Text | Music Herald, author | Li Qinyu, editor | Fan Zhihui
Recently, midia focused on songwriters for the first time and released a groundbreaking report - "The Stage for Songwriters and Songwriters: A New Chapter in the New Era" ( (hereinafter referred to as the "Report"), the report provides an in-depth analysis of the income status, needs and practical challenges faced by 309 songwriters.
Dr. Luke, a well-known American songwriter and producer, once pointed out: "The success of a musician lies not only in creating pleasant melodies, but also in finding a way to connect with the audience." However, for songwriters, how to amplify One's own commercial value has become an increasingly serious problem.
What is more difficult than writing good songs?
In a world where music is multicultural and audiences have diverse aesthetics, creators can draw inspiration from life, social networks, film and television works, and even games anytime and anywhere. With the popularization of production tools and the continuous advancement of AI technology, it is becoming easier and easier for creators to write a song that is above the "passing line of public aesthetics".
But the real problem is how to stand out from the crowd and get the attention and financial rewards it deserves.
The "Report" shows that only 29% of creators set improving their creative abilities as an annual goal, and only 20% of creators set creating hit songs as an annual goal. In comparison, the two goals of obtaining more simultaneous licenses for works and finding new sources of income accounted for 31% respectively, and building a fan base on social media accounted for 23%.
Data shows that more songwriters are focusing on seeking cooperation opportunities and increasing social media influence. In other words, most of their needs are related to money.
"Report" also shows that about 40% of songwriters in have an annual income of less than 1,000 US dollars, about 20% of songwriters in have an annual income between 1,000 and 10,000 US dollars, and only 10% of creators have an annual income between 10,000 and 30,000. between US dollars.
In such an environment, many songwriters have gradually deviated from their original intention of creation. In order to pursue traffic, they have sacrificed the artistry of their works. They have even no longer cared about the basic principles of creation such as rhyme, melody, and meaning, and have completely given up on the bottom line of creation. For example,
, music platforms are flooded with all kinds of heaven-defying songs. They rely on homophonic marginalization and attention-grabbing methods to grab market share, making it difficult for truly high-quality works to stand out and diluting the quality of the entire content pool.
With the introduction of subscription bundles by Spotify, it is expected that royalty payments to songwriters will be further reduced in the future, which will undoubtedly exacerbate the survival difficulties of creators. And since streaming royalties are not enough to support daily living expenses, songwriters may need to take on other jobs to make ends meet, preventing them from focusing on creation.
Most songwriters not only have to invest a lot of time in creating, but also need to find partners to record and produce songs, and they also need to spend time understanding complex copyright knowledge. Even if the work is successfully released, getting attention on streaming platforms filled with countless tracks is not easy. The
"Report" shows that 67% of the respondents said that the income from streaming media is not enough to meet basic living needs, and 40% are worried that their works will be submerged. 23% of creators have difficulty finding partners and insufficient time to create, and 22% lack copyright knowledge.
It can be seen that for most songwriters, "writing good songs" is no longer a problem. What they face is a series of complex challenges besides creation.
How do songwriters build their own brands?
Currently, the music industry has fully entered an economic model with songs as the core. However, this does not mean that the songwriters behind the songs are the center.
Although songwriters behind the scenes face the same challenges as musicians on stage, musicians can monetize their fan base through live performances and selling merchandise. In contrast, songwriters face more limited options for expanding their reach and opening up new revenue channels.
According to midia statistics, 59% of creators hope to promote their works to film, television, advertising, video games and other media to obtain synchronization rights; 38% of creators hope to establish their own brands and increase their visibility and influence in the industry 35% of creators expressed the need for more cooperation opportunities and network; 30% of creators expressed the need for financial support, and 28% of creators expressed the need to recommend their works to more well-known artists.
As mentioned above, songwriters' needs for support are often those things that they cannot accomplish alone and for which they have not yet found a solution. For example, a songwriter's primary goal is to secure sync rights for their work, a process that often involves pitching the song to decision-makers in advertising agencies or other related industries.
These needs can be met in one step during the process of songwriters building their own brands.
From outside the industry, listeners can not only be converted into fans, but also become active advocates and disseminators of their personal IP. Overseas, there are also many songwriters who have directly transformed their fans' support into financial gains through crowdfunding, membership subscriptions, music reviews, podcast radio, etc., and transformed their career as a behind-the-scenes songwriter into a persona, creating a highly recognizable character. brand image.
From an internal perspective of the music industry, the building of a personal brand is crucial to improving the "bid winning rate" of songwriting and composition works. When it comes to the implementation level of , for example, choosing a fixed conductor, or being the conductor yourself, you can match the video for each demo, mark out the lyrics and phrases, etc. when pitching songs. The polishing of these details will help in the industry. Establish a good reputation and build a personal brand, thereby increasing the opportunities for songwriters to be noticed by potential partners, copyright agents and record companies, and expanding more cooperation possibilities.
