Your Favorite Pop Singer (Probably) Doesn't Write Their Own Songs
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- čas přidán 14. 06. 2024
- It's true. I hate to break it to you, but your favorite pop singer probably, at most, "co-wrote" your favorite songs they sing, and at least, didn't contribute to the songwriting process much at all.
Produced by Matt Beat. Music by Bail Bonds and Kwon.
Check out my band, @ElectricNeedleRoom! Yes, I write all my own songs.
But what do YOU think? Was I too cynical with this one? Am I being too hard on singers? Let me know down below. Thanks for watching, and support your local songwriter today.
Sources/further reading:
www.rollingstone.com/music/mu...
wegotthiscovered.com/celebrit...
www.mtv.com/news/2pm59h/harry...
variety.com/2021/music/news/d...
variety.com/2021/music/news/w...
www.bbc.com/news/entertainmen...
www.billboard.com/pro/the-pac...
#popmusic #popmusic2023 #popsingers
Here is one way to help underpaid songwriters: www.change.org/p/support-songwriters-demand-a-decision-on-hundreds-of-millions-in-royalties-owed
I don't think a petition gonna make a difference that actually matters, If all the creators/song writers in the industry can come together and organize a strike in a way that could impact the industry, that could work to a certain level. Hardest part is to get through the time frame where rich selfish douche bags in power trying to starve picketers by not meeting their demands in a short time period.
This is random but can you do A Brief history of THE KINKS??
They are so important. Their distortion in the 1964 has influenced all rock and metal after it, their village green period influenced many british bands of the 80s and 90s. And their 70s stuff is so influencial to hard rock bands like ACDC!
They have a lot of albums but you. Could skip over the less important ones. Don't need to cover all albums.
Can you do a history on ABBA please
What entire history video are you working on rn
I wish we had more people like Prince who not only wrote his song and played most of his instruments but wrote other people's songs as well.
Prince was in a league all his own.
Rick Astley?
Thing about that, as someone who writes his own music, plays all the instrument, records them entirely by myself in my basement, and not only that but I also mix and master all my songs myself - it's really fucking hard work and requires several generally unrelated talents to come together.
Bruno Mars is as close as we're gonna get to that.
Both Lennon and McCartney did this as well. Its a very impressive feat.
There’s a concept in music called “change a word, get a third” where it allows the artist to do minimal work and get an equal chunk of the royalties.
I don't like how it's assumed that it's the singer who changes a word though.
For example Sorry by Madonna co written by Stuart Price the first verse is
You're not half the man you think you are
Save your words because you've gone too far
I've listened to your lies and all your stories
(Listened to your stories)
You're not half the man you'd like to be
But in the demo which she wrote herself is
Boy, you lied to me, and I felt the pain
You didn't do it once, you did it every day
Don't explain yourself 'cause talk is cheap
There's more important things to do than hear you speak
I've listened to your lies and all your stories
(I've listened to your stories)
Lonely days are gone, I'm finally moving on
I don't wanna hear those words again
I am not surprised
Mike Love rings a bell. He has a third of the royalties on Wouldn't it Be Nice because of the "Goodnight baby, sleep tight baby" section at the very end, and that's the part of that song people care the least for.
Michael Jackson did not write Thriller, but wrote a surprising amount of his most popular songs. Beat It, Billie Jean, Smooth Criminal, etc. were entirely written by him.
Heck yeah he did
And even then, producer Quincy Jones (who did write 'Thriller') claims 'Billie Jean' was plagiarized.
Yup, he'd been writing songs ever since his Jackson 5 days. In fact, the entirety of his Bad album was written by him, with the exception of one song.
@@alonkatz4633quincy in that same interview also said “the beatles couldn’t play worth of shit” and that prince was a mediocre piano player. you can’t take that interview seriously
@@jado4prez That made me chuckle, too. Well, I didn't say he was hinged.
Songwriting is tough. Glad you made a video on this, it explains the music industry very well.
Also dam the greed of some people yikes
I like writing songs. They're not good. I suck at writing lyrics. But I like doing it. It's definitely hard. In like 15 years of writing, I have about 5 I'm happy with and nothing within the last 3-5 years
I like to call it the “prince effect”. Artists saw the way he was revered for writing his own songs and wanted to emulate that. For example, Lauryn Hill’s record label asking her to write and produce her album like Prince, so she stole credits from the actual songwriters and producers to make it look as if she did it all herself. There was lawsuits over this and it’s speculated that is the reason why she remixes all of her songs on tour.
