Broadjam Pro Song Reviews

Broadjam Artist: Sergio Simone
Song: Take My Advice

Broadjam Pro Reviewer:
Diana Williamson (Songwriter, Music Supervisor)

Pro General Comments: Dear Sergio from Kleinburg- ha ha- where is the contact button on your site- to contact you direct? Try emailing me again- it's been very hectic and I can't seem to find it.As usual- Please be advised that I don't comment on individual instrumentation as my forte is more in the overall picture- lyrics, melody, arrangements and marketing.The word appalling sounds like a convenient rhyme- songs usually do best with everyday speech- not something that feels tacked on. Some of the lyrics here have a feel that they are mostly too easy rhymes- "quick as a flash/make a mad dash"- appalling/calling, what she's like, took a hike. You want to use phrases that you would use when talking to a friend- more or less- so they have that natural flow to them. Be careful of this. For eg "give her the news" isn't something you would really say to a friend.Vocal sounds a bit sing song-ey- versus the subject matter which could be a bit more angst ridden concerning the topic. This singer isn't selling me this song. I am too aware of his vocal instead of what he's saying. You might want to look for a richer bluesy voice- one that has more color. You don't have to be too clever in a blues song- sometimes its just about the singer - saying he's hurting- is enough. But that voice has to draw us in immediately. Maybe study some Robert Cray for ideas?- he deals with those subjects but also has a catchiness to his work that some blues don't always have. Eg- https://youtu.be/2gQEDwjhaDE?list=PLUmnnNR3rRsR2vdw9b765Jow6ZgICtqL-

Quote From Pro: Sergio Simone's songs tell stories from the heart.

Broadjam Artist: John Hazlett
Song: No Longer Home

Broadjam Pro Reviewer:
David Weiss (Music Supervisor)

Pro General Comments: John, thanks for submitting "No Longer Home." I thought this was a stronger track than "I'm So Lonely Without You," primarily because I think the chorus has a good, strong hook. I like the way it has a motivational feel to it, like something or someone continuing to drive on in the night. That would be a good scene choice for this song, BTW -- someone or something that has to keep on going. Again, your instrumentation/arrangements need some work. There's not enough going on to maintain listener interest throughout the song. It seems to wander again in the verse sections, but again the chorus is a nice strong hook. It reminded me, in a good way, of Giorgio Moroder's sounds in "Scarface," which is a great soundtrack. The military inspiration of your work makes this a good match for themes of battle/war. I could also see it being used for montage scenes, where they have to show a lot of progress being made to build/rebuild a vehicle or something similar. This song shows more of your potential as a songwriter. Keep it up!

Quote From Pro: A moving and motivational track.

Broadjam Artist: matt taylor
Song: Like A Mountain

Broadjam Pro Reviewer:
Tirk Wilder (Songwriter, Performer)

Pro General Comments: Like A Mountain - Matt Taylor 062815Nice ballad. Love song for your lady?You have a great melodic feel, as usual. And I like hearing songs from the standpoint of rawness, just you and your trusty nylon strings.I need to state at the outset that you have limited your chances of getting it picked up by a publisher just by dint of the fact that it IS a ballad. Most (I dare say ALL that could do you any good) publishers are lousy with ballads. But more on that in a second.Some of these lines are strong and could be left as is. I'll come back to that, too, but first I want to talk about song form.If you are looking to make this song stand on its own, there needs to be some kind of repetitive theme somewhere that is the reason for the whole song. You only have your hook, your title, ONCE in the song. Your second Chorus contains a completely different lyrical content than the first, and my ear found that confusing. If this is a song you want to use in live performance, I would suggest repeating the first chorus in that slot, getting your hook in there again. THEN, maybe take the lyrical content of the second chorus and make it into a bridge instead. Maybe with a whole new melody and chord structure, even.Then, I might consider changing the melody of the verses ever so slightly. For instance. The word "know" ends up as an "E" note. Okay, make the word "grow" turn out to be a G# or a B. Some small variance every other line that eliminates the possibility of monotony.Small suggestions: "loving you it made my life begin," ditch the "it". No extra unnecessary syllables.The line "My love will weather through" could be better as "My love weathers through".The line "like a mountain I go to the sea" bothers me because, for the life of me, I can't recall any reports of mountains suddenly barging into the sea. Mountain STREAMS REACH the sea... Mountains don't "go to the sea". You could try something like "until the mountains sink in the sea," and I might could buy THAT.Okay, so, summarizing:Change the arrangement to be Verse, Chorus, Verse, Chorus, (NEW) BRIDGE, Chorus and out. The Chorus should be the "Like a Mountain" passage, and the Bridge will be the "I'll find you in the sky" passage, with a new musical structure behind it.Some thought should be given to tampering with the melodies in the verses for the sake of variation.Get it so it's worthy of the "by Matt Taylor" statement, and you'll have something to expose to music libraries, like Broadjam, and many others online and see if you can get a "license to use" purchased.I might also suggest to you that you consider becoming your own publisher. You may as well. You're doing everything a publisher does except sign the forms.Las Vegas, huh? Cool.

