You can't just send it in a jiffy bag

Mark Fishlock, an established U.K. songwriter and a founder-director of the British Academy of Songwriters, tells of the challenges songwriters may be in for.

It's impossible to get signed if you send your work in a jiffy bag to a recording company now. Technology changed the musical landscape for songwriters. It's far easier to demo yourself.

But large influx of music = hard to get anything heard or looked at.

Mark Fishlock was very truthful about the struggle for songwriters. He made clear how closed off the industry was - and how you can't get signed straight from the cold. You have to be known.

But it wasn't all grim and minor, he described the Ivor awards. Though they aren't televised like the Brits, songwriters hold it in higher regard as it celebrates the songwriter's creativity.

Seeing Mark Fishlock in conversation, was an eye opener for amateur songwriters like me. Through all the recycling of music, there's not much room for anything new unless you work for it. But even in recycling, there are songs that are covered and improved.

Fishlock agreed, but still praised classics like "Bridge over Troubled Water" - and at the end of his talk that's the song that echoed in my mind.