Songwriting As Method = A specific creative research method using songwriting
Songwriting can function not only as creative output but as a method for generating knowledge. By writing, revising, and reflecting on songs, researchers uncover insights about identity, emotion, memory, and cultural experience that might remain inaccessible through interviews or observation alone. The creative act itself, from lyric choices to production decisions, serves as data, revealing how themes such as gender, power, or belonging emerge through musical practice.
To quote Dr Jo Collinson Scott “At its most basic, songwriting-as-research is research where songwriting is both the main method of conducting research on a specified line of inquiry AND the substantive (or only) way in which the results of that investigation are shared with audiences”.
The Feathers EP - the tracks
The Feathers EP Songbook documents a collaborative songwriting-as-research project funded by the University of Wolverhampton developed through That’s Me, in which postgraduate researchers from the Global Majority worked with songwriters to translate lived experience, identity and emotion into original music across a three-stage process of reflection, creation and closure.
The publication positions songs, spoken-word and collective authorship as legitimate research outputs, addressing themes of voice, marginalisation, self-determination, community and resistance through tracks such as Silent Spotlight, Listen, This Is Not a Report, Life Is Yours, Choosing Her and Allow Me to Reintroduce Myself .
It demonstrates how songwriting can operate as a rigorous, ethical and empowering method for knowledge production, particularly for Black and global-majority participants whose stories are often excluded from traditional research formats.
Across the EP, the credited contributors are:
Rejoice Abudar
Nysha Chantel Givans
Luce Barka
Tanya Mpofu
Thiago Jorge
Kerensa Hodge
Monette Allison
Anderline Amamgbo
Comfort Aleyomi
Songwriting As Method Discussions
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