Quote From Pro: Matt Taylor will capture your senses and take them on a nice, smooth ride.

Broadjam Artist: Cindy Tuttle
Song: Someday

Broadjam Pro Reviewer:
Tom Bocci (Music Supervisor, Producer, and Publisher)

Pro General Comments: Greetings Cindy,Thanks for the opportunity to review your song. "Someday" is very straightforward with its hopeful message of letting the still small voice inside be the guiding light for overcoming life's challenges. It also is a positive reminder that living without a connection and commitment to love in the form of another person or perhaps The Source of love itself, is the best approach one can take for a full existence on Earth.Your "spoken/sung" vocal captures an innocence that sounds heartfelt with good intentions, but the overall construction would be stronger with the inclusion of a brief lyrical bridge that would come after the instrumental, just before the last verse. Some of your other tunes have a similar format of CH/V1/CH/V2/CH/V3 WITH AN INSTRUMENTAL SECTION. Suggest you try including a bridge, when appropriate, that would further the story lyrically and break up the same musical pattern throughout so the listener hears variety and depth.

Quote From Pro: "Someday" is very straightforward with its hopeful message of letting the still small voice inside be the guiding light for overcoming life's challenges.Tom Bocci

Broadjam Artist: The Skylift
Song: Raindrops

Broadjam Pro Reviewer:
Jonathan Weiss (Music Supervisor, A&R)

Pro General Comments: Very pretty melody overall and uplifting type of a central melodic theme. The track builds towards the end and then comes down in dynamics, which gives it a nice tension and release type feel. Most of the keyboard sounds and acoustic piano samples sound pretty authentic and organic. I would try and always update the synth string sounds whenever possible in general and in particular for this song, the lower cello sample and the higher end violin sound, both of which sound a bit synthetic and synth sounding. The cue overall has a positive and uplifting feel that makes it a nice calling card for any type of music scoring opportunities that you may have a chance to bid for.

Quote From Pro: Solid orchestrated arrangement that gives the listener a positive and uplifting feeling.

Broadjam Artist: TJ Doyle Band
Song: We Are Here

Broadjam Pro Reviewer:
A.J. Gundell (Songwriter, Composer, Music Supervisor, Producer)

Pro General Comments: "We Are Here" is an emotionally gripping and effectively evocative classic rock protest song. The subject matter--a generation's promise to bring about social change, its successes and disappointments--is a refreshing change from so much of what makes the charts and trends on the socials these days. TJ and the Band absolutely crush the performances, sonics, and the recording. The guitar-centric band slams with heartfelt intensity and totally sells the messages that the song intends to convey.The chorus sings, "We Are Here, We Are Here.... Raise your arms into the air." We can see an entire arena of fans, and possibly a whole world of followers, following along. Feelin' it, guys. Right on.

Quote From Pro: "We Are Here" is an emotionally gripping and effectively evocative classic rock protest song. The subject matter--a generation's promise to bring about social change, its successes and disappointments--is a refreshing change from so much of what makes the charts and trends on the socials these days. The chorus sings, "We Are Here, We Are Here.... Raise your arms into the air." We can see an entire arena of fans, and possibly a whole world of followers, following along. Feelin' it, guys. Right on.

Broadjam Artist: Elle Ray
Song: Out Of The Maze

Broadjam Pro Reviewer:
John Anderson (Publisher)

Pro General Comments: Hello Elle Ray, I'm so happy to see a submission from you. Overall, I think this is a really great song with great potential. It's an anthemic and moving ballad with solid song writing structure focusing on redemption. It's a perfect emotional track for placement in television or film. The production quality is amazing and already suitable for film and TV. Your vocals are definitely up to par and able to translate all that tremendous emotion to the listener. The lyrics are also very well written and anyone who's ever been in a relationship can relate to this this song.I feel really empowered just listening to this song. You remind me a bit of Melissa Etheridge especially in terms of your uplifting and empowering vocals. I was intrigued so I actually found your EDM version because I see a lot of potential for use there. The subject matter is right on point for a big dance club hit. I thought it was good and I think you should pursue other remix opportunities as well. It really is a great track for it.

