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Research Portfolio – Written/Video
A successful songwriter/musician takes various forms, each of which are shaped by a person’s stereotypical view of success and personal goals. Hughes et. al. (2013) argues:
“Success is contingent on planning for and leveraging numerous smaller successes in areas including developing Do it Yourself (DIY) and management skills and engaging in funding opportunities such as government grants”.
I personally believe within the music industry success as a songwriter/musician looks like being signed by a major record label, large tours, and most importantly, enjoying the career.
To become this variation of a successful songwriter/musician, you would need an excessive amount of experience in performing to large audiences and in writing/publishing songs. However, this profession may not rely as heavily on academic qualifications, it would nonetheless still need a large amount of experience due to it being more of a practical profession. “Live performance is assuming increasing importance.” (Pizzolitto, 2023).
Understanding the fundamentals of writing songs would make the qualifications of music theory grades much preferable, as this would enable the ability to understand how to write songs using the elements harmony, rhythm, and melody proficiently. I would state with confidence practical music grades are important; however style and genre depict the level of value. This is due to a large quantity of today’s considered pop songs are commonly found to be quite simplistic in difficulty “research has revealed the tunes of modern chart-toppers are less complex than those of the past” (Davis, 2024). whilst other genre/styles however, can need a master of certain instruments such as Classical and Jazz, as these are commonly difficult styles to play and compose well in. If going for a profession as a songwriter/musician in a band, then multiple experiences in previous bands would be ideal. This is due to collaboration being a major, yet challenging part within the profession as there are many different types of people whom collaborate musically in their own ideological ways. Barret (2021) suggests:
Emergent inter and intra-personal issues highlighted the elements of distribution, conflict, and pace as components of creative collaboration and collaborative creativity, suggesting that these are perhaps necessary intersecting points in the development of collaborative work.
This experience would also support if on tour with a band, as these intersecting points are typically a profoundly stressful time for ensembles due to practically living with each other. Another example of this is when a band is given a tight deadline to meet for polishing an album as this forces the members to write and collaborate cohesively together in a fast-paced environment consistently upon finish.
To be a successful songwriter/musician you would need to have a good understanding of music theory such as harmony, keys, structure and rhythm, you would also need personal qualities and attributes such as creativity, discipline, confidence, and considerably the most important needed attribute- motivation. I would say motivation is possibly one of the most needed personal attributes when wanting to become a songwriter/musician as it is the reason you would remain consistent in trying and honing your skills when it comes to writing songs and expressing yourself through them. It is a majorly rare factor that an artist would be able to write a hit from scratch. “A career in song writing is all about the long game. There is very rarely an immediate result from the effort you make.” (Goldmacher 2026). An understanding of music theory however is also a much-needed attribute for this profession as it is the foundational knowledge required for the tools and assets needed to write/compose songs. Other qualities such as discipline would be of importance due to the matter of being a songwriter/musician requiring becoming more of a hobby to think about and do, rather than it being a job. Hobbies such as thinking of new melodies in your free time, taking inspiration from anywhere and saving it for a possible future idea, and ensuring consistency in doing so.
“A journal is a simple and easy way to make sure you’re writing at least a little each day even when you don’t have time to write songs. I think of writing as a muscle and the more you work the stronger it gets”. (Goldmacher, 2026).
“I also like to take time for creative reflection and find that walks in nature are especially conductive to this. So, I’ll often bring my phone and record voice notes as I go, or take a sketchbook and draw.” (Darren, 2023).
One last needed personal quality to be a successful songwriter/musician would be confidence. To be confident in your work, your act, and especially maintaining this when presenting these qualities to an audience no matter the magnitude. It is famous to receive anxiety and stress when performing to an audience.
“And the fear in my eyes is exactly the same fear that’s in my eyes when I come on singing now. The more records I sell and the bigger this all gets, the bigger the shows get.”
Adele (2012) mentions she still receives this fear despite having done this exact career for years. It isn’t a matter of resorting the fear. It is, however, a matter of finding balance and not allowing it to discourage you from your artistic abilities and showcasing them to others.
