Tag: Rosalia

Ivor Awards CEO Roberto Neri on Celebrating The Art of Songwriting

Posted on by joshwurz

I remember interviewing the late, great Tom Petty years ago at a BMI event where he was being honored for his songwriting. I asked him what it meant to be honored for his songwriting, and he said, “It means everything.” Then he joked, “It’s my job and what the guys keep me around for, to write the songs. Without them, the Heartbreakers would trade me in for Bruce,” referring, of course, to Springsteen.

Songwriting isn’t the most glamorous side of making music. But talk to a hundred singer/songwriters, and I promise you, at least 90 percent will talk about how much the songwriting means to them. As an artist, being recognized for your songs is one of the greatest honors there is, which is why artists like Elton John, Rosalia, Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, Lola Young, Harry Styles, a special guest to present Yorke with his honor,  and more showed up in person Thursday, May 21, 2026, in London for the 71st Ivor Awards, dedicated to songwriting.

Hit Parader spoke with Ivor CEO Roberto Neri about the awards, the mysterious art of songwriting, and more.    

Hit Parader: Do you feel like you have a little insight into the mystery of songwriting?

LONDON, ENGLAND – MAY 21: Cred. Vianney Le Caer/Dave Benett/Getty Images for The Ivors

Roberto Neri: I think the creation of songs is something that is totally underappreciated by everyone. And it’s something that needs to be better recognized. And the Ivors Academy managed to do that in the most efficient way possible by putting on the Ivor Novello Awards and actually elevating and celebrating the incredible songwriters that we’re able to represent. We’ve been doing it for over 70 years. But to your point, yeah, the creation itself that’s within the blessed human that can conceive the incredible art that comes from them, whether that’s the lyric, the musical elements, or the production; for some, they have to think about it, others it just flows through them.

HP: How did you first get interested in the art of songwriting?

Neri: I started writing myself from a very early age. It’s always been there for me to get me through the darkest times of my life. And then I went to have this amazing career in music representing songwriters by way of being a music publisher, working at different organizations, downtown Believe, and others, and represented some of the greatest songwriters. And it was a blessing to represent them. Now I’ve been at the Ivors Academy just over two years, where we represent over 14,000 songwriters and composers. We can protect their interests by lobbying and having strong advocacy, and then we can empower them to make sure they’re equipped for the music industry, which is very challenging, as we know. And then lastly, the celebration side is the awards, where we celebrate songwriters and put them on the platform, and then later in the year, we do something separate for composers. I’m very fortunate to represent them. There are so many different partners you can have as a songwriter and composer, but we are fortunate to be that real force for good to ensure their interests are being looked after to make sure they can actually push themselves forward and equally be awarded appropriately. We’re fortunate to do that well.

HP: Talk about the importance of honoring those who create the songs.

Neri: You have some artist-songwriters, Bruce Springsteen, Prince, Joni Mitchell, where their own song creation and their interpretation of their own music is something exceptional. There are, of course, artists who manage to pull off that authenticity of feeling in every lyric. And we’ve got some incredible greats like Adele and others who do write music but have had big assistance with co-writes. They managed to pull off those works as their own, even though they didn’t completely create it. Yeah, songwriting is the most important ingredient that doesn’t always get the appreciation, like I was saying earlier, but people see the artist, they hear what’s coming out from the artist, the voice, but maybe need to think more about where that was conceived and its true meaning and how it lives on in many different guises outside of that one particular snapshot. 

LONDON, ENGLAND – MAY 21: (L to R) Lauren Laverne, David Furnish, Sir Elton John, Roberto Neri and Sam Fender.
Cred. Vianney Le Caer/Dave Benett Agency

HP: I was just looking at an article the other day that mentioned the number of people who think that Adele wrote “To Make You Feel My Love.” Adele is amazing, but that should be credited to Bob Dylan, who is the only person to win the Nobel Prize for literature. So, talk about the importance of educating people on the art form that comes behind it. 