Of course, this is undoubtedly closely connected with the works. Brand building is not only reflected in the works, but also reflected in each work, stamping its own unique creative "watermark", so that the works and the brand complement each other.
In recent years, domestic music platforms such as NetEase Cloud Music and Tencent Music Entertainment have launched numerous music support projects and creative training camps to solve current career development planning problems for practitioners. For example, NetEase Cloud Music opened the industry's first training course in 2021 that provides musicians with fixed remuneration and five insurances and one housing fund. It customizes personalized plans for students including training, song production, and publicity and promotion, and will provide them with services based on the market. Make real-time adjustments based on feedback from students, teachers and other parties.
In addition, many domestic copyright agencies and record companies have also "launched classes" to comprehensively incubate songwriters through customized training strategies, covering all aspects from professional skill improvement to music business development, market trend analysis and communication skills. In the long run, these training programs will not only help companies discover and cultivate market-competitive creative talents, but also meet their continued demand for high-quality content.
For creators, these training projects are also an opportunity to learn in the industry. They are also an important way to deeply understand the operation of the industry and expand their network resources. Both parties are mutually beneficial and jointly contribute to the development of the industry.
In the final analysis, the goal of these efforts is to comprehensively build a personal brand, which can not only strengthen the connection between songwriters, fans and industry partners, but also enhance their influence in a highly competitive market and open up more career opportunities to achieve Sustainable career development.
Is it time for songwriter branding?
From a traditional perspective, songwriters have always been the "mysterious figures" behind the stage, but now the direction of the spotlight is slowly changing, and the "branding" of songwriters is becoming more and more common.
For example, Billie Eilish's brother Finneas O'Connell, as a successful creator, Finneas interacts with fans through social media platforms such as TikTok, sharing his behind-the-scenes stories, creative inspiration and life moments when making music. These interactions go beyond promotional pieces and deepen his personal connection with his fans.
Another example is Jack Antonoff, a creator who is famous for working with well-known artists such as Taylor Swift and Lana Del Rey. He often shares his music creation process, personal life and interactions with artists on social media, and even launched it on platforms such as Etsy peripheral products made in his image and name. It is not difficult to see that some outstanding overseas songwriters and producers have transcended traditional behind-the-scenes roles and become symbols with cultural symbolism.
This domestic trend is also gradually emerging. In the traditional record era, the names of gold medal songwriters such as Gu Jiahui, Huang Zhan, "Two Weiwen", Li Zongsheng, Chen Xiaoxia, Xiao Chong, Yao Qian, Shi Rencheng, etc. mostly only appeared in the production list of the record, and were only remembered few.
In addition, the "Wang Zha Group" formed through a stable cooperative relationship has also laid a high start for the branding of songwriters.
From Jay Chou + Fang Wenshan, Tao Zhe + Wawa, JJ Lin + Lin Qiuli, to the current combinations of Qian Lei + Tang Tian, Chen Hongyu + Tang Yingfeng, they have created "Blue and White Porcelain", "Ordinary Friends", "Jiangnan", "In the World" , "Ideal Thirty" and other classic works have formed a symbol of musical aesthetics in a certain period, and also enhanced the recognition and influence of their works.
It’s just that nowadays, songwriters have more opportunities to be seen. Midia analyst Tatiana Cirisano pointed out that several larger trends will help songwriters move to the center of music consumption culture.
On the one hand, the widespread use of social media has further enhanced the visibility of songwriters. They now sometimes feature in artists' social media content, giving fans the opportunity to engage with them directly. Fans can learn many details about their favorite artists, such as their backgrounds, lifestyle habits, and more through a simple search. The wide availability of information like
also makes fans more interested in the production process behind the music. In the past, fans might have only focused on the artists themselves, but now they also want to know who is behind the scenes creating the songs, making the value of the creator even more prominent.
On the other hand, streaming service platforms have also begun to pay attention to behind-the-scenes talents, displaying song creator information and personal homepages. not only helps fans more easily identify and contact the creators of songs, but also significantly increases the visibility and market influence of these creators.
As the core creative force in the music industry chain, songwriters may be the ones who deserve the most “cake”. However, due to the unreasonable benefit distribution system in the early stage, they did not receive reasonable economic compensation. The emergence of these trends has also broken the traditional relatively secretive status of songwriters and promoted their transformation from "behind-the-scenes heroes" to "brand IP".
However, craftsmen who are good at skills are often limited by their skills. Creation itself is a lonely thing, and it also requires a creative environment that is relatively isolated from external "noise". This conflicts with the current marketing environment that is eager to speak out and be seen. How
balances the flow state required for songwriting and the marketing needs of a personal brand may be a greater test of the songwriter's energy allocation.