Duties and responsibilities of the profession would involve common, and repetitive tasks for a songwriter/musician. These would consist of dedicated writing sessions, recording sessions, and rehearsal/practice sessions. These would all be quite common in this particular workplace and would be likely to get repetitive as the career typically engages from writing, to recording, to touring and repeats that summary of the cycle. A typical day’s work would involve sitting down in what would likely be either a practice room or a recording studio, and trying to come up with new material. On other days you would likely be recording your music and ideas with a sound engineer/producer which would then lead you to go into the control room of the studio and engage with the producer to ensure you both not only achieve the sound you’re looking for, but also to certify your music is of a high enough quality and standard to be released. However, I have momentarily summarised for the career to be unbelievably repetitive, it does include a high volume of possibilities and other ways you can boost and popularize your career even more such as collaborating with other artists. For example, when music icon David Bowie collaborated with the band Queen and made a joint effort to write the hit ‘Under pressure’ (1981). This could also look like writing a score or song for a film such as the hit ‘Danger Zone’, written by Kenny Loggins (1986).
Most workplaces within the music industry typically struggle to maintain a similar amount of revenue each time they get paid. This is due to music being such a creative industry therefore alike how there is typically no definitive answer when it comes to music (due to it being a creative industry) there is also no definitive consistency in earnings for many careers.
“Nearly a quarter (23%) of musicians stated they do not earn enough to support themselves or their families and for nearly half (44%), a lack of sustainable income is a barrier to their music career.” (Help Musicians, 2023).
Songwriter/Musicians especially, would have an unpredictable income as it relies heavily on other people to stream the artist’s work, merchandise, or even tickets for tours which overall makes the career completely dependent on gaining a large audience. However, even then, as a songwriter/musician you would have to sell a high amount in all three categories to earn a sustainable income as a lot of the money earnt would be shared with or spent on making merchandise, advertisement, and record labels (if signed to one). Ultimately, earning a high amount of revenue consistently within this profession is proven an exceptionally difficult task. This is due to the fact of the music published would need to gain an exceeding amount of popularity, and that the income is shared between the artist, producer, label, streaming platforms, and overall expenses (Advertisement, merch, Tours).
“Only a small minority of published songwriters (perhaps as few as 5% – in other words 1 out of 20), make enough money each year to be able to devote themselves full-time to song writing.” (ISA, 2026)
Legal issues within this profession can have a brutally destructive impact on a songwriter/musician’s career, yet easily happen. For example, Marvin Gaye’s court case against pop icon Ed Sheeran. Ilene S Farkas (Sheeran’s lawyer (2023) said in court the “Plaintiffs cannot own these common musical elements… No one owns basic musical building blocks”. This court case was due to Ed writing another pop song in which consisted of four chords and a simple beat which Marvin Gaye found too like his own work. Ed ultimately won the case; however, this does show the fact of popular music commonly being simplistic, does allow plagiarism to mistakenly come with ease.
Aiming to become a successful songwriter/musician, the marketing and promotional aspects of the career are at very least, if not, possibly even more important than the actual music making itself. This is because “It’s an indispensable part of music promotion” and “also helps to build a large and active community around music projects”. (Yamasaki, 2022). The first approach with marketing as an artist would be to promote your music. This would look like making posts on mainstream social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, etc of videos of your songs, whether that’s you performing on stage or a post which directs fans to your account. However, “research suggests that human attention spans are decreasing in the digital age. With so much content vying for attention, it’s essential to grab and hold a viewer’s attention immediately”. (Bam, 2023). Marketing yourself would look like posting flyers with a barcode linked to your songs, or posters of you and your music, explaining the characteristics of it such as what style, genre it is and what differentiates you from other artists. Furthermore, the larger the audience your music reaches, and the more streams you earn, result in a higher income to which should then be used to help market and promote yourself even more. This would look like creating a clear website page which promotes both your music, merch, and includes information about you as an artist and on your next available showcase.
