So today I've finished the backing track for another song ready for the vocals to go on at a later date. And it got me to thinking about all the unsung heroes of the music industry. The faceless writers who produce the stuff you all listen to.

EVERY band that has released an album will probably have had input from a producer or a writer. That's just the way it is and always will be. And it's great to have someone else who is out side of the band to point you in different directions as it can be quite easy to become "blinded" by what you are writing.

This is my favourite part of being a producer. A band comes to me with songs they want to record and I push ideas forward. Their reactions are fantastic when I come up with something they would never have even thought of because they've been playing a song a certain way for years. It's a shame I can't jump up on stage with bands at gigs and say "how about playing it like this?". But still, once I get them in the studio they all come back for more.

I guess it's the same for all writers and producers. Although I've noticed there are a LOT of writers our there now, trying desperately to sell pop songs to labels for Girls Aloud to sing. The problem is, there's not a lot of fresh ideas any more. A lot of these writers are ex-pop stars themselves and only know what was written for them in the past. But what can you do? With everyone able to buy a laptop and some software, it pushes the real writers out and the cheap writers in.

My advice would be to stick to your guns. A backbone does still count for a lot in the music industry as it's really easy to sell-out and make a few thousand out of one song. Personally, I'd prefer to stick at what I'm doing and make a few hundred thousand from a song that will get played over and over and over again.

I think what I'm getting at is "Don't sell your soul for a quick buck". I would imagine that most artists and creative types would agree with me there, although some would argue that they have bills to pay. And at this point, I will end by saying "In this industry, there are probably only about 5 writers, but about 10,000 'pen names'......"