Creativity and Education: The ‘Service Model’ of Pop Music Songwriting and Production in Action

Songwriting has been a feature of the PME curriculum for some time now but there are few studies specifically employing contemporary models of songwriting in the classroom (Butler 2014; Bell 2020; Moir & Medbøe 2015; Bennett 2015; Söderman & Folkestad 2006; Gooderson & Henley 2016; Marrington 2016; Anthony, Thompson & Auvinen 2020). This study explored the application of the ‘Service Model’ for Pop Music, Creativity and Commerce (Thompson and Harding 2019) at Westerdals University in Oslo, with 16 music students and pop music producer, Phil Harding (Kylie Minogue, East 17, Boyzone), acting as both researcher and ‘Executive Team Leader’ (ETL). The study showed how the input of an industry professional’s experience can give students important access to the social interactions of a specific field of pop music production and help them gain a critical understanding of the criteria for selection that operates within it or: ‘educating for creativity’ (McIntyre et al 2018: 115).