While Ed Sheeran, Dua Lipa and Beyonce's songs are adored by millions around the world, the songwriters who helped create them often remain anonymous and unsung. These unseen figures, however underappreciated, are integral cogs in the mechanics of pop and three names who know the realities of the professional songwriting trade more than most in 2018 are Jonny Coffer, Emily Warren and Jake Gosling.

“I prefer to keep the number of songwriters in a session to a maximum of three to four, as for me personally, having any more than that can cause the song to lose its focus and emotion,” says Ed Sheeran collaborator Gosling. While the personal styles of the three writers vary a great deal, all stress the importance of getting to personally know the artist they’re working with. Personality can have a huge impact on material, meaning time spent together in studio sessions is key."

Gosling adds: “[During sessions] the first few hours will be spent talking and getting to know each other and getting under the skin of what the artist wants to write about. Sometimes a conversation may lead to a lyric that determines where the song would go, other times drums and rhythms can help drive the songwriting. Feel and emotions are so important to writing and making a great track come through."

Atmosphere is especially important during sessions — something which was exemplified for Gosling during sessions for Ed Sheeran’s breakthrough debut album +. “Wake Me Up, which I wrote with [Sheeran], was written at 3am in the morning at my house on just a piano. We recorded the idea into a laptop and then recorded the song properly at a later date,” he explains.