The Correlation between Songwriting and......Sales...

I've spent a large part of my "corporate post-college" life working in sales in some capacity (primarily in consultative, and longer sales cycle realms) coupled with some songwriting throughout. And, I've spent the majority of "disposable time" in my entire life playing either the piano, drums, or guitar... and also constructing songs or components of composition. 

Pondering on this correlation, back in 2015 when I was working at an early stage start-up SaaS MarTech company, I started to really observe the parallel of the sales mentality, and songwriting. There are certainly genres where lyric is not as integral as the instrumentation in a composition - and many people prefer this art form over the literary-based arrangements (which is another conversation), and vice versa.  Different genres appreciate very different song structures. For example, some genres identify "great works" or "successful" songs as those with really concrete, simple or lucid storylines (e.g. country, blues standards), whereas others might look down upon those and instead only value songs that are super contemplative, or poetic and mysterious (e.g. certain types of rock, metal, rap, etc). Same goes for the pop world and the Spotify  There's definitely beauty in all...therein lies the true, subjective nature of music...which is why, as Cowboy Jack Clement once said, "Experts tend to be narrow and overly opinionated - and those 'experts' are often wrong." So true. Oh, and over the last 50+ years, there's sadly been a massive advertising accretion to this, too (more heavily in certain genres), which is definitely another conversation.

Back to the correlation. With any good movement in an arrangement, storyline, or sales process, comes evocative events. Why keep listening? Why sell, or buy, this product or service? Why tell your friends or co-workers about that artist, song, or product? What moved you? Setting the scene (in prose, key, or melody), then augmenting with something compelling is important (for listener engagement) in all these processes, whether a rockin' instrumental, poetic & deep jam, a relatable story, or good sales pitch. It's what all songwriters, composers, and deal closers strive to master.

Everyone is sellin' something, right?! Anyway, just some outside-the-box thoughts about two creative worlds!