On average, 590 people per month all around the world ask this question. My first question is what does “better” mean? Does it mean to write songs more people will like? Does it mean more sophisticated songs?
I’m not really going to talk about that in this post but it’s worth checking out my post about “is my music good enough” for an exploration into the idea of what better means. I am more interested in talking about a business idea as it relates to writing better songs.
Lagging VS Leading Indicators
Leading Indicators: Think of these as early warning signs, like that first raindrop before a storm. Leading indicators give you a heads-up about what might happen in the future. For instance, if you’re trying to figure out if your business is gonna boom, you might look at website traffic or social media engagement. If those numbers are rising, it’s like a thumbs-up for the future.
Lagging Indicators: These are the rear-view mirrors of prediction. They tell you what’s already happened, like the final score of a game. In business, lagging indicators might include revenue or customer satisfaction scores. These numbers show the results of past actions.
How Does This Help Me Write Better Songs?
Let’s look at this in terms of songwriting and how you might measure and use leading and lagging indicators to help refine your song writing abilities.
Leading Indicators: Melody pays attention to her daily creative habits. She tracks how often she picks up her guitar, works on lyric writing, and tries to come up with new melodies. These are her leading indicators. If she’s consistently working on her craft and finding fresh inspiration, it’s a good sign her songwriting skills are moving forward.
Melody also monitors her music theory and songwriting courses. If she’s actively engaged in these classes and consistently learning new techniques, it’s like a leading indicator pointing towards her growth as a songwriter.
Lagging Indicators: Now, let’s fast forward a few months. Melody has been diligently practising and expanding her musical knowledge. The lagging indicators start to show their value. She’s got a collection of well-crafted songs under her belt> She’s sharing these songs on social media and her fanbase is growing. Maybe she even has a few gigs lined up.
Her first EP gets released, and it starts to gain attention. She’s earning positive reviews, getting more radio play, and her Spotify streams are climbing. These are lagging indicators because they show the results of all her hard work. The numbers and feedback tell her that she’s become a better songwriter.
The Takeaway: As you work on your songwriting skills keep a record of your activities. If you’re nerdy like me you could even create a spreadsheet tracking your time spent doing these activities. The point is that what you do today for 15 minutes, changes where you’ll be in 6 months with your songwriting. Consistency is key and you’ve gotta learn to love the daily practice (leading indicator) you do so you can experience the culmination of that work in better songs (lagging indicator).
p.s. I have a 10-week mini-course to help songwriters develop a songwriting habit.
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