Bring your music to life in New York City. Prepare for your career in the music industry with acclaimed faculty committed to supporting your professional goals. Songwriting at NYU Steinhardt offers students access to a renowned composition faculty, opportunities for collaboration and recording, unparalleled facilities, and access to a vast network of peers, industry practitioners, and an accomplished alumni network of successful songwriters, performers, and engineers.
Degrees In This Program
Bachelor of Music
Music Theory and Composition: Contemporary Production and Songwriting
Study the craft of writing, producing, and recording songs, and the music industry, through intensive course work and collaboration with professional musicians.
Master of Music
Music Theory and Composition: Songwriting
Improve your compositional talents and have your work performed by talented musicians as you prepare to enter the competitive songwriting field.
Behind the Lecture
David Wolfert teaches Songwriting Forum, a course that covers the top skills an artist needs in order to succeed in the songwriting business. David has worked as an arranger, producer, and guitarist. He has collaborated with icons of the music business, including Rod Stewart, Bette Midler, Whitney Houston, Elton John, Peter Criss, Jimmy Cliff, Johnny Cash, Harry Nilsson, The Temptations, Aretha Franklin, Judy Collins, Brenda Russel, Don Covay, Dr. John, and many others.
Ethan Swartz
Spotlight on Ethan
Ethan Swartz, a sophomore in NYU Steinhardt Songwriting, talks about his journey to Songwriting, which began with the program's summer workshop. He shares what it is like to work with gaming content creator Swagg, the excitement of collaborating with Grammy-winning artists, the ease of finding musicians for a gig, and the value of one-on-one lessons.
Related Music Composition Programs
Concert Composition
Whether writing for orchestra or collaborating with choreographers, video artists and technologists, you can develop and expand your creative practice with dynamic peers, high level performers, and world-class faculty.
Screen Scoring
Learn to write music for today’s media industry through rigorous course work, collaborations with schools throughout NYU, and recording opportunities.
News and Events
Harding's Podcast "Switched on Pop" Debuts on Netflix
NYU Steinhardt Songwriting adjunct faculty member Charlie Harding is bringing his popular podcast Switched On Pop to Netflix as part of a new partnership between the Vox Media Podcast Network and the mega streaming platform.
Beth Nielsen Chapman Joins NYU Steinhardt as Artist-in-Residence
The Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter will teach and perform as the Spring 2026 NYU–Americana Music Foundation Artist-in-Residence.
Phil Galdston, Unplugged
Phil Galdston, Director of Songwriting, talks about finding inspiration in a subway ad, co-writing with John Lennon, and what he'd do if he wasn't Director of Songwriting.
Program in Songwriting Mission Statement
The mission of NYU Steinhardt Songwriting is to help our students develop their own, unique voice, becoming the best songwriters they can be in ways they define. We use four key criteria to evaluate candidates for our program: talent, potential, discipline, and curiosity. We use the same principles to guide and inspire our students. Read full mission statement.
Questions
For more information, please contact nyusongwriting@nyu.edu