S'pore woman, 25, quits her job to write songs for K-pop artists like ITZY & Twice's Sana

For as long as Daina Ariffin can remember, she’s dreamt of being a singer.

As a toddler, she'd dance to songs on the radio.

In secondary school, she auditioned for the choir and even once participated in a singing competition on Malay TV channel Suria.

Growing up in pragmatic Singapore, however, pursuing music professionally felt daunting.

She decided to study marketing and media instead, and landed a stable marketing job after university.

But just a year ago, she quit her job to enter the music industry — and now writes for major K-pop acts, such as ITZY and Twice’s Sana.

Getting invited to song camps

Daina said she felt a kind of “shame” in her dream to pursue music.

She avoided telling her parents about her dream, knowing they would worry.

She didn't want those she loved most to discourage her from chasing what she loved.

So, she started down the more stable path of marketing.

But when Covid-19 struck and she was confined to her room, she picked up her guitar and started singing again.

She began posting covers on YouTube, gaining a small following with her reimagined K-pop hits, tweaked with lyrics in English and Malay.

One day, a South Korean producer noticed her and invited her to an online songwriting camp.

Organised by record labels and publishers like SM Entertainment and Universal Music, these camps are where composers from around the world collaborate to create new songs.

Often, they result in some of the biggest hits in K-pop.

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Juggling music and full-time work

At the time, Daina took it as just a fun challenge.

But she began to receive invitations to other camps, and it turned into a casual side hustle.

In line with her client briefs, Daina wrote K-pop-style songs which she sometimes sold to music publishers for a one-time fee.

This meant that she would be credited as a composer, but would not get any royalties apart from the fee.

"I didn't mind it also, cos money," she laughed, explaining that it was a good starting point for new songwriters.

Over the next four years, Daina continued to juggle songwriting with her corporate day job.

She'd work mainly from her bedroom studio, whenever she had time, and occasionally take time off from work to attend in-person songwriting camps in Korea.

Soon, her work began to gain attention regionally.

Her songs were picked up by artists like Thai girl group Mxfruit and Indonesian soloist Gabriella Ekaputri.

For the young woman who once sang quietly in her bedroom, seeing artists perform her songs on stage was almost a dream come true.

Networking

Like many others, Daina soon discovered that the music industry isn’t always glamorous.

"Sometimes you meet bad people in the industry. I had that early on in my career," she said solemnly.

The experience led her to part ways with these people, and she was left with the fear that no one would want to work with her again.

Thankfully though, she came to realise that she had other colleagues and peers who had her back.

Through a peer that she'd met at a songwriting camp, she was introduced to American songwriter Sean Michael Alexander (also known as Avenue 52), who has written for big names like Twice, Red Velvet, and EXO.

Their first collaboration together would eventually be picked up by none other than Sana of Twice.

The song, titled "Mirage", became Sana’s solo track on MiSaMo’s (Twice's Japanese subunit) 2024 album, Haute Couture.

"When I saw the email, I didn't cry yet," Daina said, explaining that she wanted to manage her expectations, knowing how unpredictable the industry could be.

When the deal became official, she broke the news first to her cousin — a massive Twice fan.

While her cousin was ecstatic, Daina tried to stay calm — until she saw her name listed in the album credits.

That’s when it truly hit her.

Although she wasn’t in the studio during Sana’s recording, Daina didn’t mind.

She said: "Technically, I'm there in spirit because she probably spent hours listening to my voice in the demo track. The thought of it is just like crazy to me."

Her biggest driving force

As it turns out, it was her mother who finally encouraged her to take the leap into pursuing music full-time.

For years, Daina had feared telling her parents about her music ambitions, worried they would discourage her.

But her mother ended up being her “biggest driving force” and her “number one", she said.

That being said, they don't have a real grasp of her success.

Daina laughed as she explained that her parents aren’t familiar with K-pop, and the significance of writing for a global star like Sana.

“But they get really excited when I appear in local newspapers,” she said.

Quitting her job

After her big break with Sana, and with her parents' blessing, Daina quit her marketing job and booked a one-way ticket to South Korea.

The plan was to attend songwriting camps in person and immerse herself fully in the music scene.

Over the next month, she attended camps by major companies like Sony and Universal Music.

One standout moment was when a song she co-wrote ended up being selected as the title track for ITZY’s Japanese comeback.

“It was a lot of waiting,” Daina recalled. “When the song was finally locked down, I was so relieved — all my anxiety just vanished.”

The song was released on Oct. 8, 2025.

Just like with the other releases, she remembers feeling a sense of accomplishment seeing her name in the album credits.

Her role model is Ejae

Half a year since quitting her job, Daina is focused on her songwriting full-time and ready to set her sights even higher.

She's now back in Singapore to focus on writing more songs.

But she admitted that she doesn't have the same opportunities here, as making music is "so inherently social".

"I just think it's so much better to write in a room with people so that you know that you are aligned," she explained.

While she plans to continue going back and forth between here and Korea to attend more camps, she's recently been in discussions to hold songwriting classes at K-pop academy SM Universe, located in Orchard.

More than that, she hasn't forgotten her own dream of making a name for herself as a singer.

She shared that her current role model is Ejae, who was the singing voice for Rumi in hit movie "K-pop Demon Hunters".

The former SM trainee had also originally dreamed of being a singer before finding success in songwriting, and finally coming full circle with her rendition of "Golden".

"I really want to release my own stuff," she said, adding that she has set aside some time to make music for herself.

Now, she says, she’s finally ready to share her dream with the world.

Top photos courtesy of Daina