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One Man Has Written Virtually Every Major Pop Song Of The Last 20 Years.

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Re: One Man Has Written Virtually Every Major Pop Song Of The Last 20 Years.

#71

Post by joelrunyon »

MichaelGG wrote: post #53
joelrunyon wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also another product that recognized / created a market & built a product that seems acceptably priced to those who bought it. They might be overpriced to you, but to the thousands of people who've bought them, they seem worth the value.

If they're buying for the brand, then perhaps. The headphones are objectively worse than other models in the same price range. I'd guess that most buyers are not aware of this and just think it's cool or it must be good because it's higher priced. It's brilliant marketing, sure. But it's like taking a $2 bottle of wine, rebranding it, and saying it's worth the value at $19.

That's the whole point of the brand though. I don't think Beats is trying to convey the image that they're the objectively best brand of headphones. However, they are saying - these are endorsed by Dre, popular athletes & other profile musicians & that wearing them is "cool".

That's like complaining that Nike can markup a pair of Jordans for $150 even though they're objectively "just as good" as a pair that costs $70-$100. A "brand" is valuable.

Case in point - that "rebranding" of the wine, just got you an extra $17 in margin.

Re: One Man Has Written Virtually Every Major Pop Song Of The Last 20 Years.

#72

Post by busterarm »

contextfree wrote: post #70
busterarm wrote: post #19

I wonder why people find this surprising. This is how pop music has always been done and it even used to be more in the open. Bands/singers didn't have to get people to (ghost)write songs/lyrics for them - they used to just be performers. Many of the important names are on this list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inductees_of_the_Songwriters_Ha... and a really obvious example is a guy like Paul Williams http://en.wiki…

I don't think this is really "ghostwriting" for the most part - the credits are usually in the open, the writers just don't get much publicity.

Well, you're right. But honestly producers have been the most important players in the game since Rick Rubin when producers started to contribute more to songwriting (actually that's sort of a lie - I'd argue it started with Keith Olsen). It's sorta shocking that people don't know. I only even mentioned ghostwriting because some other comments mentioned it and because it actually does happen where the credits aren't in the open.

I'll add parenthesis to make it more clear.

Re: One Man Has Written Virtually Every Major Pop Song Of The Last 20 Years.

#73

Post by twerquie »

dopamean wrote: post #50
joelrunyon wrote: post #14

I don't understand all the hate. Okay I get we don't have a lot of backstreet boy or Britney fans here (not one either) & I get the whole "pop music sounds the same lament, but at the same time, there's a market for it & he's excelled at creating something that sells that. Just because it's pop music doesn't mean you can't give the guy credit for understanding his market & dominating his field.

Also I think it's important to note that just because its pop music doesn't mean it does not take an incredible amount of skill to produce well. There are a handful of producers that dominate the field because they are the best ones. Dr Luke is an example of another.

No surprise they often work together.

Re: One Man Has Written Virtually Every Major Pop Song Of The Last 20 Years.

#74

Post by twerquie »

joelrunyon wrote: post #14

I don't understand all the hate. Okay I get we don't have a lot of backstreet boy or Britney fans here (not one either) & I get the whole "pop music sounds the same lament, but at the same time, there's a market for it & he's excelled at creating something that sells that. Just because it's pop music doesn't mean you can't give the guy credit for understanding his market & dominating his field.

I've got a feeling we're going to look back on this era of music with wide-eyed wonder and recognize many of his pop hits as the masterpieces they are.

Unfortunately, social norms prevent us from listening with our ears.

Re: One Man Has Written Virtually Every Major Pop Song Of The Last 20 Years.

#75

Post by Dewie »

pavpanchekha wrote: post #59

Many of us on Hacker News dislike pop music. And there are good reasons to do so, but its popularity alone should not be one. I like to remind myself some of the greatest music in the world was once pop music. For example, J. S. Bach used to perform at the Café Zimmerman in Leipzig[1]. Could you imagine going into a coffeehouse and listening to Bach playing a Teleman concerto? Or a flute concerto of his own? Now, I'm…

> And there are good reasons to do so, but its popularity alone should not be one.

It's its popularity, alone, that forces me to have to listen to it. Sometimes.

I don't believe that people can have "bad taste in music", or that pop music is bad. But I'd rather listen to what I like, which I guess is why I shun the radio.

Re: One Man Has Written Virtually Every Major Pop Song Of The Last 20 Years.

#76

Post by [deleted] »

joe_the_user wrote: post #58
eaurouge wrote: post #52

On HN of all places we should value the creative process. I think we should do so even when we don't agree with the content, as long as there are no ethical/legal issues. The title is plain silly, of course. There are many other talented songwriters and producers out there - Babyface is one, I'm sure there are others. Songwriters and producers don't get their due though (unless they also sing). Back in the day, I use…

On HN of all places we should value the creative process. I think we should do so even when we don't agree with the content, as long as there are no ethical/legal issues. Well, the article like argument that the process going is less creative than it seems. I suspect hackers would love if software could 5% of pop songs. If a person with a formula writes 5% of pop songs, somehow it appeals less and seems less creative…

[deleted]

Re: One Man Has Written Virtually Every Major Pop Song Of The Last 20 Years.

#77

Post by rch »

joelrunyon wrote: post #14

I don't understand all the hate. Okay I get we don't have a lot of backstreet boy or Britney fans here (not one either) & I get the whole "pop music sounds the same lament, but at the same time, there's a market for it & he's excelled at creating something that sells that. Just because it's pop music doesn't mean you can't give the guy credit for understanding his market & dominating his field.

I'm sure he gets plenty of credit in his professional life already. There's no reason to champion people who trade in valueless simply because they are able to make a living at it. Of course he is probably a truly nice guy, and great source of conversation, but that doesn't necessarily mean he's making a valuable contribution of some kind.

Re: One Man Has Written Virtually Every Major Pop Song Of The Last 20 Years.

#79

Post by TylerE »

busterarm wrote: post #72
contextfree wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think this is really "ghostwriting" for the most part - the credits are usually in the open, the writers just don't get much publicity.

Well, you're right. But honestly producers have been the most important players in the game since Rick Rubin when producers started to contribute more to songwriting (actually that's sort of a lie - I'd argue it started with Keith Olsen). It's sorta shocking that people don't know. I only even mentioned ghostwriting because some other comments mentioned it and because it actually does happen where the credits aren't…

It goes way back before that. The whole Brill Building/Tin Pan Alley era, Holland-Dozier-Holland, etc.

Re: One Man Has Written Virtually Every Major Pop Song Of The Last 20 Years.

#80

Post by twerquie »

Tycho wrote: post #42

That is a gross, absurd exaggeration. He has a few classic pop songs, no doubt, and clearly a very lucrative career writing and producing tracks for A-list pop stars. But in the last 10 years I'm not sure he's written any of what I'd call the best pop hits. Looking through his discography on wikipedia I suspect there's some of those songs I know by melody and not by name, but I think he's long past his songwriter pea…

Katy Perry's Teenage Dream album was largely written by MM, I'd say it's both one of the most important pop records of the last decade and MM's best work. It smashed all sorts of chart records, in total it had 8 top-three singles on the Billboard Hot 100, and 5 number one singles.

It's absolutely destined to be a classic album in every sense of the word, and I find it funny that most music heads I know can't see that because (imho) they are too afraid of being seen as someone who enjoys Katy Perry. Oh well, the kids who were 12 at the time will grow up appreciating it. I suppose it's for them anyway.

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