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An interesting correlation is that songwriters used to be popularly-famous. Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Irving Berlin stick out. But I can't confidently name
by gen220 6y ago
An interesting correlation is that songwriters used to be popularly-famous. Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Irving Berlin stick out.
But I can't confidently name a single songwriter from the last 50 years, aside from the ones that were predominantly popular performers and recorded-music artists (Roger Waters, Lennon/McCartney, James Taylor).
To me, not knowing any better, this suggests that songwriters had more economic self-determination within the music industry, which translates into influence and cachet, in the 1920s than they do in the 2020s.
Today, again as an outsider, it seems like publishers and managers have an outsized influence, because they control the economics more than any other entity in the system.
- parenthesis 6y agoIt depends how well-known you have to be to be well known, but for some level of well-known, off the top of my head: Leiber and Stoller, Ashford and Simpson, Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards, Rod Temperton, Diane Warren, Desmond Child, and Max Martin are well known songwriters from more modern times. However, their hits are much better known than they are, compared to the great American songbook guys. Although there are other very successful songwriters from that era with less name recongnition, for example, Johnny Mercer or Harry Warren.
- offtop5 6y agoAt least in hip hop, if you have a falling out with your ghost writers they'll make an effort to expose you. For example Quentin Miller here wrote tons of songs for Drake. https://genius.com/artists/Quentin-miller https://genius.com/artists/Quentin-miller Ghost producing is also a thing, I've heard stories of a producer getting $700 or $600 for fairly popular track because the the actual song is credited to someone else. Hell, in hip hop it's not unheard of for bigger artist to outright steal ideas and concepts from underground artists. Then you can remake the song as your own, and if you decide to reach back and compensate the original artist that's okay but as far as I can tell you'll very rarely get into legal trouble. Case in point https://www.bet.com/music/2018/06/26/childish-gambino-this-is-america-stolen-debate.html https://www.bet.com/music/2018/06/26/childish-gambino-this-i... It's so easy to become successful if you just steal ideas from people