{ "schemaVersion": "v1", "slug": "what-makes-a-song-worth-making", "title": "What Makes a Song Worth Making", "kind": "solo", "listenUrl": "https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lovemusicmore/episodes/What-Makes-a-Song-Worth-Making-e31mf89", "contentStartSec": 93.94, "publishedAt": "2026-10-14", "source": { "provider": "whisper", "model": "faster-whisper:base", "normalizedSchema": "v1", "transcribedAt": "2026-06-09T10:58:09.372Z" }, "paragraphs": [ { "startSec": 93.94, "endSec": 121.19, "text": "What's good?Everybody, welcome back to Love Music More.I am Scoobert Doobert.And today I want to talk about what makes a song worth it.Why are you gonna invest all of this time,all of this energy, a million more mouse clicks.Into finishing this piece of music.And you might be thinking,why is Scoobert Doobert talking about this?He has a song about a shrimp burrito.I will get to that." }, { "startSec": 121.19, "endSec": 148.07, "text": "Fundamentally, I think that this is somethingthat isn't asked enoughbecause people are chasing notoriety, fame, a hit song.I can't tell you how many times I've sat down in a roomwith somebody and that is the explicit goalwe are writing a hit song today.How many times do you think that that's actually a hit song?There's not that there's anything wrong with that necessarily." }, { "startSec": 148.07, "endSec": 174.35, "text": "Like you're saying, okay, what are you really saying by that?I want to write something that's accessible,that's of the moment, that's catchy,that checks all of the boxes.I like that too.I like pop music.Don't get me wrong.That's what I do.But I do think that that question is almost self-defeatingbecause it's putting yourself into this kind of box.When you really look at actual hit song," }, { "startSec": 174.35, "endSec": 206.43, "text": "like a smash hit song, those songs come out of nowhere.Those songs are like a roundhouse kick to the face.And so when I try to write a song now,and this is what I'm trying to really inhabitand try to bring into writer's roomsand all the experiences of the limited amount of timethat I have on this earth to make music,I want to spend it on things that are interesting.It's simple as that." }, { "startSec": 206.43, "endSec": 227.59, "text": "But I mean that in the true sense of something that excites me,something that feels like, yes,it has the potential to be hit song,but for an unknown reason.Oh, this is different.Oh, this combines two things that I wasn't going to expect.Or I'm gonna go into a writing sessionand I am not going to have any preconditions.It's not gonna be a fast song.It's not gonna be a slow song." }, { "startSec": 227.59, "endSec": 254.68, "text": "It's gonna be whatever comes out that day,whatever you're feeling.And then a lot of times it surprises youbecause you go, oh, it is catchy.Or oh, this does have something to it.But by having the actual blank canvasand saying, what am I passionate about right now?This current moment.It frees you up to have an ideathat you would only have in that moment.Your brain chemistry is constantly changing," }, { "startSec": 254.68, "endSec": 278.56, "text": "your inputs are constantly changingthe world around you.God, believe me, you know, the world around usconstantly changing.You can never expect what's gonna happen next.And anybody that tries to make a predictionof what's gonna happen next is certainly wrong,including that prediction.But I say all that to say,you will never write the songthat you would in this current moment, ever again." }, { "startSec": 278.56, "endSec": 309.6, "text": "It's right now and tapping into that momentis almost like a zen experience of where am I at?Like if the dominant feeling that I have right nowis hungry, I'm gonna write shrimp burrito.And you know what?A lot of people love that song.One of my friends, Rozzi, she wrote a songjust for her best friend song.She was not anticipating that to be her number one song,the song that she plays as an encore" }, { "startSec": 309.6, "endSec": 335.96, "text": "that everyone sings along to.She literally just trying to write a goofy little songfor her friend.And believe me, I know how many songs she's written,literally hundreds and hundreds with co-writes.And it'd be interesting to actually ask her,like, what's that mentality shift?And why do you think that people gravitate so muchto something that's so deeply personal?And to me, I think that that it's different." }, { "startSec": 335.96, "endSec": 364.36, "text": "There's a million songs about the same thingin the same way.All chasing that same Jason Derulo-esque middle ground.Sorry, Jason