Neri: Completely, and for 71 years, the Ivor Novellos have been doing just that. The thing we need to do now is to make sure the whole world really understands that these exist. Bruce Springsteen picking up the fellowship two years ago, being seen as a songwriter, being proud to be a songwriter. We’ve got other names like that coming in the room this year doing exactly the same. They’re known to the public as artists, but they really are these geniuses and they’re so proud to be recognized for their songwriting and the craft of it. So that’s why we’re very fortunate to be at the Ivors Academy delivering these awards and showing that respect.

HP: Do you hear from the artists how much it means to them when they get recognized for their songwriting?

Neri: Absolutely. And one example of one songwriter/artist we are recognizing is Rosalía, whose Lux album has blown up globally. She really considered carefully how she would approach the album. She spent a year writing the lyrics in 13 different languages. She then worked on the music and in the third year, bringing it all together by way of production and just making it a body of work, which is cohesive. There was a lot of thought and consideration, and she’s so proud that we are recognizing her as International Songwriter of the Year this year, where everyone else is just seeing her as this magnificent artist. She’s going to be turning up next week, picking up International Songwriter of the Year, and extremely proud. This is the Oscar equivalent in music. And there isn’t an actor out there who doesn’t want an Oscar. 

LONDON, ENGLAND – MAY 21: Roberto Neri and Sir Elton John.
Cred. Jed Cullen/Dave Benett Agency

HP: How do you deal with AI?

Neri: I think there is a genuine threat for some of the sound bed music you have out there. I don’t think John Williams has got anything to worry about, but there are some real concerns around how music’s used within the score. For your songwriters, though, for your Joni Mitchell’s, for your Bonnie Raitt’s, this is something that just can’t be replaced. The soul within the lyrics and the music and the way it’s conveyed is just something I can’t see being replaced by AI. And I think already, most of the public is starting to recognize, “I need to lean in further into human creativity now and try to avoid what’s being pushed towards them.” No one asked for this creation of AI. No one asked for a replacement of artists and songwriters. So, it’s being pushed on the public, but I think the public is already starting to push back, and I think people are going to go and see more concerts. I think they’re going to buy more physical products again. I think people are starting to rediscover what they were taking for granted as they started to get everything in their pockets. They’re starting to reverse that trend; the next generation, between 13 and 20, is already starting to disregard what those in their early 20s have taken as the normal way of consumption. I think this threat of replacing your average songwriter is something we shouldn’t be too overly concerned about. That said, of course, we are doing everything we can to fight back on the policy level and to ensure we’re safeguarding their rights at all times. 

You Will Fall in Love With Isabel Van Gelder

Posted on by joshwurz

Mark my words, Dutch singer/songwriter Isabel Van Gelder will be on the cover of Hit Parader within the next two years. True, I am the editor, and the insanely likable Van Gelder has become a friend through our frequent interviews, so I might seem biased. But when you have two different major industry figures/label presidents tell you how badly they wanted to sign her after she joins the storied history of Columbia Records alongside Rosalia, Harry Styles, and more, you know the hype is legitimate. 

Van Gelder, who is already a fast-rising star in her home country and throughout Europe with a run of sold-out shows over the last six months or so, began her rise to the top of the U.S. music scene last week with her debut Columbia single, “I Don’t Want To Fall in Love Again.” It is, oddly, yet another song of heartbreak for Van Gelder, whose quick ascension on social media began with the achingly gorgeous song, “Die For You.” I say oddly because when you talk to Van Gelder, she is constantly laughing, smiling, jovial, and in great spirits.

“I don’t know why that is. I have some slightly happier songs coming,” she says. “Well, not really, actually. If I think about it, maybe the music feels happier, but the lyrics are still pretty sad.”

Cred. Sony Music

While she is normally very carefree and happy writing these sad songs, this one did come out of the struggle of trying to balance a relationship and a burgeoning music career. As she explains the origins of the single, like so many great songs, from “Sweet Caroline” to “The Harder They Come,” this one came out of the ether, the universe, wherever songs come from. 