I think it might also be insecurity. It can also impact their credibility. A lot of pop stars want to be taken as seriously as artists who do write their own songs. It’s a bit like cosplaying being a serious artist. Can also be ego, I can imagine some artists don’t like the idea of some nobody that works behind the scenes to get the bulk of the income. Some of those artists will want their finger in the pie also.
@@hansmemling2311 100%, it’s pretty much just optics and/or money. It’s kind of strange because producers and writers used to get famous off of simply being that because their names would be on the CD and artists would openly talk about working with them (i.e. Max Martin, Jam&Lewis, Etc.). Maybe since credits are more hidden on streaming it’s easier to get away with claiming you wrote a song when you’re really one of 6-7. Music in general has just also been less profitable in the streaming era so maybe artists are just trying to capitalize on anything they possibly can.
@@realer2748 yeah, completely agree.
Then there’s my GOAT Luis Miguel who never cared, never stole credit from anyone and continued being listed only as the singer.
Carly Rae Jepsen writes her songs, and everyone should be paying attention to her. She's been releasing the greatest pop music since about 2015. 6 perfect albums since then.
literally the queen. everyone go stream the loveliest time
Emotion and Emotion Side B are classics
Unpopular opinion: songwriters should get more credit than singers.
Completely agree, the “art” is in the creation/writing, singing is just the delivery.
that's a problem if all the songwriters wrote less than half of their songs. Denniz Pop and Max Martin wrote most songs on Backstreet Boys' debut album, but it's actually only 4 out of 13 and my favorite song of it, Every Time i close My Eyes, isn't 1 of them
So different than from 100 years ago. Very few people nowadays have ever heard of the singers Billy Murray (not the actor, of course,) Eddie Cantor, Marion Harris, Billy Jones, Nora Bayes. But a lot of people still remember the songwriters: George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, George M. Cohan.
No, they're pretty well known. However, music had to change and did so: now it's difficult to create a new hit by putting together a few 8-bar sections and let the performers do the rest. Musical expression is mostly up to the producers.
one of the most interesting things to me in this conversation is the fact that a lot of fans don't seem to want to accept that their favorite artists don't write their own songs. Like when Selena Gomez releases a song and her fans try to tie its meaning to her relationships, meanwhile she didn't even write it lol. I think this is just one reason songwriters need way more recognition. I feel like there should televised categories for songwriters at award shows or something like that.
Great video. Real musicians need a bigger piece of the pie in the media. Not that pop artists are not sometimes also "real" musicians. I personally don't listen to Justin Beiber but he plays instruments and has a talent. I respect it. I view singers who don't contribute to the writing as actors more than musicians.
Thank you. I'll add that it's important to remember how it's not really that big of deal to be good at singing. I think billions can sing. However, only millions can write good original music.
He plays instruments? The only instruments I know he plays with is his legs
"Musicians" and "artists"?
@@mattbeatgoesonBillions can sing? Singing isn’t a rare talent but i find it very hard to believe the number of people who can sing well is in the billions.
@@ligmaballs2022 yeah he played guitar in his old cover videos and he’s played piano in some performances
One has to keep in mind that there are always exceptions. Taylor Swift has written every single song she has sung in her discography, and a lot of it is self-written too. Songwriting is her greatest asset in fact, and that is what has led to her vast critical acclaim and commercial success. Her confessional songwriting is relatable to a multitude of people, and she is a musical chameleon due to her changing genres every few albums. It's evident that she contributes the most to her songwriting, even when she writes with other people (3-4 people max) because her songs are always about things deeply personal to her life and career. She has also written songs for Rihanna, Calvin Harris, Sugarland and more!
Another great example is Lana Del Rey, who is an extremely talented songwriter and all of her songs have a special flair of 'lana' on them, you can easily distinguish a lana song from the others because of her metaphorical songwriting and things deeply personal to her. Just like Taylor, Lana is a songwriter first, and a singler second. This analogy also applies to Lorde, who has also written every single song she has sung, and all those have lyrics relating to suburbia, teenage heartbreak and nature and peacefulness- something deeply 'Lorde'. You can easily distinguish a lorde song from the other because of her songwriting.