Derulo catching a stray.But I do think that there are certain artiststhat just kind of live in that middle.And it works for certain people.But it's not gonna work for me.I am not good looking enough, or whatever.You're not blessed enough.You're not a good enough singer." }, { "startSec": 364.36, "endSec": 391.32, "text": "Like most of us are not enough to just be a middleing.A middle person, as somebody that isoutputting music that is right at the mean,you have to surprise them.You have to be yourself.That's really what being yourself means, right?Is you're presenting a different perspectivethan the listener, but one that isn't so foreignand so out there that they can't step into your shoes.So that's where pop music is." }, { "startSec": 391.32, "endSec": 418.92, "text": "You're always trying to be like, okay, where's the boundary?Where is that precipice, the edge of the cliff,and how can you kind of tiptoe along thatof saying, hey, this is authentically truly me,but in a package that you can tap your foot to and enjoy.And isn't so difficult that it takes ten listens to get.Because like I was talking on the,I think the most recent solo pod,I was talking about Oliver Sacks's book. [Editor's note: Daniel Levitin wrote this book. Oliver Sacks wrote Musicophilia.]" }, { "startSec": 418.92, "endSec": 443.96, "text": "This Is Your Brain on Music.And one of the other things in addition to popularity,notoriety, rankings, all that kind of stuffthat makes music sound better empirically.Also repetition.There's a reason why hearing the same song over and over again.You go, oh yeah, this is a Bob.It's easy to do that to your own music, though.And that's part of the reason why I like to get songs done" }, { "startSec": 443.96, "endSec": 472.36, "text": "quickly is because if you sit on a song for a really long time,you can fall in love with yourself.And you're also coming at itfrom a completely different place than your listener.They're being introduced to the song in a non-ideal listeningenvironment, maybe just on their phone speaker,maybe on a car radio that's passing by, you know,they get a couple glimpses.And do you have enough for them to get it?" }, { "startSec": 472.36, "endSec": 496.96, "text": "But also enough to stick out when you're in a playlistor something.Yeah, this is something I deal with a lot where my genre is fairly,like, low-fi and pretty smooth.There's not a ton of jagged edges,but the music that I want to make,I do like having jagged edges.Like one of my favorite things that I've been working onin a long time is a song that I did with bed band in Tokyothat just came out." }, { "startSec": 496.96, "endSec": 531.51, "text": "And it's just, it's a full on modern rock song.And I tried to make it a song that was angular and edgy,but also not so edgy that you couldn't put it in the playlist.Which is like a weird thing to say,but it's also the same as radio, right?Like it's the same basic idea of,you want to be Elvis so like you can fit inon multiple different radio platforms,but you stand out at the same time.Is that precipice thing?" }, { "startSec": 531.51, "endSec": 554.59, "text": "Trying to do that with my mixes or productionswith stuff with bed, but also my own music of,yeah, you want to sound like the genre enoughthat you can be placed in those literally necessarybroadcast channels because nobody gets famouswithout broadcast.That's just like virality, all that kind of stuffis just another word for broadcast,alternative broadcast." }, { "startSec": 554.59, "endSec": 580.39, "text": "But the concept of standing out and fitting in at the same timeis synonymous with the concept of stopping tryingto write a quote unquote hit songand trying to write the song that's in the moment right now.You can always choose not to release it.And some of the song writers that have been on this podcasthave brought up the really great conceptabout the second song.So especially when you're in a writer's room" }, { "startSec": 580.39, "endSec": 602.71, "text": "and you're working with somebody for the first time,sometimes you've got like nerves, sometimes that first song'snot great.However, in my opinion, in my experience,I actually like the first song better than the second song.So take this as a great assault.But for me, I like that initial energy,that initial burst that is like,where are we at right now?I am introducing myself to you.I'm trying to be on my A game." }, { "startSec": 602.71, "endSec": 636.4, "text": "Let's write a hook.But the energy, the energy of the room of,let's write a novel hook.Let's write a hook that sounds like me and like yourather than let's