The Songwriters' Guild of Great Britain, later known as The British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors was founded in 1947 by Ivor Novello, Sir Alan Herbert, Eric Coates, Haydn Wood, Richard Addinsell, among others, with Eric Maschwitz[3] acting as the first Vice Chair, and Chairman in 1948, and again between 1954 and 1958.

Sir Tim Rice was elected first president, and Guy Fletcher and David Stoll served as joint chairs of a nine-member Board of Directors.

[4] The organization then moved in 2021 to a structure with a "senate" consisting of 40 songwriters and composers with committees relating to multiple genres and geographic regions.

Rolling Stones members Mick Jagger, and Keith Richards are members, as are Sting, Pete Townshend, Imogen Heap, David Gilmour, George Michael, Alex Turner, Chris Martin, Lynsey de Paul, Cathy Dennis, Kate Bush, Mika, Evelyn Glennie, Gary Barlow, Chrissie Hynde, Sharleen Spiteri, and Thom Yorke.

[7] In the autumn of 2022, The Ivors Academy sponsored the 2021 Songwriters' Review in collaboration with music rights organisation Blokur.

[8][9] In 1955, The Songwriters' Guild of Great Britain established the Ivor Novello Awards to honour excellence in British music writing.