Many intellectual and personal challenges would be faced when working within this profession. These challenges consist of having to work in a stressful, fast paced environment consistently, finding yourself having to finish an album by a specific deadline which you would then go on tour and perform that album to many large volume audiences. Once that tour is complete, you would find yourself having to start from scratch again, write a new album, then a new tour which overall can be quite repetitive, and intellectually draining the more you do. Tobias Forge (Ghost (2025) found himself “Facing burnout after years of heavy touring and the grinding double whammy of making and releasing a full movie and recording a brand-new studio album”. This issue however could be dealt with in numerous ways. For example, mentioned in a Metal Hammer article (2025) “Tobias allowed himself a first. Instead of jumping straight into tour prep and polishing up his new record, he gave himself a couple months off.” Starting by working his “Way away from panic attacks.” (Forge, 2025).When working within the profession of writing songs, performing them, touring, etc, the career would develop artistically and personally the longer you maintain the profession. As you do with near enough every band and musician in not only today’s society but within the history of music. No one starts their career within the profession by writing a hit album instantly… It takes a large sum of attempts when writing music, but even then, some artists find they won’t personally be satisfied with the hit, satisfying and audience and yourself are two different goals. Hardwick (2025) states “He’s been releasing music and touring the world since he was 19- but only now does Ed Sheeran say he finally feels truly happy.” It is typically a career in which you need to try and try again, don’t be afraid of failure, until you eventually find your own voice within the industry and express that through your songs using musical intellect. Ed Sheeran (2025) expresses for the first decade of his career “I was just work, work, work.” Ultimately meaning when starting a profession as a songwriter/musician, your career would progress in ways such as your skills for song writing and use of musical elements within them and increase your ability to show your own voice within your songs. As you get further into your career and learn within the music industry, either yourself or your producer would find a particular way to produce your music, to give it a certain sound which when heard makes people think of you and your material.
Aoki Yamasaki (2022) Expand The Audience And Increase Sales Using Music Marketing. https://artistpush.me/blogs/news/music-marketing-as-effective-way-to-grow?srsltid=AfmBOorqucaUizjB6CskC0vVfy5hE-2PkTSWEn99M6G6F4byolIrYCQE [Accessed 07/01/26].
Ajay Bam (2023) The importance of the First 3 Seconds in Your Video. https://www.vyrill.com/blog/the-importance-of-the-first-3-seconds-in-your-video [Accessed 07/01/26].
Alderslade, M. (2025) “I hit a wall. I am not built to do that.” Ghost’s Tobias Forge reached burnout in 2024. This is how Skeleta brought him back to life. Metal Hammer, Internet edition. 25 April. https://www.loudersound.com/features/ghost-skeleta-interview-2025-metal-hammer?utm.com [Accessed 08/01/26].
Ben, B, T (2023). Ed Sheeran testifies in Marvin Gaye copyright case: ‘Most pop songs can fit over most pop songs’. The Guardian, Internet edition. 26 April. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/apr/26/ed-sheeran-testifies-in-marvin-gaye-plagiarism-case-most-pop-songs-can-fit-over-most-pop-songs?utm.com[Accessed 08/01/26].
Bowie, D. Queen (1981) Under Pressure [Single release]. EMI (UK). ELEKTRA (USA).
CIPD (2023) My Working Life: Musician. https://www.cipd.org/uk/knowledge/case-studies/my-working-life-musician/?utm.com [Accessed 07/01/26].
Cliff Goldmacher (2026) Six Critical Things Successful Songwriters Do Every Day. https://www.cliffgoldmacher.com/successful-songwriters/ [Accessed 07/01/26].
Davis, N. (2024) Melodies in chart-topping music have become less complex, study finds. The Guardian, Internet edition. 4 July. https://www.theguardian.com/music/article/2024/jul/04/melodies-chart-topping-music-less-complex-study?utm.com [Accessed 07/01/26].
Diane Hughes, Sarah Keith, Guy Morrow, Mark Evans, Denis Crowdy. (2013) https://researchers.mq.edu.au/en/publications/what-constitutes-artist-success-in-the-australian-music-industrie/?utm.com [Accessed 07/01/26].
Elia Pizzolitto (2023) Music in business and management studies: a systematic literature review and research agenda, 18. https://rdcu.be/eX1Pj [Accessed 07/01/26].
Help Musicians (2023) The first ever Musicians’ Census report launched. https://www.helpmusicians.org.uk/about-us/news/the-first-ever-musicians-census-report-launched?utm.com[Accessed 07/01/26].
Hardwick, M (2025) Inside his Ed: I was intensely unhappy for years, I was just work, work, work, reveals Ed Sheeran as he finally finds happiness aged 34. 17 September. https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/36749704/ed-sheeran-happiness-work-mental-health-music/?utm.com [Accessed 08/01/26].
International Songwriters Association (ISA) (2026) How Much Money Do Songwriters Make? https://www.songwriter.co.uk/money.html?utm.com [Accessed 07/01/26].
Kenny Loggins (1986) Danger Zone. Top Gun [Film]. Columbia Records. [Accessed 07/01/26]
Margaret S. Barrett, Andrea Creech, Katie Zhuko (2021) Creative Collaboration and Collaborative Creativity: A Systematic Literature Review, 13. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8380918/pdf/fpsyg-12-713445.pdf [Accessed 07/01/26].
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