chase.Let's color and paint by numbers.In order to do that, you have to be so freaking goodor so freaking famous.If you're not either of those things, good luck.But if you do something novel,like Rozzi's best friend songor like my little shrimp burrito song," }, { "startSec": 637.4, "endSec": 665.36, "text": "you can stick into people's heads.They go, huh, never heard that before.And this is not something that's without musical precedent.Now, one of my favorite credits of a side musicianof all time is Paul McCartney playing Celery.Who's a character Celery?I think a Celery.He's chomping Celery in a Beach Boys songas an alternative percussion.But the answer to that is not,go play Celery on your songs." }, { "startSec": 665.36, "endSec": 695.66, "text": "The answer to that is in the moment,what are you inspired to do?What is the weird decision and immediately do it?And then color around it,creating these areas of gravitywhere you otherwise wouldn't expect it.I think that's the actual recipe to a true hit song,a breakout hit song.And again, like I was talking in one of the other solopodsrecently about running your own race," }, { "startSec": 695.66, "endSec": 722.66, "text": "understanding who you're actually competing against.If you are an underground artist,you need a breakout hit.You don't just need a sophomore record hit.You don't need a victory lap.You need a, oh, who's that?Kind of song.But at the same time, you can't be so differentthat you can't have a broadcast channel.So it's a tricky, it's a tricky thing.And that's why pop music is hard.It's way harder than people think" }, { "startSec": 722.66, "endSec": 745.98, "text": "because you're having to balance all of these extremes.You have to be simple, right?That's what everybody thinks pop music is very simple.Be listen to some of these conversationsI've been having with producers.A bunch of them talk about pop sessionsthat have got 180 tracks.And so yeah, it's simple.It might be having like simple core progressionsor loop percussion or whatever," }, { "startSec": 745.98, "endSec": 773.5, "text": "but really what it is is it's textural, it's temporal,it's integrating all of these different fun effectsand sounds and rooms and reverbsand all these things that are coming in and outtrying to highlight the voiceand trying to allow for the simplicityof the underlying music to not get boring.Because like what are the ultimate hat tricks?And this is a Blink-182 quote.As I said that we're just, what is it?" }, { "startSec": 773.5, "endSec": 802.86, "text": "I'm paraphrasing.We are nursery rhymes, we're dirty nursery rhymesor like nursery rhymes are swearing.There's actually a lot of magic in thatif you can get away with basically doing somethingthat is akin to a children's songbut make it cool, like that's he, that's hard.It's really hard to pull offbut it is so instantly memorableand can provide you that rocket fuel.It's the same thing with like lyricism." }, { "startSec": 802.86, "endSec": 825.54, "text": "This is something I struggle withwhere I really like to say something differentwith my words and that inspires meso I keep doing it because it is me.But it is sometimes hard when you're singingespecially in a dense arrangementif there's a lot of stuff going onfor people to understand what you're saying.A lot of what happens in lyrics is very similarto what happens like at LOM, one of the AI things" }, { "startSec": 825.54, "endSec": 844.38, "text": "is it's token anticipationanticipating what the next lyric is gonna bebased on all of the songs you've ever heard.And if you surprise too many timesat a row people might just like lose the train of thoughtmight have no idea what you're saying at this point.But at the same time, if that's what you're inspired to dolike just go do that and then write another songthat doesn't do that." }, { "startSec": 844.38, "endSec": 878.78, "text": "I think that there, there's an underratedand in placeable magic to song writingthat is so ephemeral, it is so personaland it also changes.Something weird on the same tokenthat I've experienced is tempo fluctuations.So, and this is like a such a bane of the existenceof somebody that makes music by themselves.You'd pick a tempo, you pick a speed for a songand it sounds a little slow." }, { "startSec": 878.78, "endSec": 903.98, "text": "You're at night and you're like hmm, little slow.And then you wake up the next morningit sounds way too fast because you haven't hadyour coffee yet, it's the same song, it's the same thing.But perception windows changedand you're like oh, I have to slow this downand then they come in the afternoonand you're