This is the final series in a 3-part blog. We began this blog series here.

During the pandemic years, every musician lost their work. Whilst songwriters struggled to make ends meet, we found that members continued to lean into I Heart Songwriting Club, firstly because it’s affordable, but also because of the deep need for a supportive community especially during this prolonged period of isolation. As a result, over the pandemic years, the Club continued to grow.

Our Podcast

Those years home-bound offered me an opportunity to reflect on our fast growth as a community. We now had over 1000 songwriters from all over the world in our club. How could we elevate those songwriters to a global audience?

So we produced a podcast which was launched in early 2022. I was really passionate about this platform, because I really wanted to show what goes on in the Club – the energy, the harmony of it, the tone, the philosophy, the community plus we had never truly been able to showcase our international members before to our audience. We’d be location bound in terms of the media and performance opportunities. Plus I had never found a way to deeply share about my insights from writing a song every week for years upon years. And so the podcast was my opportunity to do that.

Career Changing Outcomes from Online Courses and Mentorship

One of the songwriters we’ve featured on the podcast is Kaiyah Mercedes. In 2018, we moved our in person songwriting workshops to an online songwriting course for beginners, so we were able to continue to offer programs to beginners during the pandemic, which is where we met Kaiyah. Kaiyah had seen some of the outcomes from our young songwriters who had gone on to release singles and she wanted that for herself. She wrote over 40 songs in our beginner songwriting courses over a year and that kick started her first album, in October 2022, at just 16 years old.

She then joined our professional development mentoring program, called Level Up Club, to support her through the recording, release and promotional stage of her first album and then second album just before her 18th birthday. Only months after its release, she is celebrating 1 million streams of her album. Kaiyah identifies as queer and disabled and this has been no barrier for her. She is a rising star and an example of how showing up each week to write songs, be part of a community and follow your dreams, can literally get you there.

Kaiyah says: “When I decided that I wanted to make music at the age of 14, I had no clue where to even start. It was Francesca and IHSC that helped guide me in the right direction, giving me all of the tools that I needed to start my career. From songwriting development to industry skills, the mentors at I Heart Songwriting Club are so knowledgeable, and their wisdom gave me the foundations I needed to find the success that I have gained already in music. Fast forward 4 years and I have just turned 18 and released my second fully independent album. No matter where you are in your career – years of experience or just starting out – IHSC is such a kind and welcoming community that I recommend for any musician.”

The Club’s Impact

When I started the Club, I never imagined the impact this simple writing club that teaches discipline in a fun, low-pressure way would have on songwriters’ lives, community and careers.  I just started the club to help people get out of writer’s block. I move past being stuck. To get out of a rut.

I gave up my teaching job at the end of 2018 because I wanted to see if these benefits could reach more people. It wasn’t about the number of songs we would write and the subsequent improvement of skill – but more so how writing songs regularly makes us feel, and how this changes our lives and those around us in our lives. Music changes people. Sound frequency changes people, creativity changes people, community changes people.

Wellness
The Wellness and Personal benefits of the Club, is something that only Club members know about. Many members have said it’s the cheapest therapy ever. Our online community is a safe space for people to share vulnerably and share reciprocally, and writing songs week after week has a positive benefit on how we feel.

Cultural Benefit
It then became obvious that the club had a cultural benefit in the community. The internal community which is a peer community for songwriters, and the greater community cultural benefit through sharing songs and concerts with the public.

Economic Benefit
It took a few years to see the economic benefit of the club. Mainly due to the time it takes for a song to be written, then produced, recorded and released. But this really started to gain traction once the club opened to the public.  By my humble count, well over 600 songs have been recorded and released by our community and are available to stream online.

Songs are what artists record. Songs are the core of what sustains an artists’ career – more songs, more opportunity to earn money through more gigs, more albums, more tours. And over time, better quality of songs, better quality of releases, better quality of performance, better venues, bigger audiences – and a greater capacity to continue one’s career when the songs are good.

Songs are at the centre of the music industry. Without songs there is no industry.  Songs are what is exploited to create our multi-billion dollar music industry. And we are the songwriters.

The significant impact of IHSC economic benefits is evident in our member’s ARIA Top 5 releases; ARIA and AIR award nominations; syncs and soundtracks to international feature films; hundreds of albums and EPs written, recorded and released.

How We Celebrated Turning 10

We celebrated our 10th anniversary in a special songwriting retreat experience, followed by an international music industry songwriting showcase at BIGSOUND 2024.

What I’ve Learnt From Writing Songs Every Week for 10 Years

Writing songs each week, I’ve learned so much about myself, my feelings, processing things that has happened in my life, learning about how to overcome challenges, becoming resilient, learning how to love myself, how to make friends, how to be kind to people, how to not judge others, how to be patient, how to give people space to be fully themselves and learn at their own pace, how to inspire others to understand people in their community, that we are so much more unlimited than we realise…

Each songwriting club group, when they stay together, become like a family. They support each other beyond the songs – they follow each other on socials, they collaborate – sing on each other’s tracks and write together, they tour together, they have meals together, they are mates.

This is our community. This is what you all helped create. Thank you for making my life’s work a joy. Here’s to our next 10 years and beyond. Let’s create it together.

Happy birthday I Heart Songwriting Club.