Songwriting Studies Research Network

The Songwriting Studies Research Network is a two-year project designed to catalyse a field of study focused on songwriting. The network connects scholars with this shared interest from a variety of disciplines and career stages alongside industry workers and practitioners. Despite the central place of songwriting in the economic, political and social status of people and organisations all over the world, the practice of songwriting and the variety of contexts in which it is of vital importance remain only tangentially connected within academia. This research adopts an interdisciplinary approach to the study of songs, songwriters and songwriting in order to facilitate collaboration across methodological, theoretical and geographical boundaries.

This will be accomplished during the period of funding through the delivery of four international one-day events in Birmingham, Liverpool, London and Glasgow. During these events, researchers, industry workers and songwriters will encounter each other in seminars, interactive music workshops, panels, Q&As and networking activities. Together they will exchange knowledge, forge new insights and establish partnerships. To foster continued development and to maximise impact, insights and opportunities emerging from the network will be made available through an online portal. An edited book will draw together work from participants for publication at the end of two years. Through this network, it is envisioned that a range of objectives can be achieved towards facilitating interdisciplinary networking, transforming practice, and galvanising the emergent field of songwriting studies.

The research network will achieve impact in the following areas:

1. Industry bodies and educational institutions

This project will make use of existing relationships with industry bodies like BASCA and PRS for Music. These organisations work in tandem with key decision makers lobbying in support of fairness and safeguarding of rights for songwriters throughout the UK, Europe and the world. Through the exchange of knowledge and expertise, the network has an opportunity to inform attitudes to legislation and play a transformative role in future policy. A further opportunity for impact emerges from close connections with higher education institutions like BIMM, LIPA and ICMP, where the network can inform the scope of songwriting curriculum in non-commercial, socio-political and therapeutic contexts.

2. Commercial/private sector companies and workers

Taking advantage of existing relationships with companies like Kobalt and Sentric Music, we welcome key industry figures to engage with the events and the community online. Insights generated by the network will be of value to music publishers, record labels and professional songwriters in the commercial/private sector because songwriting is the core method through which their primary product is produced. Sharing knowledge about the ways in which songwriters understand, characterise and explain their relationships to the music industries will help record labels and music publishers to optimise and better manage their artist relations and communications strategies.

3. Third sector organisations and individuals

The events proposed in this series will allow for organisations engaged with songwriting and music making in non-profit or clinical environments to participate in discussions. This diverse approach extends to individuals who might consider themselves amateur or hobbyist songwriters wishing to improve their skills, or professionals looking to transform their current practice and employability status in non-commercial environments. Our keynote speaker Felicity Baker, who is a world-renowned expert in the therapeutic application of songwriting, has deliberately been selected to open up debate in this area and to provide the network with an avenue to engage with the utility of songwriting as a force for self-actualization.

4. The media

The network also has the potential to transform the approaches of media workers such as film and television producers, magazine editors, podcasters and authors who have close relationships to music, either in the products they produce or in the context of making media that depicts, discusses, comments upon, or otherwise engages with songwriting and creativity. We will engage beneficiaries in these fields primarily through industry panels, the website and publication.

5. Local communities and the wider public in general

Beyond those who work directly in the arts, there is also a broad and worthwhile audience of individuals who wish to learn more about the culture of creative work in the popular music industries and apply transferrable elements of the research to their own lives and careers. This is evidenced by the substantial number of amateur songwriting groups/courses (Songwriting Academy), open mic events and songwriter circles (Green Note), and songwriting competitions (Song Academy) across the UK and beyond. We will reach these audiences by forging relationships with key organisers, by opening our events to the public and by providing open access to the website.