Quote From Pro: An anthemic and moving ballad. Solid song writing structure focusing on redemption. It's a perfect emotional track for placement in television or film.

Broadjam Artist: Cindy Tuttle
Song: Did Ya Know

Broadjam Pro Reviewer:
Tom Bocci (Music Supervisor, Producer, and Publisher)

Pro General Comments: Greetings Cindy,Thanks for the opportunity to review another lovely song of yours. Your natural ability with melody and a catchy hook is alive and well again in this tune. Your lead vocal has a surprisingly soulful, bluesy color to it that serves as an interesting counterpoint to the positive message of the lyric.Your tendency to start with a chorus works especially well here, because it's always a good idea to begin with an opening question so that you can develop a number of multi-faceted answers within the rest of the song's story. Well done!In the second section of the first verse you might want to try singing the word vanish instead of push to see how it feels without it changing your intended meaning. Also the structure starts to fall apart in the second verse. Suggest you drop "new" before "hope", it sounds awkward and end the second verse with "look deep and you'll be glad" by deleting the "Taking One Step..." half verse. Then go directly back to repeating the chorus one last time. The ending/outro in my opinion would be much more effective using a slow fade by singing the line, "See the Light Within, See the Light of Love" three times. This leaves the listener with the memory of your main overall message, and sounds more organic than the abrupt ending that is there now. It's also why I think the title should be "See The Light". Your instrumental partner's musical tracks and arrangements are major assets to these demos and I encourage you to work together more on tighter structures that enhance your style of writing.

Quote From Pro: Your natural ability with melody and a catchy hook is alive and well again in this tune.Tom Bocci

Broadjam Artist: Jim Reeder
Song: I Believe

Broadjam Pro Reviewer:
A.J. Gundell (Songwriter, Composer, Music Supervisor, Producer)

Pro General Comments: This is a timeless classic song, recorded by such notables as Elvis Presley and LeAnn Rimes. Jim Reeder covers it with a sincere, heartfelt vocal performance a bit reminiscent of classic Roy Orbison--and a recording that honors the intentions of the original music and lyric: a deep and almost spiritual commitment to believing in the good, simple virtues of life.

Quote From Pro: This is a timeless classic song, recorded by such notables as Elvis Presley and LeAnn Rimes. Jim Reeder covers it with a sincere, heartfelt vocal performance a bit reminiscent of classic Roy Orbison--and a recording that honors the intentions of the original music and lyric: a deep and almost spiritual commitment to believing in the good, simple virtues of life.

Broadjam Artist: Bob Hutson
Song: Run Til I'm Free

Broadjam Pro Reviewer:
Diana Williamson (Songwriter, Music Supervisor)

Pro General Comments: Hi Bob: As you probably know- Please note I don't rate individual instrumentation since my expertise lies more in marketability, lyric, melody, and overall performance.You have an interesting idea of mixing a rock-ish style with a gospel- type vocal. I could possibly hear a few more bluesy licks in there to really fuse the two together. They are two very rich styles that have the potential to really merge in interesting ways.My first initial instinct after reading the lyric says you have a powerful idea/concept. It's simple and focussed which is good. You don't always need overly clever or poetic lines. Just ask Adelle's "Hello it's me Again" or the Beatles "I Wanna Hold Your Hand". Simple and direct can be powerful and your lines ring with a good urgency. The visuals of chained hands and feet paint a vivid picture.However when the music first came in- it sounded pretty but I was waiting/hoping for a bit more emotion, a bit more tension in the melody/arrangement. It's a full 30 seconds before the verse and vocal comes in. This is an eternity in today's music- people are very used to short intros- (as opposed to the 80's). It's different if you are doing your own record and are not worried about selling it to another artist- in a pitch. But unfortunately people have short attention spans so cut to the meat of the song pretty quickly whenever possible. The vocal feels a bit buried in the track- the singer has a nice timbre so you want to showcase that. Also the guitar line might want to get a bit more sparse in the verse- it feels a bit like it's competing with the vocal. That guitar riff is also feeling a bit repetitive, can you change it up a bit?

Quote From Pro: A lot of heart in this song.