The seventh SUISA Songwriting Camp will take place from Monday, 27 May to Wednesday, 29 May 2024. By invitation, professional songwriters and producers from Switzerland and abroad will come to the Powerplay Studios in Maur near Zurich for the three-day event. SUISA members or principals in particular have the opportunity to apply to participate in the event.
The songwriting task is to compose a pop song together with other songwriters in just one day. In the morning, the teams consisting of producers, topliners, lyricists and singers are put together. In the evening, the song has to be finished and a demo track must have been recorded. In terms of genre or style, anything will be considered if it could be successful in the pop sector in the charts, on streaming platforms, on radio/TV or at the Eurovision Song Contest.
Applications for the 2024 SUISA Songwriting Camp
You must meet the following requirements if you want to apply:
- SUISA membership
- advanced or professional musical knowledge, skills and experience
- aptitude to work in a team, resilience, openness and ability to take criticism
- availability on one or more of the event days from morning to evening
If you fulfil these requirements, please send us your application by email to the following address: songwritingcamp (at) suisa (dot) ch
What we expect in the application is a short biography, convincing reference songs in which you were involved (mp3 files or internet links) as well as current and valid contact details (email, telephone and address).
The closing date for applications is on: 22 April 2024
Selection of participants
The Songwriting Camp is a collaboration between SUISA and Pele Loriano Productions. The selection of all artists invited to the camp is made by the artistic director the appointment of whom lies within the responsibility of Pele Loriano Productions. An appropriate make-up of the participants is crucial for the creative success of the “songwriting sessions”.
Participants will be contacted directly by the artistic director if they are invited or if further questions regarding their application are necessary. This may be the case until shortly before the date of the event. Messages of refusal will not be sent out.
It should be noted that the application does not create an entitlement to participation at any time. Furthermore, there will be no correspondence regarding the allocation of places. No statements can be made at this time about the implementation of further songwriting camps supported by SUISA.
At SUISAʼs previous songwriting camps, a total of between 30 and 40 musicians took part over the three days. The number of applications received was generally three to four times the number of places available.
SUISA Songwriting Camp success story
SUISA organised a songwriting camp for the first time in 2017 and immediately, literally, had a hit with that: “Eurovision Song Contest: Swiss songwriting camp by Pele Loriano Productions and SUISA a huge success”. Subsequently, compositions created for the camp were repeatedly heard at the Eurovision Song Contest, such as “She Got Me”, “Sister”, “Amen” and most recently “Watergun”. Other releases outside of the ESC framework received many clicks on streaming platforms.
The songwriting camp organised by SUISA and Pele Loriano Productions has also been well received by professional songwriters in Switzerland and abroad, as Frazer Mac, Luk Zimmermann, Barney Sykes and participants from 2019 tell us in the linked videos.
