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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.

#41

Post by hsod »

zaidf wrote: post #10

Does anyone know what's the equivelent in rap? Can I assume most mainstream rappers(Kanye, Wiz, 50 Cent etc.) heavily contribute to their own lyrics? I'm particularly curious about Eminem.

Most rappers write all their own lyrics, but there are definitely exceptions. Kanye West, for instance, semi-openly writes collaboratively with others[0]. It is also widely known that former labelmate Consequence wrote the first verse of Jesus Walks.

[0] Look at the writing credits on Yeezus. http://www.stereogum.com/1385792/yeezus-credits-revealed/new...

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

#42

Post by Tycho »

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 peak. And obviously there's dozens off great pop songs that he didn't write (which were smash hits).

edit: I missed all the Katy Perry ones, so I guess maybe he's still got it. But still, I don't see any work with Rihanna, who is probably the biggest pop star of the last decade.

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

#43

Post by bill-nordwall »

jmaygarden wrote: post #24
WalterBright wrote: post #6

Reminds me of the Monkees. In the early days, the studio hired the best songwriters to write the tunes for them. After a while, the Monkees rebelled and insisted they could write their own songs. And the Monkees pretty much ceased to exist. Pretty much the same story for David Cassidy.

Didn't Neil Diamond write several of their hits?

Yep! Neil Diamond wrote I'm A Believer.

Also, Carole King wrote Pleasant Valley Sunday. Here's her original demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtyqPzeso5A

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

#44

Post by elpool2 »

joelrunyon wrote: post #35
swombat wrote: post #9

"Every major pop song" seems like a bit of an overstatement. He's clearly very good at finding the sound that sells - but there are many successful songs (even just in the genre of "pop") not written by him...

You missed the "virtually" in front of every. That dramatically changes the context & meaning of the sentence.

ok, but "virtually every major pop song" is still an overstatement.

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

#46

Post by jrockway »

joelrunyon wrote: post #35
swombat wrote: post #9

"Every major pop song" seems like a bit of an overstatement. He's clearly very good at finding the sound that sells - but there are many successful songs (even just in the genre of "pop") not written by him...

You missed the "virtually" in front of every. That dramatically changes the context & meaning of the sentence.

Not really. "Some" would be the accurate modifier.

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

#47

Post by TylerE »

joelrunyon wrote: post #35
swombat wrote: post #9

"Every major pop song" seems like a bit of an overstatement. He's clearly very good at finding the sound that sells - but there are many successful songs (even just in the genre of "pop") not written by him...

You missed the "virtually" in front of every. That dramatically changes the context & meaning of the sentence.

Yes, but "virtually all" != ~5% under even the most liberal accounting.

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

#48

Post by joelrunyon »

tedks wrote: post #36
swombat wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you seriously comparing pop music to heroin and slaves???

Sure. Heroin and slaves are really, really bad. Pop music is just mildly bad. That's a comparison. The point I intended to make is that there are markets for everything. I don't even think pop music is that bad, but being successful in a marketplace is never cause alone for accolades. Blindly worshipping people who are successful at some business venture blinds us to the ethics of whatever they're doing. Success shou…

> Blindly worshipping people who are successful at some business venture blinds

Completely agree, but I don't think anyone in the article or this forum could be considered "worshipping" this guy. The article was more of an observation about a not immediately apparent fact that was intellectually curious.

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

#49

Post by ecnahc515 »

tedks wrote: post #36
swombat wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you seriously comparing pop music to heroin and slaves???

Sure. Heroin and slaves are really, really bad. Pop music is just mildly bad. That's a comparison. The point I intended to make is that there are markets for everything. I don't even think pop music is that bad, but being successful in a marketplace is never cause alone for accolades. Blindly worshipping people who are successful at some business venture blinds us to the ethics of whatever they're doing. Success shou…

Yup, so is your comparison. Your comparision is really, really bad.

Thus you, are really really bad, so the world doesn't need you, right?

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

#50

Post by dopamean »

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.
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