Collaboration in an online environment: Creativity in popular music songwriting and production during Covid-19 lockdowns

Momentous events like the Covid-19 pandemic can have a catalytic function. The lockdown brought all face-to-face interactions in the recorded music sector to a sudden halt and necessitated a radical shift online. Using a practice-led methodology with complementary interviews, this article explores music collaboration in an online environment to determine how remote interaction and the underlying technologies affect the collaborative creative process of popular music songwriters, musicians, engineers, and producers. Data analysis indicated an ambivalent experience. While the change in social interaction and limited access to production resources altered individual workflows and collaboration, it hindered and fostered creativity in equal measure. The findings suggest that online collaboration could be an equally viable alternative to traditional popular music songwriting and production methods from the initial compositional idea to the finished project if the limitations of internet speed and software functionality can be overcome and music creators adapt their workflows and interactive habits.