Billie Eilish also. It’s only her and her brother that touches the songs
Mariah Carrey can also be included in this!
@@BillieB.definitely, she definitely has help with the music but you can tell the lyrics are almost entirely hers. She does have sole writing credits on a couple of songs in her discography which suggests she has some involvement with the music
@@Solo-vh9fm Yes! She wrote 17 songs out of her 19 number one hits.
And if I'm not mistaken, I think it was this year she was recognized in the songwriter hall of fame.
@@BillieB. she wrote 18 didn’t she. Only I’ll Be There wasn’t hers?
Fun fact: in Italy, a similar thing used to happen with TV theme tunes in the 1970s and 80s.
The show's presenter would get a songwriting credit, even though they didn't contribute a single note or lyric to the tune, and even when they were not a singer.
These uploads always make my day. Thank you!
i just love your videos, they cover everything and make it easy to understand!
Well thank you!
@@mattbeatgoeson keep up the good work!
@@mattbeatgoesonplease do a deep purple brief history,I feel like they very underrated yet they had some of the best musicians in rock n roll
i think about this all the time! thank you for making this video
There's no shame in singing without writing, or writing without singing. But shining a light on the trend of lopsided credit (and more importantly, money) is a great service to the public.
i love these type of videos and introductions. hoping to see more in the future
To me the thumbnail implies that Jason Aldean wrote a Harry Styles song and that's really funny to me.
Aldean doesn’t even know what he’s singing about.
Have you ever heard an interview with him?
There’s a video with him being asked questions about whether he still rides his tractor, or has the same trick, and other questions about things that are statements he makes on the lyrics. His answer to nearly everything is “I’ve never even seen a tractor in person,” or “I’ve never owned a truck…” “I’ve never shot a gun, I don’t own them,”
“Never done anything like that, I’m just a singer…”
Yet, he’s being used as propaganda by right wingers everywhere.
There are thousands of guys like him, who use the fake accent singing, or are told to, and they sing about small town life, having never lived in one.
Not to mention that they all sound alike, and sing about the same things. Not like people all sing about love. It’s love in a truck, drinking shit beer, while telling an immigrant, or lefty, or progressive person they’ll see their guns if they pull into their hometown.
It’s like the WWE between them and rappers, with these characters they play.
Yes, this has been done for decades at some level or another, but not like what has happened in the past 15 years or so.
@CorbCorbin
Hey...they don't all sing like Aldean...some of them can sing live.
lol although it's far more likely that Harry Styles would write a Jason Aldean song because Aldean isn't known for songwriting
@@Chelaxim
Agreed. But, there is an assembly like who do.
@@mattbeatgoeson true
Thanks. I work hard as a songwriter, not professionally (yet hopefully) and you've succeeded in making me angry xD
You should be angry. I wish more people were aware of this.
@@mattbeatgoesonplease do a brief history of deep purple,they are so underrated yet they are one of the best rock bands ever with some of the best musician
That’s why the Beatles are still the most important pop band in history…because they wrote their own shit.
In m Spanish there’s a specific word for artist who both sing and write; Cantautores.
They’re very praised - I can name some few; Jimenez, Sabina, Manzanero, J.Sebastian, etc….
So does this count as the composers I can name ? They also worked composing for others a lot.
Definetely not cynical. Bring back singer-songwriters!
I'm glad you agree!
Taylor, Lana, Lorde etc are all singer songwriters
@@tayperrygagianajepsenlordl944Take Melanie off that list of actually good artists.
@@prettierjesus3119 omg lol they actually did it !
Glad you made this video, it's an important discussion. Songwriters (and screenwriters, too) deserve a lot more credit. The music industry and celebrity culture really sucks.
I feel like any self-respecting artist would go out of their way to write their own music if they cared about the art form. I wonder with things like AI becoming more prevalent if that means that music will eventually become a more dated art form like sculpting, or if it’ll become even more popular because everyone will have access to it. Also great video, I would love to see one about the “angsty pop punk” era of the 2000s and why bands like MCR, Fall Out Boy and Green Day connected with so many people of that generation specifically (me included)
Thanks bringing this topic into discussion!! Songwriters def should get more credit
The Bee Gees wrote many peoples songs. In my house we have a saying. It was either Prince or the Bee Gees that wrote most of the world’s pop songs, such is their ubiquity.
