The New Music Business with Ari Herstand

How To Be a Professional Hit Songwriter

July 22, 2026·1h 14m
Episode Description from the Publisher

This week on the New Music Business podcast, Ari sits down with Andreas Schuller, hit songwriter, producer, and co-founder of music publishing company Honua Music. Andreas has written and produced songs for artists including The Weeknd, Jason Derulo, Madison Beer, and many more, accumulating billions of streams and numerous gold and platinum records.Andreas breaks down how hit songs are actually created, how publishing companies develop songwriters, and why today's music industry is more relationship-driven than ever. He shares the story behind Jason Derulo's smash hit "Wiggle," explains how songwriting camps work, discusses the evolution of professional songwriting, and offers practical advice for aspiring songwriters trying to break into the industry.Follow Andreas Schuller:https://honuamusic.com/Check out Ari’s Take:https://aristake.com03:48 - Meet Andreas Schuller: Hitmaker Turned Publisher12:19 - Music Publishing Explained: How Songwriters Make Money18:39 - The Story Behind Jason Derulo's "Wiggle"22:02 - Songwriting Splits, Credits, and Industry Politics30:37 - How Professional Songwriting Has Changed Since 201034:46 - Breaking Into the Music Industry as a Songwriter39:03 - Originality vs. Trend Chasing: What Actually Works?49:37 - Building Great Writing Rooms and Finding Creative Chemistry52:39 - AI, the Future of Music, and What's Next for SongwritersEdited and mixed by Ruben ZarateMusic by Brassroots DistrictProduced by the team at Ari’s TakeOrder the THIRD EDITION of How to Make It in the New Music Business: https://book.aristake.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Podzilla Summary coming soon

Sign up to get notified when the full AI-powered summary is ready.

Get Free Summaries →

Free forever for up to 3 podcasts. No credit card required.

Listen to This Episode

Get summaries like this every morning.

Free AI-powered recaps of The New Music Business with Ari Herstand and your other favorite podcasts, delivered to your inbox.

Get Free Summaries →

Free forever for up to 3 podcasts. No credit card required.