the Australasian Music Publishers Association (AMPAL) and mentor for Women in Music.

Find out more and contact us at I Heart Songwriting Club & Francesca de Valence.

Get your creativity, confidence, and songwriting output flowing. Join The Club and receive the support and structure to write 10 songs in 10 weeks and get feedback from a private peer community.

Just getting started on your songwriting journey and need more hands-on support? Establish a firm foundation and develop your musical and lyric skills with our Beginner Songwriting Courses.

Don’t struggle to write your next album - write an album a year with ease! Watch our Free Songwriting Masterclass.

Get songwriting insights from I Heart Songwriting Club: Instagram / Facebook / YouTube

Be inspired by Francesca on socials: YouTube / Facebook / Instagram

Theme song: “Put One Foot In Front Of The Other One” music and lyrics by Francesca de Valence

If you love this episode, please subscribe, leave a review and tell everyone you know about The Magic of Songwriting.