This is random but can you do A Brief history of THE KINKS??
They are so important. Their distortion in the 1964 has influenced all rock and metal after it, their village green period influenced many british bands of the 80s and 90s. And their 70s stuff is so influencial to hard rock bands like ACDC!
They have a lot of albums but you. Could skip over the less important ones. Don't need to cover all albums.
And they are no longer together or performing
Writing songs really isn’t that hard if you work at it. It’s just that most pop stars are too lazy to even try to write their own songs, and often too young to have developed the skills (at least when they first get famous).
If it's so easy, why isn't everybody doing it?
@@iammrbeat because they don’t want to or don’t have the time to. It’s obv something you gotta work at just like any skill but it can be done with enough work. Some people are better than others but I don’t think it’s impossible for a normal person to write decent songs.
have you written any songs
@@svin7987 yes I have
Thanks for this videos, I would request more videos on heavy artists and the metal genre, thanks a lot mr.beat🙏
Right on
@@mattbeatgoesonplease do deep purple,I beg you 😥
i'd love to see you do a video on Badfinger.
Not surprised. Most of them don’t
T-Swift does even though I think her songwriting is pretty bad. The last huge pop act besides her that writes their own songs is Mariah Carey I think.
@@freebandz4332Taylor's songwriting used to be good. Before she started co writing songs.
Carey mostly didn't write her own songs@@freebandz4332
@@Chelaxim I enjoyed her when she was an alternative country-pop act
None of that changer her songwriting. Her confessional lyricism still stayed the same. They may have got a bit saturated in pop albums such as 1989, but in deep cuts, her recognizable songwriting is extremely prominent. She has had the majority part in writing in every single song of hers, and she herself chooses to be identified as a songwriter first, then a singer.@@Chelaxim
They're a brand. People with a 'look' chosen by companies because they can also sing (a lot of people can sing, but not everyone has the 'look' that stands out and makes the industry heads see dollar signs).
Dua Lipa posted a video singing some covers on CZcams when she was 15, as did many many others of the same age, some with better voices. A scout saw her videos, and recognised from her attractive look that she could be big. They hired her, got her vocal coaching, dance coaching, created songs for her and created a massively successful musical brand around her persona.
That is how the pop industry has always worked to an extent (without the youtube ofc), from the TinPan Alley songwriting days to the big starts of the nineties and noughties like Britney Spears.
Some performers figure that having people think of them as songwriters helps their image, so they 'help' write their songs. In the future the songwriters will probably be nameless in the background so that the star can take all the cred.
In Harry Styles' case, I wouldn't be surprised if it was his advisors who wanted him to be seen to have writing credit, since the whole image they were trying to create for him from Sign of the Times onwards was that of a kind of modern day David Bowie. Bowie 100% had the 'look' that would have gotten him signed even just as a performer, but in his case he also happened to write all of his own work and even later produce the work of others, he was a true creative as well as a great performer.
Harry should embrace being a performer, and stop trying to play the part of a Bowie-esque creative genius because that's just not who he is.
Brilliant comment 👏
the clip you showed when Harry was talking about writing songs was misplaced and can cause some misinformation. he was talking about someone writing a song 'about' someone else and not 'for' someone else.
I wish everyone wasn’t trying to appear as a singer-songwriter. In my
opinion, if they only have co-credits on their own songs (usually shared among a plethora of writers) and never wrote for another artist, chances are they aren’t really singer-songwriters.
thank god the person with the current #1 song on billboard actually wrote it herself, it's like a breath of fresh air to end the year off.
Who was it?
@@cigh7445 mariah carey
I have so much appreciation for Jon Bellion. He's written many famous pop songs, writes his own music, sings and raps, is a great producer, and yet not many people know who he is outside of his song 'All Time Low'.
I saw a documentary a few years ago about all the hit songs written by one guy. Two examples of songs he wrote are-
1. Living La Vida Loca
2. Janie’s Got a Gun (Aerosmith)
What was interesting weee all the different types of music with popular songs he wrote.
