How To Make the Most of Showcasing at a Music Industry Event

How I Heart Songwriting Club was Created

Based on the content of Bonus Episode of The Magic of Songwriting with Francesca de Valence

For 10 years I Heart Songwriting Club has been helping songwriters around the world to write their best songs yet. With over 30,000 songs written by over 1500 songwriters from 30 countries around the world, it’s no wonder entire albums have been written, ARIA awards have been nominated, film soundtracks have been created, and many careers have been launched from this simple writing club. Whether you’re a songwriter in our global online songwriting club, or a songwriting fan who’s been enjoying our songs, we want to thank you for being part of our community.

How I Heart Songwriting Club came to be…

Founder, Francesca tells her story of the climate that created I Heart Songwriting Club:

“When I was a kid, music was fun, music was play. I grew up in Brisbane, Australia and by the time I was 8 years old, I was taking piano and violin lessons, doing music exams, playing in orchestras, singing in choirs… I had the best time making music as a kid and I became good at it.

After school, the pathways to being an artist weren’t easy to find. After studying music at university, there seemed to be lots of opportunities to get paid to play other people’s music. So I went and did the cover’s circuit. I thought someone will see me playing and then I’ll be discovered.
I remember one day standing on stage watching Michael Bublé sing a song in front of 10,000 at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre thinking, Oh my god Francesca, is this what you really want, backing singing for the stars? It wasn’t. I wasn’t being authentic, I had a dream to write my own songs, but something just kept getting in my way.

Francesca de Valence singing backing for Michael Buble

Playing Covers was the Only Pathway to Making Money as a Musician

That was the last covers gig I did. The very next time I shared music was at an open mic at the Muddy Farmer in Dutton Park, Brisbane. The pub smelled of stale beer and I lugged my 26kg Roland keyboard up to the stage and played my songs. And that’s when I realised, my songs sucked! I’d spent 10 years or so playing hit songs – songs by Carole King and Billy Joel, my songs were absolutely terrible by comparison.

I had great ideas, I had a great voice, I could play the piano well, but my songs were terrible. I was so alone with this feeling and didn’t know how to move forward. I tried to figure out how to write great songs and be a successful artist. I would go to music industry events and workshops, but I couldn’t seem to get any real information on how to write great songs. I would ask questions, and get answers that didn’t seem relevant to the question – you need a booking agent, or you need a manager. That was my first taste of the music industry as a songwriter and it felt confusing.

My Songs Sucked!

One thing was for sure, I knew I had to get writing and that was a problem for me. I had got so caught up in everything else, trying to figure out how to record, release, play shows as an original artist, whilst making money, that I couldn’t write. I struggled with time, I was busy, I was constantly procrastinating, or I’d sit at the piano hating everything that I was writing, nothing was good enough and now. The problem got worse and lasted years.

Fast forward to 10 years ago, I was teaching music at the QLD Conservatorium of Music. I had been feeling like such an imposter as a teacher and musician. Who am I to be teaching music when I have no idea how to write good songs? I felt completely anxious and stuck, I judged every idea as boring, not good enough, people will hate this, and that stopped me from writing altogether. Four songs a year was all I could manage…

The Day the Club Started

I remember a lesson with one of my students. She was really struggling. She was tasked to write a song for homework and I asked her to play her song for me, and she said she couldn’t “because it’s not perfect”. At that moment, I thought, I’m not alone. She feels the same way I do. And just like that, I thought, that’s it, we’re not going to do that anymore.

I’m going to create a club. And the whole idea of this club is that we’re not going to care about what we write, but we’re going to write, and we’re going to do it fast, and we’re not going to do it on our own and in pain anymore, and we’re going to make it fun, we’re going to make it child-like.

And childlike, became the first theme of the Club.

Our First Concert

Before we knew it, we had invited some friends to join, and invited their friends to join and and the next thing you know, we had each written 10 songs in 10 weeks, and listened to each other’s songs every week and we were feeling so connected and joyful that a few of us put on a concert in a friend’s backyard over the summer.

At that house concert, I remember balling my eyes out with joy and relief because the past 10 weeks were the most fulfilling for me as a songwriter. I had written 10 songs in 10 weeks, the most I’d ever written in such a time frame, and people had listened to every single one of those songs and given me feedback. I had never felt more connected to other songwriters. It was a deep sense of belonging, and there was no way I was ever going to stop doing that.

I Heart Songwriting Club’s First House Concert Feb 2015

Read Part 2 of our blog here.

Episode Show Notes:

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. This is THE essential writing practice that has changed the careers and lives of 1000s of songwriters worldwide.

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. They are the perfect place to begin and cover everything you need to know to write your first songs. You’ll receive lessons from Francesca directly!

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

Want more for your songwriting but don’t know where to go from here? Take the I Heart Songwriting Club Quiz to discover your next steps and inspire your way to writing better songs.