I have no problem with just performers. But if they're not songwriters, why lie about it or give a false impression to their fans?
The article underscores why I despise pop music nowadays and why you'll find only old school music in my truck, from Willie to Beatles to Mozart and the Stones and Creedence.
Write them? Hell a lot of bands didn't even play on the records. You had the Stax house band behind 100 hits (the Blues Brothers Band), The Swampers in Muscle Shoals, The Chess house band that popularized the blues, and of course, The Funk Brothers that we behind all the Motown artist. And: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wrecking_Crew_(music) <iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9UqNvMOdhGU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
That's what I was talking about. Today's mainstream country music is basically just pop music with a steel guitar. Every song you hear on the radio is written by the same song-writing team from Nashville. The artist is almost inconsequential. Georgia Florida Line? Luke Brian? Come on.... HORRIBLE. Thank GOD for 97.1 Country Legends!
Country music today is pretty terrible. There are a few women in it that I like: Mickey Guyton, Kelsea Ballerini (she reminds me of early sugarland: their first album). I like old dominion as well.
I heard about this article a few days ago and nothing about it really surprises me. As other posters have noted ghost writing songs isn't a new thing. I'm also not going to diminish artists who sing / play music written by others as interpretation is also part of art and I'm sure pretty much all of us who are musicians here have performed music we haven't written. What I am critical of though is when artists market themselves as being song writers when they've done very little. Besides just the song writing though the amount of production that goes into popular music. With things like autotuning the performer's art now is just a matter of technical fine tuning rather than a skill.
1999 – "...Baby One More Time" (Britney Spears) 2000 – "It's Gonna Be Me" ('N Sync) 2008 – "I Kissed a Girl" (Katy Perry) 2008 – "So What" (P!nk) 2009 – "My Life Would Suck Without You" (Kelly Clarkson) 2009 – "3" (Britney Spears) 2010 – "California Gurls" (Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg) 2010 – "Teenage Dream" (Katy Perry) 2010 – "Raise Your Glass" (P!nk) 2011 – "Hold It Against Me" (Britney Spears) 2011 – "E.T." (Katy Perry featuring Kanye West) 2011 – "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" (Katy Perry) 2012 – "Part of Me" (Katy Perry) 2012 – "One More Night" (Maroon 5) 2012 – "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" (Taylor Swift) 2013 – "Roar" (Katy Perry) 2014 – "Dark Horse" (Katy Perry featuring Juicy J) 2014 – "Shake it Off" (Taylor Swift) 2014 – "Blank Space" (Taylor Swift) 2015 – "Bad Blood" (Taylor Swift) 2015 – "Can't Feel My Face" (The Weeknd)
Shouldn't be surprising, and certainly explains why I've never really liked pop music. I only tolerate it now that I have young children, and darnit, it is cute for kids to sing songs. Not to mention, I can't really play any rap now that they can repeat the words they hear haha.
You mean "Bad Blood" isn't really about Katy Perry trying to sabotage TSwift's tour? What about Ed Sheeran, isn't "Don't" about Ellie Goulding sleeping around on him? I think Max Martin and some of these guys are responsible for the "pop" sound that has become so ubiquitous these days. They are responsible for the arrangements, beats, chorus, etc. I think some of the artists who share co-writing credits actually do write some of the lyrics, but these guys put it through the pop machine, so that it comes out the other side a pop hit. Sidenote: Anyone listened to the Ryan Adams cover of 1989? I like his take on Bad Blood. <iframe width="500" height="300" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9V-8VP5dnrQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Isn't Ed Sheeren actually a songwriter? I think he's written songs for other artists before. I don't really care anyways. None of the songs on that list are pinnacles of song writing excellence. They've been feeding us the same song remixed for years. These singers are exactly what you thought they were, as long you didn't actually believe they were writing and producing their music. Anyways, even rock musicians who write their own songs are only carrying on the message layed down by musicians before them. Pearl Jam is just doing what The Who already did but with a different voice. Nobody invented more chords or a different hook. It's all been done but each generation gets to hear it from someone new which is good I think. Elvis didn't write most of his songs, MIchael Jackson and Garth Brooks didn't either, and these are some of the biggest names in music history. It's impressive to be both the artist and the writer but it's not the only way to leave an impression. Just don't deceive your fans.
Elvis was a hero to most, but he never meant **** to me, you see. Straight up racist, that sucker was, simple and plain. Mother**** him and John Wayne!
That was clear enough when the most popular ones from the '80s all became actors five or ten years later.
Eh, ghost writing is a little different. For the people that can't actually write rhymes well, it's known that they use ghost writers. Dr dre, puffy, and tons of other producers come to mind. That's normal and expected. There are also some guys that use ghost writers because they're just putting out too much content. They supplement with ghost writers cause it's hard to put out a 100 songs in a year. But, for the most part, the good rappers don't need ghost writers even if they use them from time to time. A rapper can't really fake a whole career like in other genres.
Interesting aside: "Sylvia" from Mickey & Sylvia in the 1950's: <iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KpEA5QGYJFQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Is basically responsible for both: The Message: <iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/O4o8TeqKhgY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> And Rapper's Delight: <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ar7sKNb4UUE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> which makes me smile, given how one is all 1950's Dirty Dancing, and the other two basically started rap/hip hop.
Ironically, this guy sings a song about writing his own songs and he didn't even write the song about writing his own songs. Spoiler <iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Sc3WBqpT4GE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>