The career of a songwriter has long been an ambition of mine. My aim with this essay is to deconstruct what it would take to become a professional songwriter. 

Songwriting is unlike many other jobs – in the sense that it generally can’t be applied for (at least not on LinkedIn). Invitation to the club comes from commercial success, relentless ‘networking’ and a bit of luck.

Professional songwriter Emily Warren recounts in an interview how she “literally typed ‘records’ into [her] email to see if [she] knew anyone who worked at a label” (CEEK VR, 2018), leading her to email somebody she had met that worked at a publishing house. After sending over some songs, she received help & was connected to more people who propelled her into the industry. Networking is not always this straightforward however and can happen in many different places such as industry mixers. Devora Zack (2010) lays out some simple ways to approach in-person networking, like setting out “modest, actionable goals” or simply being early to events. She notes that networking can create “mutually beneficial connections for shared positive outcomes” (Zack, 2010)

Ian Kirkpatrick, the producer behind Dua Lipa’s ‘New Rules’, mentions in an interview how, after producing bands in a garage studio, he began working with acts who were signed to a label, eventually producing a track that “made the Top 40 charts” (Kawashima, 2020), giving him his big break. This tells me that perseverance is key when trying to break through. These two artists have relatively similar backgrounds, but what seems to set them apart is that they chased up on opportunities and maintained consistent in their work. 

This sentiment is backed by insiders in the publishing industry, as A&R Lab founder John Dexter puts it: “the most successful songwriters have hustle and drive” (PUBLISHER, 2017). Of course, it’s easy for a big exec to say you need to pull yourself up by the bootstraps, but the truth here is that the majority of the time, opportunities won’t chase you down. Dexter writes that this drive needs to stretch beyond the world of music, into business, finance, law and email-writing (PUBLISHER, 2017).

Meetings with label executives, publishers, play-listers, journalists, managers, artists, accountants, lawyers, and anybody else who could be involved with your work all require focus and keeping an eye on all the projects you’re involved with. As a songwriter you will be part of a team, and as Dexter states, being in the know about what your team is up to and helping them where you can, can help “make better big picture career decisions” (PUBLISHER, 2017). 

Two important facets of the songwriting industry that a management team will be more involved than a writer in – but is still necessary knowledge – are royalties & copyright. As a songwriter you can earn mechanical and performance royalties, depending on your role in the song. Writers in the industry tend to earn performance royalties, which cover the composition of a track, while mechanical royalties cover the master recording that is available to the public (Ann Harrison, 2025). PRS is the collection society that collect these performance royalties, while PPL collect mechanical royalites. The master recording is often owned mostly by the label that releases a song. However, a writer/producer could earn both mechanical and performance royalties due to their role in producing both the composition and the master recording, and if they release the music independently, could have a claim to the large majority of earnings from a record. The way these royalties are split between writers on individual songs is another common concern within the career. The majority of publishing contracts will assume equality between co-writers unless the publisher is informed otherwise (Harrison, 2025). However, writers will often put together a ‘Split Sheet’ which dictates who earns what from the track, but how this is done is down to the writers in the room. Here collaboration is crucial. An understanding of copyright law will help a songwriter avoid long and costly legal battles. Copyright – in the UK – is bestowed at creation, counts as a property right and protects the expression of an idea as well as the idea itself. The main pieces of legislation surrounding copyright can be found in the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. A key element of the law is that copyright is maintained for a piece or work for 70 years after the composer has died. However, as copyright law is territorial, meaning it changes from one country to another, a songwriter’s work will not have the same protections all around the world. 

As is the case in every field of work, songwriter’s can (and probably should) join a union. Unions can help ensure job security, better wages and fairer treatment using collective bargaining. David Bruenger (2016) notes that the creation of the Musicians Union provided previously unheard-of support and visibility for musicians, specifically those being exploited. He also writes that those who stand to gain financially from an artist such as managers and agents will have more reason to work towards their success, but more reason to push them to do more than they’re comfortable with. For these reasons and more, union membership can be incredibly beneficial for songwriters at any stage in their career.

Of course, the most basic skill that would assist a songwriter is the ability to sing, play an instrument or produce music – at least to the extent of being able to create musical ideas. This extent can vary massively though. Therefore, perhaps the more important skill is that of creation. As Jason Blume (2018) writing for the BMI blog puts it: “the ability to play an instrument–and the ability to write memorable melodies–are completely different skills”. 

Just like any other skill then, songwriting can be worked on through practice. There are many exercises online and in books that can be undertaken to improve your writing ability, and it is common for the pros to still exercise their writing muscles regularly, often releasing the songs made during practice. One such example is MJ Lenderman’s “You Don’t Know the Shape I’m in”. In an episode of Song exploder, Lenderman details how he began the song simply wanting to “get some reps in” (Hrishikesh Hirway, 2025). The demo version is 20 minutes long and very messy, but later he adds lyrics and eventually re-records the whole song with a new band arrangement. Here, what started as “partially an exercise” (Hirway, 2025) becomes one of the most popular songs on the record it was part of. Interesting also, is that he mentions having made several of these very long instrumentals. This tells me that he is not only practicing his writing and musicianship skills, but also his decision-making and curation abilities. Quantity can win over quality in the early stages of songwriting as you create lots of material to choose from. A great way of achieving quantity is by carrying out songwriting exercises often, of which there are a great deal to choose from. 

One of the most popular writing exercises comes from Berklee professor Pat Pattison (2011) and is called ‘Object Writing’. This involves timing yourself as you write as freely as possible about a person, place object or feeling (Pattison, 2011). By practicing object writing every day you can build a sizeable portfolio of words to choose from, as well as practice creative writing.