Yeah Desmond child I think. Brilliant writer, although Janie’s got a gun was from the band members I think. They’re songs Cryin, Crazy, and Dude looks like a lady were written with him though
Max Martin is the modern example of this. Literally every pop song from 1999-onwards was written by him
can you make a video about the New York Dolls, The MC5 or the Music Machine / The Bonniwell Music Machine?
Awesome video, just awesome
Glad you enjoyed it :)
Can you do brief history of AC/DC?
Im late to the party but aren't you Mr Beat the history CZcamsr?
Yeah
Jokes on you, Paul McCartney is my favorite pop musician .
Hilarious
This guy sounds like mr.beat
Hey Mr.Beat can you do a video on the history of the offspring? Please
Paul Anka wrote the Tonight Show theme and gave Carson half the writing credits. And that's how it got to be the theme song.
Do you know Louis Tomlinson, also one of the pop stars (but heavily underrated) ? He is a songwriter before he's a singer. Just wanted to share
My "favorite" is Mariah Carrey and she writes all of her music, not including covers of course 😂
This is why I love Contemporary R&B music.
Musicianship is underappreciated. Nowadays you have artists like Pink Pantheress who literally make pop songs out of samples of stock music they found on the musical equivalent of Google. I mean her music is catchy but it just goes against everything I stand for as a musician.
Beat i like this content a lot more than your other channel where you just rage about your TDS.
Please do An introduction to Steve Wonder😢
I've been watching this channel tor awhile and I just noticed your voice is familiar lol.
lol who do I sound like?
can u plez do the history of wezzer
We should have a brief history of Soad 😃
Make "An Introduction to Bob Dylan"
Most pop stars are glorified karaoke singers.
Writing/creating the song is the true “art”. Singing what someone else wrote is just the delivery. There should be a major distinction between the 2, specifically from the Grammy awards. I’ve said for decades that it’s tough to take Grammy’s seriously if they don’t distinguish between artists vs. vocalists 🤷🏻♂️
you can relate that to acting
Fed up with pop? Try hardcore punk. The bands write their own music, design and print their own merch, and if they get too popular, they will break up to avoid succumbing to the capitalist hell that is mainstream music.
lol
Bold of you to assume that people could resist the money and fame that comes with mainstream succes. Look at how rich all the punk acts from the70s-80s that mainstream succes are.
@@hansmemling2311 No jokes allowed
@@whatthedrum I'm not joking. Do you know how rich people from the sex pistols are? How rich Vivienne Westwood is?
@@hansmemling2311 Yeah, I made a joke and you ASSUMED it was serious. Take a break from the internet old man
Am glad my favorite Paul Simon does write his songs.
Ahaha the picture of max Martin
Nice. Give me some Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon, or Ian Anderson any day. Songwriter/performers are special.
Can u please do a brief history of avenged sevenfold
unless it's alex turner who's goddamn genius
i knew this when i used to write raps in school for fun. my teacher said i should sell. them i never did. later in band class as a drummer i found out some band don't even use the same people to do songs on albums. because the way people want notes to sound. and some cant do that all the time. but they need a star for the show this is why singer lip sing at concerts or band members act like there playing but really not
The problem is probably way worse than you realize!
@@mattbeatgoeson probly but go work in nky or cincinnati you may be amazed how many famous live here and fly in and out in cincinnati airport. love you mr beat
Can you please do van halen history? I miss Eddie van halen
Future Vid Idea "A Brief History of The Misfits
The credits of all 3 of his albums are very well detailed i would say in which who did what. Harry wrote a lot of the songs. They list them in order of percentage and harry is on the top for most of them, but no not all. Kid Harpon has been his Bernie Taupin to the Elton John in a way especially from 2018 to present, but Tyler Johnson has been writing partner since 2016 I believe
Oh and the amazing Mitch came from after his pizza delivery days around 2016 when making his debut album
please do ZZ Top next for a history of....please
bro you gotta do a video on elvis
Me who just listens to video game music:
Branch out, Ralph!
