Modulation can inject a song with a jolt of interest, but it takes skill to make a key change work. Be advised, songwriters: Use modulation in moderation. And learn from these Berklee Online instructors, sharing their favorite songs to feature key changes.

Music for advertising is much like other types of custom songwriting: if you want to win the game, you must know the rules of that game. Once I figured out what game I was actually playing, I started to have success with sync licensing.

Songwriting is an art form that requires creativity, imagination, and an understanding of music theory, but if we’re being honest, there’s also a degree of “fake it ‘til you make it.” And with that approach in mind, one technique you could try is to utilize classic chord progressions to write your own.

Topline is a specialized niche of songwriting where the focus is on melody, lyrics, and performance over a preexisting track/beat/sonic structure. Learn a bit of history of how the craft of topline has become a significant role in the creative space of the music industry.

Copyrighting a song or lyrics does not have to be a difficult process for songwriters. Follow these simple steps to make sure you legally protect your intellectual property.

Learn the basics of writing melody with the help of Jack Perricone’s book Melody in Songwriting: Tools and Techniques for Writing Hit Songs.

Prosody in songwriting is when all the elements work together to support the central message of the song, creating an appropriate relationship between the elements. Learn how to enhance your songwriting with prosody!

As a songwriter, finding a song title is the big question, and the hard one, because a title is only as good as your imagination—your ability to do something interesting with it. Pat Pattison shares how you can make your song titles more interesting.

As a professional songwriter, I was highly suspicious that song lyric generators would be sophisticated enough to generate complete songs. However, this does not render their services completely useless.