One Direction's songwriter: How to write the perfect pop song

Wayne Hector is a pop songwriting guru

One Direction's Steal My Girl. Nicki Minaj's Starships. Sigma's Changing.

Those are just some of the tracks co-written by Wayne Hector, one of the UK's most prolific songwriters.

He was recognised with a prestigious Ivor Novello award for his back catalogue and told Newsbeat the key to a hit is simple.

"It's about finding a phrase or a thought that applies to the bulk of humanity."

A case in point: Don't Be So Hard On Yourself by Jess Glynne.

Glynne's number one track has lyrics that include "learn to forgive, learn to let go".

"I think you write what you love," says Wayne. "If it feels great to you that's about as much as you can ask.

"You have to have a good subject matter and a twist makes a difference too."

He wrote the bulk of Westlife's back catalogue, as well as hits for JLS, Olly Murs and The Wanted.

"I'm still surprised at my back catalogue to be honest but I feel very blessed."

Think of a One Direction song and Wayne Hector's probably written it.

Having worked closely with One Direction, he - perhaps unsurprisingly - is championing them all as solo artists.

"I've heard that Harry's stuff is supposed to be phenomenal."

"Niall is really gifted musically and is a great guitarist."

He also says the boys are very committed in the studio and have "a lot of input" into how their songs are written and what their material sounds like.

In recent years, he says he's especially proud of the Sigma singles he's worked on including Changing and Glitterball.

"I was in a socially conscious place and I wanted to talk about life, as opposed to parties!"

Hector won the international achievement award at the Ivor Novello awards to recognise his twenty years of chart hits.

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