“Usually when I write a song, I already have a concept in mind, or I’ve kind of thought about it for a little while. But in this case, I was in the studio. I wrote it with Jake Gosling, and we were in the studio together. The session wasn’t necessarily going super smoothly from my end as well. I didn’t really feel inspired, and I was having a hard time coming up with something to write about,” she says. “We had a great day. He’s lovely and amazing and very talented. But we were just hanging out and talking, and I was beating myself up about the fact that I wasn’t feeling very inspired. There was a lot happening, but it wasn’t great for my relationship, being gone all the time. So, I was struggling with that already, and then at some point I just said, ‘Hey, maybe I should stand behind the mic and just come up with something, just do something, if it’s bad, it doesn’t matter. But let’s freestyle a little bit, so I did.’ I think that was probably the last hour and a half of the session, and we didn’t really have a melody or a concept. And I stood behind the mic, and I just freestyled and talked gibberish and came up with some melodies. Those were immediately the melodies of the song, of the verse, and the chorus. They just fell out. And I didn’t know if they were any good, but Jake was like, ‘No, this is good.’ Then, in like 10 or 15 minutes, I wrote all the lyrics, and the song was there. Actually, when I made it in the studio with him, I thought, ‘I’m not sure if it’s any good and I’ll probably have to go back to it and change some things.’ But I never ended up changing anything; that’s pretty much what the song is. I don’t know where it came from. It just happened.”

Like almost every artist, Van Gelder says songs coming to her like a thunderbolt is all too familiar to her. “In my experience personally, I do feel like the songs that I think are my best songs happen very quickly. And I think when you’re truly inspired, or you’re in this kind of flow state, sometimes you don’t really even know what’s happening, and it just happens. This song was definitely one of those moments,” she says. “I walked out of the studio, and I wasn’t even sure. I had to listen back to what we actually just made? And then I was like, ‘Hey, this is actually good.’”

For Van Gelder, signing with Columbia, which has also been home to legends such as Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Barbara Streisand, Miles Davis, and more, is the beginning of a new chapter she can’t wait to experience.

Cred. Sony Music

“It’s really exciting. All of this happening is obviously a dream come true. And if you had told me a year ago, I would not have ever thought that I’d be where I am right now, even though it’s still the start of everything. I’m very excited, and at the same time, I’m very eager, and I feel even more driven to work 10 times as hard, because I feel like having a deal right now only creates more opportunity in a way,” she says. “I just want to work as hard as I can and do everything I can to make this happen, of course. And I want to be back in the States as soon as I can.”

That will hopefully come for her before the end of this year. And while she is waiting to get back here, there is a lot of new music on the way, as well as visuals for audiences to get to know her better.

“I can’t say yet if it’s going to be either an EP or an album. But there’s definitely going to be some more heartbreaking lyrics on there. A big part of it is done already. We also have some more upbeat music coming. And it’s going to be a little bit more conceptual, I think visually, than the things I’ve done so far because I’m very excited to have this create this cohesive body of work that really has a concept, and then visually, I want it to be recognizable,” she says. “Those are all things that I’m working on; I’m making many mood boards for right now, and a music video, hopefully, if everything works out. But definitely, I have to say there’s going to be a lot more heartbreak on there.”

While Van Gelder might be setting up for a future run at the title “queen of heartbreak” musically, she is, again, far from that in her everyday life, as she proves with her tastes like YUNGBLUD and Bo Burnham.  “I feel like somebody that I’ve been following for a long time, and I think he does the sickest shows, is Yungblud. I’d love to see and crowd surf to one of his shows. I feel like it’s crazy and so much energy and just would be really fun,” she says. “I love Bo Burnham. I just think he’s so smart. Also, I just think he’s really funny. And then he’s a fantastic singer, like a musician really. And I loved his special that he made during COVID with all the songs. I just thought it was genius. Like the music is genius. I love him. And I think it’s really funny. He’s just my type of guy.”

You likely will not see crowd surfing at one of her shows, but between the tears, the songs might induce her to promise a lot of fun. “We’re definitely playing some upbeat songs, and I talk a lot. I tell a lot of stories. It feels pretty spontaneous. I think you really do get a feeling of who I am as a person. And I think that’s what I really want people to take away from coming to shows that they feel like they know me a little bit better,” she says.

At only 23, despite what her song suggests, Van Gelder is also far too optimistic to give up on love. “Knowing myself, I fall in love so fast, and I love love. So, I’m sure I’ll fall in love again,” she says laughing.