We all have a romantic idea about how a hit song gets written. It starts with one songwriter who brings it to their band or producer, they hammer out the details and nail the recording in one take to capture that ephemeral magic and send it out into the airwaves.
The reality is often quite different. Sure, there are hits that were written over a bowl of cereal and then entered the hearts and minds of millions rather organically, but most hit songs, at least on the pop charts, are written by professionals.
You may even know some of their names, like Max Martin, who’s basically penned every Number 1 single since the late ’90s, but even prominent artists in their own right, like Ed Sheeran and Meghan Trainor, frequently write songs for fellow stars.
Sometimes these hits are the result of being on the same label or being signed to the same publishing company, but increasingly they come about as a result of songwriting camps, in which professional songwriters group together to manufacture hits.
As the Sydney Morning Herald writes, one of the most prominent is the annual Bali Songwriting Invitational, which recently held its seventh event attended by several esteemed hit-makers, including Guy Sebastian and The Presets’ Julian Hamilton.
The Bali Songwriting Invitation is kind of like the Bilderberg Group conference only less sinister and attended by the elite of the songwriting world. It was founded by Mike Taylor, managing director of Universal Music Australia and Milk and Honey’s Peter Coquillard.
As publishing becomes ever more important to the music industry, songwriting camps have flourished and Taylor and Coquillard offer a professional networking opportunity for artists, producers, and songwriters wrapped up in an exotic working vacation.
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As Fairfax notes, the first BSI was attended by Delta Goodrem, Brian McFadden, Crichton, Havana Brown, and Cassie Davis. The latter two first met during the 10-day event and later collaborated on the hit ‘We Run the Night’, which sold 3.5 million copies.
The day starts at 10.30am when Coquillard announces the working groups for the day – one producer, one topliner (melodies and lyrics), and one artist. Many other camps don’t bother to invite artists, but BSI isn’t your average songwriting camp.
Julian Hamilton, for example, has attended twice, once as a topliner working with other artists and once as an artist. A collaboration from his first stint netted him and the other collaborators a cool $500,000.
(Photo: Gusde Mahendranata / Fairfax)
