Rich Pilkington: A career marked by spectacular moments

Though only in his 30s, music producer and songwriter Rich Pilkington has already enjoyed a career marked by spectacular moments. He has rubbed shoulders with world-acclaimed artists, writing and producing for a variety of genres, ranging from C-Pop star Zhang Zhehan to electronic music artist and DJ Mark with a K.

Mark’s smash hit ‘Warrior,’ written and vocal produced by Rich, has grossed nearly 50 million streams across streaming platforms and has been performed at shows and festivals globally, including at Tomorrowland, one of the most reputable EDM festivals, where the music video for ‘Warrior’ was shot.

Zhang Zhehan’s ‘Believer,’ written and produced by Rich, placed at the top of the worldwide iTunes chart alongside global popstars Miley Cyrus and Ed Sheeran. 

In addition, Rich has stepped on stage in front of thousands across arenas internationally and had his music featured on television and radio shows globally. This includes features on networks and for brands such as Netflix, Emirates, BBC, MTV, Paramount+, Canal+, Sky, HGTV, WWE, La Liga, Qatar Airways, among many others.

His success in music has been built through a continuous drive, determination and tenacity to succeed. Forever working on songs across multiple projects, session by session, it’s in these memorable snapshots of his journey that have made his career prolific.

Sharing about his journey, he recounts one of the moments when he was first inspired to pursue music as a career. As a teenager, he was encapsulated by a Citroën car commercial, hearing ‘Love Don’t Let Me Go (Walking Away)’ for the first time. He says this was a defining moment for him, as the song stirred in his heart a passion for dance music.

“Suddenly, a new love was discovered,” he says. Up until this point, his love of pop music took centre stage, but he was enthralled by the driving drums and pulsating rhythms of electronic music.

Years later, he experienced a full-circle moment when he met one of the artists from the song performed in the advert, and Rich got to share how the song had changed his life and made him want to write dance music.

It’s these moments of serendipity that have made his career journey so magical and memorable.

Moved to mentor others for success

Rich recounts another significant moment in his career that inspired him. He explains that he was fortunate enough to get to meet one of his idols backstage after their debut show at The Hollywood Bowl in 2014. “My manager at the time introduced us, and being the genuine and kind soul that he is, he spent half an hour talking to me about the music industry. He had just come off stage and had so many people yearning to congratulate him, but he gave me his undivided attention, sharing insights on the music industry for which I will forever be grateful.”

Rich has gone on to help guide and mentor the artists he produces and writes for. “There are many producers and artists out there who focus solely on music creation and nothing else. But creating the music is only half the challenge. Artists need to focus on the marketing, promotion and branding of their artist profiles. I enjoy coaching artists in these areas as they are just as important as making the music itself.”

Having obtained a wealth of experience and knowledge this far into his career, Rich feels it’s important to help others on their journey, just as others have helped him. 

Loving the journey, not just the destination

His career has been filled with many memorable moments of success. He has achieved a number 1 across 5 countries in Asia and won ‘Best Dance Song’ in the ISC (International Songwriting Competition). The ISC is one of the largest songwriting and music contests in the world, receiving entries from over 140 countries. Judges include an array of Grammy winners, chart-topping artists, and influential music executives, and the year Rich won judges included the late Avicii and Bastille.

He has written music and albums for Warner Chappell Production Music and Universal Production Music, and as a music producer and songwriter, has accumulated over 77 million streams.

“I’ve still got a long way to go and I’m aiming to hit the 777 million streams mark one day,” he says. Alongside this, he dreams of having songs reach Billboard Hot 100 and UK Top 40 chart status. “Billboard Hot 100 is iconic, but being from the UK, having chart-topping success in your home country would carry a deeper meaning for me.” Also, at some point in his career, he aspires to write a James Bond theme song. “James Bond is a cultural icon for us Brits, so getting to write the theme song for it would be out of this world.”

Still, he says he doesn’t want his career just to be about targeting these milestones, but to be about the moments in between. He believes life is about enjoying the journey and not just focusing exclusively on the destination.  

“As I’m getting older, I’m appreciating and learning that it’s important to be present. To enjoy the now,” Rich says. “We’ll look back on these days in the future and think, ‘How good were those days, and how enjoyable were those sessions?’ Life passes by at such a rapid rate, and it’s only now in my 30s that I’m starting to appreciate the small wins as well as the big.”

Rich’s future plans include moving to LA, to be at the heart of the music industry. “I want to continue making music daily and collaborating and connecting with more talented creatives,” he says.