like no, no, wait, too slow.It's all that second guessing.That second guessing though is kind of a killer." }, { "startSec": 903.98, "endSec": 931.73, "text": "It can stop you in your trackswhen really what you need to do is just keep going.I can't tell you how many songs that I've been working withand mixes that I've been working on recentlythat I've hit these windows of the sucks, I suck.I cannot do this.I'm a fraud, but the key is literally,that is the moment that you don't take a break.The moment that you take a break is when you can't" }, { "startSec": 931.73, "endSec": 961.53, "text": "make a decision anymore or where you're likeI think that's done or you have a window of likeI know the next 10 steps, I'm gonna write them downon my notepad and come back to that laterbecause I literally need to fulfill a humanlike I need to eat or something.But don't take a break, even in a songwriting sessionwhere you start to feel like a fraud.I really think that's the moment." }, { "startSec": 961.53, "endSec": 983.65, "text": "That's the precipice that when you push overthe thing you will know.You will know whether or not that song is worth continuing.And when you know that that song isn't worth continuing,pack it in, trust that gut and then develop that gutby doing it over and over and over and over again.Then eventually when you do it over and over again,you have ammunition to fight back against that imposter syndrome" }, { "startSec": 983.65, "endSec": 1014.17, "text": "that everybody feels.You have that feeling of like, no, no, no, wait.I felt this the last time and that song is dope.Like continuing on that kind of energy.But all of those things just to wrap it back aroundare inspired when you're inspired by the song itself.If you are writing something that you feel is shallow,you feel is just trend chasing.It's going to be really hard to finish itwithout financial incentive." }, { "startSec": 1014.17, "endSec": 1039.93, "text": "And like strong financial incentive.If somebody says, hey, I'll give you 10 grandto write like the worst song you ever done.Yep, I'll get it to you tomorrow.Sign a contract, though, please.But if you are like most musicians,it's me most of the time.And you are literally just animated by the hopethat maybe that song will make you money someday.You have to be inspired by the song unto itself." }, { "startSec": 1039.93, "endSec": 1063.65, "text": "And in order to have that inspiration,I really think that it needs to be connectedto something that's happening to you right then and right now.You can always perfect and finish in that.That can be outside of the frame, the emotional frame.But if you're gonna slog,and if you're going to feel those feelingsof self-loathing and imposter syndrome,you got to care about what you're writing about,even if it's goofy." }, { "startSec": 1063.65, "endSec": 1093.57, "text": "Just one of the things that has really inspired meis making myself laugh.If I can make myself smile at one of the lyricsthat I wrote over and over and over again,it makes it so much easier to go through the grindof hunting down little pops and clicksand fading things perfectly and tuning things.Exactly the amount that I want them to be tunedbecause I do everything by handbecause I hate the way out of tune sound." }, { "startSec": 1093.57, "endSec": 1115.33, "text": "So like I try to make it so, you know,it's very human, but like every once in a while,you touch up some things or some background vocalsyou want out more out of tune,some background vocals you want more in tuneof the million decisions that are not that creativeand certainly are not fun.There's so much harder to do when you hate the songwhen you're not inspired by the song." }, { "startSec": 1115.33, "endSec": 1146.17, "text": "And if you just smile a little bit from the song,like even Sabrina Carpenter's espresso,it's funny, it's fun, it's a smash hit, but it's goofy.It's okay to be a little goofy, especially right now,like the world needs a little bit of laughterand that's, I don't know,that's another just means to make it matter.Hope you enjoyed this podcast.If you did, please rate it five starsand share it with your friends." }, { "startSec": 1146.17, "endSec": 1162.33, "text": "It's the best way for us to grow.So amazing guest episodes coming up on topics like these.If you'd like to hear my music,go to scoobertdoobert.pizza, check it out.And I'll see you next week.Thanks for listening.Bye." } ], "correctionsApplied": [ { "id": "scoobert-dubert", "count": 2, "note": "Host intro name ASR typo" }, { "id": "scubbertdubert-url", "count": 1, "note": "Outro URL ASR typo" } ] }