Shelia Davis (2001) boasts 40 different strategies to write a song using various creative limitations in the title of your song. These types of exercises make for a great antidote against the virus that is writer’s block. Being one of the most common struggles a songwriter faces, it’s essential to have skills at the ready to overcome this inevitable feature of working in the arts. 

There are countless stories of ‘tortured artists’ who lose their lives to mental health and/or drug crises, and as we move further into the 21^st century these stories are taking place less and less, but it is still very common for artists to struggle with their mental health. Due to the high stakes nature of the music industry, and the widespread treatment of artists by (mostly major) labels as tradeable commodities, it is important for songwriters and those in the industry to protect themselves from bad actors as much as possible, but where things have already taken a turn for the worse, to seek professional help. There are a few organisations and companies that offer professional mental health aid to people working in the music industry, such as Music Minds Matter and The Independent Society of Musicians. These groups have a phone line that you can ring for help from a counsellor as well as guides on what steps to take when facing a range issues from discrimination all the way to physical ear health. For more serious and persistent mental health problems, one should always go to a licensed medical professional – of which there are also many who specifically work with those in the music industry. 

Keith Ayling is a longtime songwriter and musician, having played in several bands, perhaps most notably 90’s rock group KATO. He’s released 14 albums over 35 years and currently works as a Professor of Songwriting at Leeds Conservatoire, as well as Chair of Education at the IVORS academy. Here I speak to Ayling about what it means to be a songwriter and the ugly side of the work.

If you had three words to describe what makes up a songwriter what would they be?

“Resilient, Creative, Tenacious; You’ve gotta be able to make stuff as a creator, but you’ve also gotta be able to take rejection”

What would your advice be to someone who wants to get into songwriting camps and write for other artists, how does someone get their name mentioned in the right rooms?

“there’s two ways I think; the first way is forcing yourself into the room & actually being a little bit annoying…to be constantly in the room, whether you’re invited or not…at some point somebody’s gonna invite you to something. I took a different route…where I just tried to make quality songs, I kept doing my own thing… and playing to different audiences…at some point somebody will notice. We (Ayling’s band at the time, KATO) kept doing that regionally, then we spread out to Manchester, Liverpool…and as soon as we played London, a scout came to the gig because they heard about us”

It seems like networking is the main piece of industry advice being given out at the moment; how relevant is this in the real world?

“Kind of, but only if you’ve got good songs…my question [to someone trying to network with him] would be ‘Oh can I hear some of your stuff’, and if they haven’t got anything that’s good, or that they really believe in, I’d be like go back and write some songs”

You mentioned rejection earlier, what would you say is the least fun part of a professional songwriter’s work?

“Insecurity…you just don’t know which song is going to make you any money…a lot of your success is based on people’s opinions…if you’re signed to a publisher that doesn’t mean they’re going to pay you a wage…which is why songwriters do a lot of other things”

These are just the highlights of my interview, but they highlight some key aspects about this job. The ability to take rejection, to be resilient and to be ready for financial failure seem to be key tenants of a songwriter’s work life. 

To close this research, I can confidently say that my understanding of the career trajectory of a songwriter, as well what it means to be working as one is much stronger than when I began. I know now at least some of the steps necessary to work towards to the goal of becoming a songwriter.

Bibliography

Blume, J. (2018). What Skills Do You Need to Be a Successful Songwriter? [online] BMI.com. Available at: https://www.bmi.com/news/entry/what-skills-do-you-need-to-be-a-successful-songwriter. [Accessed 23 Nov. 2025].

Bruenger, D. (2016) Making money, making music : history and core concepts. Oakland, California: University Of California Press.

CEEK VR (2018). Don’t Let Me Down Songwriter Emily Warren On Writing One Of The Biggest Hits. [online] VR Experiences Platform, Virtual Reality Concerts. Available at: https://www.ceekvr.com/vr-blog/interviews/emily-warren-on-writing-one-of-the-biggest-hits  [Accessed 23 Nov. 2025].

Davis, S. (2001) The Songwriter’s Idea Book. London: Writer’s Digest Books, U.S.

Harrison, A. (2025) Music: The Business (9th edition). Random House.

Hirway, H. (2025). Episode 290: MJ Lenderman. [online] Song Exploder. Available at: https://songexploder.net/mj-lenderman. [Accessed 23 Nov. 2025].

Indiana, J. (2023). Cover story: Caroline Polachek is surrendering to chaos. [online] Crack Magazine. Available at: https://crackmagazine.net/article/profiles/caroline-polachek-desire-album-cover-story/. [Accessed 23 Nov. 2025].

Kawashima, D. (2020). Ian Kirkpatrick Interview | Hitmaker for Dua Lipa & Selena. [online] SongwriterUniverse. Available at: https://www.songwriteruniverse.com/ian-kirkpatrick-songwriter-2020/  [Accessed 23 Nov. 2025].

Publisher (2017). 5 top things an A&R looks for in a songwriter – Songwriting Magazine. [online] Songwriting Magazine. Available at: https://www.songwritingmagazine.co.uk/tips/five-top-things-an-ar-looks-for-in-a-songwriter [Accessed 23 Nov. 2025]. 

Pattison, P. (2011) Songwriting without boundaries : lyric writing exercises for finding your voice. Cincinnati, Ohio: Writer’s Digest Books.

Steiner, L. (2023). Performance Royalties Explained: Who Pays and Collects Them? [online] Talentir.com. Available at: https://www.talentir.com/blog/performance-royalties. [Accessed 23 Nov. 2025].