Ep. 236: John Ryan | The Playbook of a World-Class Songwriter
And The Writer Is...with Ross Golan
And The Writer Is
4.9 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 21 January 2026
⏱️ 91 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Today's guest has quietly shaped the sound of a generation.
He has written and produced some of the biggest songs of the last 15 years—from One Direction's "Story of My Life" to Niall Horan's "Slow Hands," Sabrina Carpenter's "Taste", Teddy Swims' "Lose Control," and Olivia Dean's "So Easy to Fall in Love."
A true songwriter's songwriter, John Ryan doesn't just chase hits—he shapes careers, defines sounds, and knows exactly when inspiration is knocking.
In this episode, John breaks down what it really takes to stay relevant across multiple eras, why authenticity always wins, and how he went from a Berklee kid living in his manager's parents' house to becoming one of the most trusted voices in pop music.
We talk about:
- The hardest years of his career
- The real batting rate of the best songwriters
- Meeting Sabrina Carpenter and Teddy Swims
- Working with One Direction and losing Liam
- Gems upon GEMS for up and coming musicians, songwriters, and producers
and a special live performance of some of his biggest hits.
A special thank you to our sponsors…
Our lead Sponsor, NMPA— the National Music Publishing Association. Your support means the world to us.
And @splice — the best sample library on the market. Period.
Chapters:
00:00 Intro: John Ryan
02:30 How John Got Into the Music Industry
06:30 Songs from Eighth Grade & Writing Early
10:30 Writing Like a Kid Again (The Picasso Effect)
13:00 Berklee, Pro Tools & Learning the Craft
17:00 How Many Songs Actually Make It Out?
19:30 Maroon 5’s “Cold”
21:30 Niall Horan: From One Direction to Solo Artist
24:15 The Lowest Point of His Career
26:00 The Realization That Saved Him
28:00 Meeting Teddy Swims & Sabrina Carpenter
31:00 Social Media, Virality & “I Don’t Have That on My Phone”
33:30 Writing “Heaven” with Niall Horan
34:00 Sabrina Carpenter’s “Feather”
36:00 Stop Chasing Numbers. Start Betting on People
38:00 Co-Writing with Amy Allen
41:56 How John Ryan Produces Songs
44:50 Country Music & Expanding Taste
47:20 Liam Payne
51:03 Olivia Dean – “So Easy to Fall in Love”
56:45 John Ryan’s Take on Collaboration
58:50 Writing “Tears” with Sabrina Carpenter
59:40 Managing Life, Energy & Relationships
1:02:01 “Steal My Girl” & “Night Changes” Should’ve Been Bigger
1:04:52 Choosing Great People Over “Sure Things”
1:07:00 John Plays & Sings His Hits
1:20:00 Why 10,000 Hours Isn’t Enough
1:21:06 GEM: Ruthlessly A/B Your Music to Get Better
Hosted by Ross Golan
Produced by Joe London and Jad Saad
Edited by Jad Saad
Post-Production VFX by Pratik Karki
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Inspiration is perishable. |
| 0:03.0 | You have it, if you're in the room, and it's coming down and it's tapping you on the shoulder, |
| 0:08.0 | like, fucking grab that shit. |
| 0:10.0 | It's like every year you have something that's just like a smash. |
| 0:14.0 | I have every song I've ever made since seventh grade. |
| 0:18.0 | The older you get and the more you hone your skill, you're still trying to |
| 0:22.1 | write like you did when you were a kid, trying to paint like you did when you were a kid. |
| 0:25.3 | You're not always making a great song. If you're batting two out of ten, those are big numbers. |
| 0:30.5 | Those are big numbers. What was the worst time of your career? My ego and my insecurities |
| 0:34.8 | being like kind of had like at least one big thing like pretty much every year from like One Direction, 2013 up to now. |
| 0:42.4 | Now it's almost been three years and like, where's my next big thing? |
| 0:44.8 | You know? |
| 0:45.7 | It's a numbers game. |
| 0:46.7 | I'm just going to write with everybody. |
| 0:48.5 | And eventually, like, something will happen. |
| 0:50.7 | I was spreading myself too thin. |
| 0:52.6 | And I'd rather bet on doing a bunch of work on one person |
| 0:56.0 | that's amazing than spreading myself things and like hoping one of them goes. |
| 1:02.1 | This season is presented by NMPA, the National Music Publishers Association, champions of songwriters |
| 1:09.3 | and publishers everywhere. |
| 1:11.9 | Welcome back to Anne the Writer is. I'm your host, Ross Golan. |
| 1:15.6 | Today we welcome back one of the most talented of the most talented. |
... |
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