Professional artists, their managers, their producers and many of the people who give them advice put huge emphasis on creating a consistent image for that artist.

They want fans to have something they can hold on to…something that represents who that artist is that they can relate to.

And probably the biggest key to that is being authentic…representing who they are in their songs.

What does that mean for a songwriter?

If you’re writing songs for yourself you want to put yourself, who you are, your life experiences…into your songs.

You want to say things in your songs that you believe in because when you’re on the radio, on the internet and on stage those songs are representing who you really are to your fans and you want that to be an authentic representation of yourself.

If you’re writing songs for other artists then you want to write songs that represent who they are authentically.

When someone really gets this right it creates a kind of magic that transcends just the song or the artist.

It turns a good song into a great song.

Here are 2 examples.

# 1: Bars & Melody. These young lads wrote their own lyrics to this song sharing their experiences about being bullied at school…

Note the judge’s comment: “For two young kids to come out and sing about something that really effects you, do it in a style that’s completely yours is a really rare thing.”

#2: I Wonder by Kellie Pickler. Kellie’s performance of this song at the 2007 CMA awards turned a hit song into something really special and won CMA performance of the year at the 2008 awards…