You've been there. Your Sim is sitting on a bench, guitar in hand, plucking away at a melody that sounds like it might actually be a hit. Three hours pass. Then six. The sun goes down, their bladder motive is screaming red, and they’re about to pass out from exhaustion, yet the progress bar over their head has barely moved an inch. Honestly, trying to write songs in The Sims 4 is one of the most rewarding yet deeply infuriating mechanics Maxis ever put in the game. It’s a test of patience that makes the Rocket Science skill look like a walk in the park.
But why is it so slow?
The reality is that songwriting in the game isn't just about clicking an interaction; it's a massive time investment that mimics the "starving artist" trope a little too closely for comfort. If you don't know the specific quirks of the UI and the hidden ways to speed things up, you’ll likely end up with a dozen "Scrap of Paper" items in your inventory and zero royalties to show for it.
The Brutal Reality of the Songwriting Progress Bar
To even start this journey, your Sim needs to hit Level 8 in a musical instrument. We're talking Guitar, Violin, Piano, or even the Pipe Organ if you’re feeling gothic. Once you hit that threshold, the "Write Song" option finally appears. You click it. You pick a genre. And then? You wait.
It takes roughly 12 in-game hours to finish a single composition.
That is an absurd amount of time when you consider that a Sim’s day is packed with work, social needs, and the constant threat of a kitchen fire. If you stop halfway through—which you will, because your Sim will eventually need to pee—the progress doesn't just stay in the air. It gets saved as a physical sheet of music in your Sim’s personal inventory. This is where most players get stuck. They try to "Write Song" again from the instrument, only to realize their Sim starts a brand-new song from scratch. To finish the original one, you have to go into the inventory and click on the sheet music itself. It's clunky. It's not intuitive. It’s classic Sims.
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Licensing and the Weekly Paycheck
Once you finally finish that masterpiece, the real goal is Licensing. You head to the mailbox, click "License Song," and wait for the money to roll in. Here is the catch: you can only license one song per instrument per week.
If you wrote three piano songs back-to-back, you’re stuck waiting three weeks to get them all on the "radio." This limitation is why many seasoned players diversify. Don't just be a pianist. Be a pianist who also plays the violin and sings. Since the City Living expansion added the Singing skill, you can license lyrics too, effectively doubling or tripling your passive income streams.
Royalties usually land every morning around 10:00 AM. They aren't huge at first—maybe 200 to 500 Simoleons—but they stack. A Sim who has licensed a song on the guitar, violin, and piano can easily clear 1,500 Simoleons a day without ever leaving the house. It's the ultimate freelance dream, provided you can survive the grueling 12-hour sessions required to produce the work.
How to Speed Up the Process Without Cheating
Everyone wants to know if there's a "fast" way. Officially? No. There isn't a "write faster" button. However, the game's mood system plays a massive role in how successful—and tolerable—the process is.
Inspired is the only mood that matters. When your Sim is Inspired, they don't necessarily write the song faster in terms of clock seconds, but they are more likely to gain skill points and, according to some community testing on forums like Mod The Sims, it feels less like a slog. Take a "Thoughtful Shower" before you sit down. Browse art on the computer. If you have the Get Together expansion, join or create a club with the "Music" vibe. The club perks can give you a massive boost to skill gain and mood stability while you're jamming.
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Another trick involves the "Creative Visionary" reward trait. It costs 2,000 Satisfaction Points, but it significantly increases your chances of writing a "Masterpiece." Masterpieces command much higher royalties. If you're going to spend 12 hours staring at a progress bar, you might as well make sure the result pays for a new hot tub.
The Inventory Nightmare
Let’s talk about the "Scrap of Paper" problem. If your inventory is cluttered with seeds, upgrade parts, and random books, you will lose your song. There is no search bar in the Sim inventory. If you have five unfinished songs, they all look identical.
Pro tip: Hover over each sheet music icon to see the title and the progress percentage. If you see one that says "90%," finish that one first. It sounds obvious, but when you're managing a household of six Sims, these little details are the first things to go out the window.
The Role of Expansions: Road to Fame or Basement Studio?
The base game handles songwriting through the mailbox, which feels a bit 2014. If you have Get Famous, the game changes entirely. You can use the Mix-Master Music Station to produce tracks. This is technically different from "writing songs" on a guitar, but it serves the same purpose: passive income and fame.
Producing a track on the station is significantly faster than writing a song on a violin. You can "Release Track" and even sign with a label like Maxis Music Machine or New-Vibe Music. The royalties here are more volatile but can be much higher if the track goes viral.
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However, for the purists who want to write songs in The Sims 4 the traditional way, you’re stuck with the sheet music and the mailbox. There’s something charming about it, though. It feels more "indie." Watching your Sim struggle through a folk song on a beat-up acoustic guitar in a San Myshuno apartment has a vibe that a high-tech recording studio just can't match.
Common Glitches and How to Fix Them
Sometimes, the game just breaks. You'll click "Resume Writing Song" and your Sim will stand there T-posing or reset entirely. This usually happens if the instrument is slightly blocked or if the Sim’s pathing is bugged.
- The "Reset Object" fix: Shift-click your Sim and select "Reset Object (Debug)." This clears their queue and usually fixes the animation loop.
- The "Travel" fix: If the progress bar seems stuck, travel to a different lot and come back. This forces the game to reload the Sim’s current state.
- The "Invisible Sheet Music" bug: Occasionally, the song disappears from your inventory. If this happens, check your household inventory (in Build Mode) or look around the floor where your Sim was last playing. Sometimes they just... drop it.
Making the Songwriter Lifestyle Work
If you want to play a "Full-Time Songwriter" without a day job, you have to be tactical. You cannot survive on one song. You need a catalog.
Spend the first week of your Sim's young adulthood just grinding the skill. Don't even try to write a song until you're Level 9. Why? Because the quality will be better and you'll be less likely to fail the "completion" check.
Eat, sleep, and shower until every motive is completely full. Then, and only then, start the song. Lock the door. Don't let the neighbors in for "Fruitcake." If you can power through at least 60% of the song in one sitting, you’re much more likely to actually finish it.
Actionable Next Steps for Aspiring Sim Musicians
To maximize your musical career today, follow these specific steps:
- Check your inventory right now. Hover over any "Scrap of Paper" and identify the song with the highest completion percentage.
- Get Inspired. Use a "Thoughtful Shower" or "Mulling over Melodies" at a piano to get the right moodlet.
- Finish what you started. Use the "Resume Writing" interaction from the inventory, not the instrument.
- Diversify your portfolio. Once you license a guitar song, immediately start a piano song. You have a seven-day cooldown for each instrument, so don't let those slots go to waste.
- Invest in the "Creative Visionary" trait. It is the single best way to ensure your 12 hours of work actually results in a high-paying royalty check.
The grind is real, but there’s nothing quite like seeing those royalty notifications pop up every morning while your Sim is still asleep. It’s the closest thing to "winning" the Sims economy without using a single cheat code. Just keep an eye on that bladder motive.