Songwriting and production company Dsign Music has 36 number-one positions on international Billboard charts. In December, K-pop group NCT 127 reached the top of the charts with one of their songs. The South Korean boy band's hit was written in Trondheim.
/ 02/01/2019 / Kristian DugstadSongwriting and production company Dsign Music has 36 number-one positions on international Billboard charts. In December, K-pop group NCT 127 reached the top of the charts with one of their songs. The South Korean boy band's hit was written in Trondheim.
Text: Kristian Dugstad
Photo above: Mathieu Lund
Dsign Music has offices in the world metropolises of Los Angeles and Seoul, but also in Trondheim. They have been writing and producing songs for domestic and international audiences for over ten years, and have had particular success in East Asia. The company consists of CEO Robin Jenssen, and songwriters Nermin Harambasic, Ronny Svendsen and Anne Judith Wik. The latter two are among the songwriters behind NCT 127's new hit, "Simon Says."
It began in 2008, what Wik calls the Asia adventure.
– Our publisher told us that there was a huge, almost untapped market in Asia. We were curious about what K-pop really was. When we heard examples of South Korean pop music, we thought, “We can do this too.”
The following year, they had their first hit in South Korea, when Girls' Generation released the song GENIE. It quickly became a huge success in the rest of Asia as well, and in 2011, Wik visited Japan when the group played three sold-out concerts at the Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo. Since then, things have only gone one way.
In the 90s, Wik had the role of artist herself, writing songs for herself. Now she writes songs for artists and a market on the other side of the world.
– It's a different culture, and there are several things we have to take into account. It shouldn't be too daring, sexual or violent. Those are the things we have to be careful of.
K-pop artists also differ from Western pop stars in another way. Some groups have close to 20 members on stage, all of whom are vocalists. As a result, the structure of their songs is often different from what the West is used to.
– The crazier it is, the better. All members of the group must have their part to shine on. We have a lot of freedom to play with the classic structure of songs.
Despite cultural differences, songwriting remains something personal for Wik. In many ways, she approaches the process the same way today as she did when she was writing her own music.
– I put just as much of myself into a song, no matter who I'm writing for. I have to be able to stand behind the music I make. Of course, we have to take into account what the record companies and artists are looking for, and what kind of group we're writing for. But I have to like the song myself.
However, as a professional songwriter, you can't just sit around waiting for inspiration. In a tough, international music market, it's important to be able to deliver what artists want, when they want it.
– Songwriting is a muscle that needs to be trimmed and exercised. Luckily, we work as a team, so we can inspire each other, even on bad days.
She says that one of the tools they use is songwriter camps. Trondheim Song:Expo is the world's largest meeting place for songwriters, and NCT 127's "Simon Says" was written there. Together with Anne Judith Wik, Ronny Svendsen and Jin Choi from Dsign Music, and British Bobbi Lewis have written the song.
Dsign Music isn't resting on its laurels in Korea. They're currently working to gain a foothold in the Chinese market.
– We are doing groundbreaking work in China, but it is in its infancy. We don't know very much about the Chinese music market, compared to, for example, South Korea. But we want to position ourselves there in the future.
