Songwriting-Briefings

At the Wisseloord Academy you will be prepared for the real thing. You will regularly work on assignments and briefings out of the work field. It gives you a double chance: you can gain experience while making the assignment and if you carry out the briefing well, it may just be that your work makes the ‘cut’. But how do such briefings work and what should you pay attention to when you start working on them?

Briefings can come from all corners of the work field. You’re going to get them from artists, ad agencies, labels, movie producers, and much more. It is important to know what kind of party you are working with to achieve the right result.

Several things are stated in a briefing. Take, for example, a briefing for film music.

This often involves a search for the title song or for music for a specific scene. The client often provides a short summary of the content of the film and states what he is looking for. That question is sometimes supported, sometimes not by ‘reference tracks’. These are pre-existing songs that they give as an example for the type of track they are looking for. Note that you do not copy these tracks 1 on 1, but simply take them as an example. For example, you can get inspiration from the rhythm, the production style, or the way of using instrument or vocals.

Many briefings, also called pitches, are also issued by artists and labels. These artists are looking for their new hit and you can work on it! In the briefing they indicate what they are looking for and what kind of music they have already made and released recently. Keep in mind that such an artist needs something new, so don’t copy past their previous songs.

A deadline is almost always indicated in the briefing, so stick to it. Please submit your work as soon as possible. Briefings are often sent to multiple parties, so competition is fierce. The sooner you submit your work, the better. It would be a shame that you don’t get the assignment because they have already chosen another work.

It will happen more often that your work will eventually not be used than that it will. Be prepared for this. The competition is high, so the chance that you ‘win’ is smaller. Don’t give up but move on to the next briefing.

To read more about Songwriting and how to improve the process of developing, creating and refining recorded music visit our knowledge base page about Songwriting Education.