Singer/Songwriter Ralph Murphy shares his insight and experiences from his 30+ years of being in the music "business". This is a fantastic lecture that took place at Layola University. He stresses over and over about how this is a business.

He also stresses that all artists need to know how to craft a song so that it appeals to your audience/fans. If you can keep you fans entertained and wanting more then you will remain in the business and potentially make a pretty good living. If you neglect the basics of songwriting you will more than likely not be in the business for very long.

Below are a couple of gems I picker out as points to remember for up and coming artists like yourselves.

"What brings you to a song 100% of the time is melody. What keeps you there is lyric."

"For you artist or singer songwriter a song is not a song, a song is a linear lyrical conversation between you and every single person in that room."

"Music is the underpinning of society."

"The three things you ask yourself when you're finished with your work are, what's in it for the listener? What's in it for the listener? What's in it for the listener? If there's nothing in it for the listener you're wasting your time."