@@mattbeatgoeson I actually have recently. It’s very funny actually, while doing past papers for my music exams, they’ve put some real bangers in there that I’ve gone on to listen to
Can you a history about elvis Presley
I now a writer you could do David Bowie
DO a brief history of foo fighters
I haven't watched much of the video i'll just tell, our favorite actors properly don't write their roles either.
songwriting credits go to eberyone who wrote there part in the original recording while in japan you only have credits for lyricist and composer
I hate how most pop artists not only not write their own songs but have so many fucking co writers.
Pop music might as well be made by AI. It’s fast food music
@@Johnnysmithy24that’s why I prefer RNB
Can you do The Jimi Hendrix Experience pls
Heck yeah
@@mattbeatgoeson tysm!
Thank god music is Subjective.
I'm not opposed to singers not writing their songs - do what you're good at and let songwriters do what they're good at. But taking credit and money from the songwriters is terrible.
Actually, there’s no reason to speculate on Harry’s contribution to his songs. Look up the interview of Kid Harpoon and Tyler Johnson on Making 2022’s Most Ubiquitous Single on Variety. Thanks
Seen it
@@mattbeatgoeson Nice 👍🏽 . I can relax now 😂
Couldn’t find it :(
@@hansmemling2311 I’m really not surprised you can’t dear.
How about big producers who not in the writing room and demand to put in his name in songwriting credit just because he produced it 🤔
Your snark is always appreciated and goes down like a spoonful of sugar 🥰🫂🐧
😆 thank you
Funnily enough, I wind up gravitating accidentally to people who write their own music; Paul Simon, Leonard Cohen, Don McLean, Woody Guthrie, and John Denver (though he only wrote half his songs alone, while cowriting the other half), etc.
I can name Jimmy Webb, Steve Goodman, and Kris Kristofferson off the top of my head. Take that, Beat.
Could you do a history of The Sex Pistols?
Heck yeah
This is why I love Taylor! She’s a real one.
How come such a system exists in the first place? Weren't the artists supposed to write their own songs? The Beatles, Elton and Bernie, Billy Joel etc.?
I remember robbie williams calling bruno mars and max martin, asking them to write him a song and he got crickets (nothing, they didn’t answer the call🤣). And then he saw harry at the airport and harry said he spent a week with bruno and he’s been working with max martin. Harry styles doesn’t write his songs at all, wasted bruno’s time.
Bob dylan please
Will yall appreciate taylor and her songwriting talent?
You don't think she gets appreciated already?
@@mattbeatgoeson Exactly lol
honestly a little nervous for future song writers with the dark cloud of ai looming
Imo Ai is going to take over the stock music. The elevator, generic background type music. As much as you can turn music into a formula mathematically speaking the actual hit is still a bit of luck and human experience. An Ai can’t really do that. There will be outliers here and there but overall the expertise of the hit writers won’t be in danger. It’s the low level people that make stock music that’s not worth much that are in trouble. but they make music in high volumes to make a living because they don’t get so much per track. Those are the ones in trouble.
"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side.".. Hunter S. Thompson.. Oh, wait !.. I came up with that !!.. Sorry..
This is why many people accused Beyonce for stealing credits cause just look at her songs writing credits. 💀 There are like dozens of writers
This is why I don't listen to Pop Music. I don't feel a connection to the same Soulless Corporate Shell. The Rock and Metal Industry has pretty much always consisted of people who write their music all buy themselves, or who may use 1 or 2 others to do one song on a Record, like a Producer, and guess what, It feels more personal, and that's why I listen to those Genres more. I've tried other genres, but it feels more artificial to me
Thats not trough. The monkees were created by men in suits, so we’re many other rock bands of the 60’s. There are stories of men in suits picking up pretty boys ( with no music experience )from the streets and turning them into rockstars. The singer of Jefferson airplane, Gracie did an interview (it’s on CZcams) once where she says rock was commercial and was just a way to make some people rich. Pretty obvious if you think about it. The money some rock acts made definitely inspired many to try to replicate that. It’s how our society works. Survival/greed above integrity/ artistry.
I don't have a favorite pop singer😊
Wheeler/Gavurin, great songwriters, musicians, and Harriet is a vocalist next to none.
Joni Mitchell.
Dua lipa is best popstar i have ever seen and listened to
This is why I stay away from songwriting. It was much easier for me to write the Declaration of Independence.