I’ll never quite understand the hype to artists like Beyonce. Of course “she” won. She is actually a conglomerate of like 100 song writers, dozens of producers, hundreds of engineers, mixers and editors, backup vocals, etc.
It’s not like back in the day when an artist got big by their own merit, now it’s an over produced and manufactured artist that wins, and yes she’s talented, because she’s been manufactured to be
Beyond that, her husband is a billionaire investor (formerly musician, but who are we kidding to still use that descriptor). Even with her success, which can be criticized from both sides enough, that alone precludes her from being one of the “good ones.”
It’s not like back in the day when an artist got big by their own merit
Sorry, when, exactly, are you talking about? Frank Sinatra didn’t write any of his major songs. Elvis Presley literally didn’t write anything. Madonna didn’t write most of her biggest early hits, though she did get much more involved in writing after the 80s. Plenty of Rhianna’s big songs weren’t written by her. Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, and Celine Dion aren’t songwriters. Meat Loaf didn’t write a single song on ‘Bat Out of Hell’.
So, what is this time period where every artist got by solely by their own unassisted talent? Because I could also point to Taylor Swift today, who’s been heavily involved in the writing of every song she’s ever made. Lady Gaga’s writing influence is all over everything she’s done. Zoomer superstar Olivia Rodrigo wrote every song on her latest album.
Just looking at some top albums from 2023:
SOS by SZA - She’s credited on every song.
Midnights by Taylor Swift - She wrote everything.
One Thing at a Time by Morgan Wallen - Writing credits on roughly half the tracks
Did You Know There’s a Tunnel under Ocean Blvd by Lana del Rey - Primary credits on all tracks
The funny thing is that, compared to most of pop music history, it’s actually far more common for artists to be involved in songwriting that it was in the past. Up until relatively recently, singers were mostly seen as just that - singers - and there was no real expectation for them to be writers as well, since the songs would be supplied by the large team assembled by the label.
So again, I ask, what was this golden age where all artists wrote everything they performed, and when did it end?
For all those people you named that didn’t write their own songs, there are hundreds who did. Are you seriously telling me it’s not more common now for music to be over produced and for artists to have more money to throw at it?
Did the Beatles have a hundred writers and engineers? The stones? Johnny Cash? The foo fighters? Abba?
But if they were around today they probably would because music today is over produced.
Anyways, I dunno who you’re defending, Beyonce? You know she plays concerts for dictators and employs sweatshops right? You know she’s a terrible person, don’t defend her because you like her music
Whelp, I had a large response typed up that I lost by accidentally swiping back, so I’ll just say that if you’re going to call Beyonce a terrible person, I probably wouldn’t cite rock stars as paragons of morality, or shall we ask Cynthia Lennon how nice John was to her? I hardly need to bring up Michael Jackson. Of course, that has absolutely nothing to do with whether they wrote their songs or not, which is the actual topic, so I’m not sure why you bring that up at all.
Genres have obviously shifted, but if you compare pop musicians of today to the pop musicians of the 70s and 80s, yes, there is absolutely more songwriting today by the artists. Rock is a very different genre with its own traditions and tends to be based around groups rather than solo artists, so it’s not a very apt comparison. Not to mention, it’s not like rock artists back then weren’t shitting on disco groups for this exact reason back in the day. The Village People weren’t exactly prolific songwriters.
It almost feels like your real issue is that rock is dead, and sure, that’s unfortunate. But luckily for you, rumor has it that Beyonce’s next album will be based in rock.
I mean if you’re stupid and don’t know about the history of say rock and roll, let alone music. Artists in the 60s and 70s like the stones, Beatles, hell even newer people like Nirvana, foo fighters, etc. Write all their songs, most even do their own editing and mixing. The Beatles didn’t have a hundred people in the studio writing and mixing while they sipped margaritas and got their nails done.
Dude there are literally documentaries about musicians and the writing process, and they didn’t always involve 100 people.
Edit: just want to look at my albums. So many like Metallica, all songs written and composed by the members of the group. Go look at the credits just for song writers in a Beyonce album, there’s like two dozen writers
This guy’s inability to fathom that there exists music outside of Rock is bordering on hilarious. Not to even mention the entire world of music before Rock, which is especially hilarious given him citing musical history. Does he think Nat King Cole or Ella Fitzgerald wrote their own music?
