Hola! on the contrary, just my 2 cents that SOMA's a really great school and that Keith is an amazing teacher. (Yes, I'm a songwriting/production dip graduate from the course btw, but no other way affiliated with them...=P)
I mean, there's definitely an element of songwriting that requires one to express emotional truthfulness, but there's also a craft aspect to it, such as being able to write a melody that others find beautiful, or understanding popular song structures.
If you want to learn something to learn those skills, I think the SOMA course is definitely ideal. Can't really say how useful the diploma is for the songwriting/production aspect in terms of recognition, cuz honestly, getting employed ultimately boils down to work ethic and proactive attitude no? And anyways I use what I've learned there to write songs for my band, so can't really give you a comment there. On the other hand, it's also a tad expensive for most people; had to save for quite a while before I could pay for the installments. But I guess it's the same for music education in general.
You should head down for their Open House and ask around...I think they're having it coming up in early Jan.
Hope I answered your queries bro, was asking around about the same issue like 2 years ago...^^
Peace,
Raphael
