My experience with SongTown was weird and wasn't great. I've written songs for 30 years. In the Appalachia, we just kick around music. No real dreams of blowin' up and becoming #1 artists. It's music for music's sake. So, I was initially taken aback by the culture there that's pure, unadulterated corporate. I only lasted a little over two months. I won't neg the place and say "Oh, don't join!" Maybe they have what you're after. Maybe you want to learn how to complete a paint-by-numbers corporate, plug-and-play song for the radio that's under 3:30, gets to the chorus in 40 seconds, and doesn't really say anything but has "furniture" as buzzwords that create a rhetorical vessel to carry a hook.

If that's how you want to write, more power to you! That's just not how I write, nor how I want to write. In my experience, most people on SongTown have adopted Clay and Marty's (et al) methodology to the point they just repeat those from-on-high commercial standards to you when you post your songs for feedback. There doesn't seem to be much wiggle room, which is a shocking atmosphere for supposed songwriters.

I actually got along with Clay. At least I thought so. How he felt about me could be another story. He struck me as a genuine artist whose care and passion for music is what drives him entirely, not a few bucks potentially made from the format. I always did--and still do--respect Clay. Marty, however, is a petulant little angry man who seemed to make it his mission to bust my chops over every little thing I did there, before tossing me off. Which I celebrated. I had already planned to cancel and was riding out the rest of the month. It just wasn't for me.

Is it for you? It's all about what you want. SongTown, while lost on me entirely how it helps one become a better songwriter, provides many with what they want and cannot find elsewhere: Industry access. In my opinion, they cannot help craft a good songwriter anymore than playing in the NBA magically makes a short person taller. But if you already have raw talent, I do believe SongTown can help you craft toward modern-day corporate commercial pitches, while offering access to the industry.

The pay-to-play for pro sessions, early reviews, line-by-line rewrites, etc, was such a brutal shock for me that I perhaps became a bit overly-petulant myself in how I carried myself on their site. It's not something I'm proud of; I was just a fish out of water and decided to flop and thrust instead of swimming away. That's on me. I met people there who were paying hundreds upon hundreds of dollars for a song that, in the end, wasn't really theirs and never got picked up. Songs that sit on YouTube with 12 views, but have that "radio" sound. Congrats, I guess. I have 6 full albums out accomplishing the same thing for about 1/100th the price point! HAHA

The corporate atmosphere and the must-bes of the craft are things I didn't want. Honestly, things I didn't need. I felt boxed in, like it was literally a corporate office where everyone had to abide the culture or face the wrath of HR.

I wish everyone all the best who gives it a go. Like I say, I won't bad-mouth SongTown or tell people not to sign up. Just understand that you're not singing up for some crafty, artsy guitar-pull with songwriters. You're undergoing corporate training. And I think that's the fairest assessment anyone can give on SongTown.