I’ll never quite understand the hype to artists like Beyonce. Of course “she” won. She is actually a conglomerate of like 100 song writers, dozens of producers, hundreds of engineers, mixers and editors, backup vocals, etc. It’s not like back in the day when an artist got big by their own merit, now it’s an over produced and manufactured artist that wins, and yes she’s talented, because she’s been manufactured to be
Newsflash: with enough money you can buy almost anything in the US.
Beyond that, her husband is a billionaire investor (formerly musician, but who are we kidding to still use that descriptor). Even with her success, which can be criticized from both sides enough, that alone precludes her from being one of the “good ones.”
Sorry, when, exactly, are you talking about? Frank Sinatra didn’t write any of his major songs. Elvis Presley literally didn’t write anything. Madonna didn’t write most of her biggest early hits, though she did get much more involved in writing after the 80s. Plenty of Rhianna’s big songs weren’t written by her. Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, and Celine Dion aren’t songwriters. Meat Loaf didn’t write a single song on ‘Bat Out of Hell’.
So, what is this time period where every artist got by solely by their own unassisted talent? Because I could also point to Taylor Swift today, who’s been heavily involved in the writing of every song she’s ever made. Lady Gaga’s writing influence is all over everything she’s done. Zoomer superstar Olivia Rodrigo wrote every song on her latest album.
Just looking at some top albums from 2023:
The funny thing is that, compared to most of pop music history, it’s actually far more common for artists to be involved in songwriting that it was in the past. Up until relatively recently, singers were mostly seen as just that - singers - and there was no real expectation for them to be writers as well, since the songs would be supplied by the large team assembled by the label.
So again, I ask, what was this golden age where all artists wrote everything they performed, and when did it end?
For all those people you named that didn’t write their own songs, there are hundreds who did. Are you seriously telling me it’s not more common now for music to be over produced and for artists to have more money to throw at it?
Did the Beatles have a hundred writers and engineers? The stones? Johnny Cash? The foo fighters? Abba?
But if they were around today they probably would because music today is over produced.
Anyways, I dunno who you’re defending, Beyonce? You know she plays concerts for dictators and employs sweatshops right? You know she’s a terrible person, don’t defend her because you like her music
Whelp, I had a large response typed up that I lost by accidentally swiping back, so I’ll just say that if you’re going to call Beyonce a terrible person, I probably wouldn’t cite rock stars as paragons of morality, or shall we ask Cynthia Lennon how nice John was to her? I hardly need to bring up Michael Jackson. Of course, that has absolutely nothing to do with whether they wrote their songs or not, which is the actual topic, so I’m not sure why you bring that up at all.
Genres have obviously shifted, but if you compare pop musicians of today to the pop musicians of the 70s and 80s, yes, there is absolutely more songwriting today by the artists. Rock is a very different genre with its own traditions and tends to be based around groups rather than solo artists, so it’s not a very apt comparison. Not to mention, it’s not like rock artists back then weren’t shitting on disco groups for this exact reason back in the day. The Village People weren’t exactly prolific songwriters.
It almost feels like your real issue is that rock is dead, and sure, that’s unfortunate. But luckily for you, rumor has it that Beyonce’s next album will be based in rock.
Mariah Carey IS a songwriter!
Back in what day? Small tribes where there was no collaboration with outside sources before the written word?
I mean if you’re stupid and don’t know about the history of say rock and roll, let alone music. Artists in the 60s and 70s like the stones, Beatles, hell even newer people like Nirvana, foo fighters, etc. Write all their songs, most even do their own editing and mixing. The Beatles didn’t have a hundred people in the studio writing and mixing while they sipped margaritas and got their nails done.
Dude there are literally documentaries about musicians and the writing process, and they didn’t always involve 100 people.
Edit: just want to look at my albums. So many like Metallica, all songs written and composed by the members of the group. Go look at the credits just for song writers in a Beyonce album, there’s like two dozen writers
This guy’s inability to fathom that there exists music outside of Rock is bordering on hilarious. Not to even mention the entire world of music before Rock, which is especially hilarious given him citing musical history. Does he think Nat King Cole or Ella Fitzgerald wrote their own music?