I agree!

Like A Virgin is still classed as a 'Madonna song' even though she didn't have a hand in writing it, same with MG/CFY/DYU and Holiday.

I think the original post does raise an interesting point which has not been fully picked up.

That is, at a time like now when pop princesses are one of the dominant forces in pop music, there is an underlying anxiety that they are all a bit manufactured, even Adele.

Is it anxiety? I think the general consensus is that people don't really care anymore about who writes the music.

This is exactly it. I was taken aback that Adele hadn't solely written all her material and I did consider thinking less of her but quickly realised I didn't care as I enjoyed the whole sound so much and she was clearly involved in the whole process. However it did make me think about others and yes indeed if it does matter.

I would have always thought that it did matter. I thought myself to be someone who appreciated artists, those who could write their own stuff and play instruments but finding out about Adele and others I now feel I can appreciate a different approach. In fact I'm now positive about collaboration as I think it's possibly produced much better material than would have been so otherwise.

Interestingly I found myself in the position of thinking some acts like Katy Perry and Jessie J did write their own stuff as I really don't see their stuff being nearly as good quality as say Adele or Amy Winehouse. I've had a complete turn around though now and appreciate collaboration. It's still a matter of taste and obviously you're not going to like everything like me and Katy Perry and Jessie J. However, I'll always have a soft spot for the likes of Janis Joplin or Carly Simon and indeed Amy Winehouse. Those that are involved and in control the whole creative process.
Last edited by trevor tiger : 03-03-2012 at 23:03

What concensus? Thats a sweeping generalised statement. It certainly matters to me who has written a song, and whether the singer has had any meaningful input in to the artistic process other than singing the lead vocals.

I don't have a problem with co-writes at all and I'm not saying a every singer has to be as songwriter as well. Sinatra didn't write his songs, but he had a unique voice and the talent to interpret the lyrics and (to quote Louis Walsh ) make a song his own, to the extent that his version of those songs, eg 'Come Fly With Me', 'My Way', 'New York, New York' are the definitive versions.

Why is the possibility of Amy MacDonald not writing her own songs even being questioned here?

There's a sort of formula you could roughly work by here on DS. If you name an artist and the majority of regulars on here haven't heard of them/have heard of them but never their music, then it's safe to say they write their own stuff.

For the record, hell yeah - Amy writes her own stuff.

Not necessarily. It just means their management are crap if they don't chart well enough, considering she's young.

On the subject of songwriters how's Cathy Denis doing these days?

thats why she's shi*e

Just watching the NME Awards and Florence Welch won Best Solo Act. She may not strictly be a pop princess but then I thought she was in a band so anyway does anyone know if she writes all her material?

She does, She's the frontwoman, in a band so to speak. She co-wrote all of Ceremonials and most of Lungs. She wrote (Florence herself) some songs on Lungs solo. She's worked with Paul Epworth a lot.

You could argue that the generic nature and lack of variety in current chart music which people are always complaining about is not helped by artists not writing their own songs. Even on Adele's album there are some very generic songs. "Take It All" for example is such a generic ballad that it sounds like it was knocked up by one of the other experienced songwriters in an afternoon. I'm not getting at Adele as at least her voice adds something to the songs, it's just an example of how hired help doesn't always produce the best or most interesting results.

Of course, they get help. Adele has 3 or 4 on her team. It depends on the contract, but some get a writing credit (and royalties) by contributing a few words or just the concept. Carol Kings or Joni Mitchells they're not. It's really not fair to the poor songwriters, but that's the music biz in the 21st century. Everything's fake.

No. It's been like that from the 30s. I wouldn't say Adele 'got help' because that's not really fair. The songwriters simply forced her to be more direct with her lyrics. And if she wrote the lyrics and they composed it (which makes sense) they get a songwriters credit. Adele mainly works on a 1-1 basis. She's not a big team writer. I personally think she doesn't do the writing camp thing, similar to Amy Winehouse and Mariah Carey.

Mariah Carey

I would actually think that the majority of solo artists have at least some help writting. Not saying everyone does and the majority is probably higher among the pop world compared to the indie or rock world. Infact, seen as a lot of songs are altered during the recording process by input from the sound engineers, backing mucicians and producers etc, you could say that nearly everything is co written in some way.

I presume it is much easier to write things when you are in a band as each member will have their own specialities and you can bounce ideas of each other. If you are a solo artist you kind of need to be a jack of all trades, master of none which doesn't always make for the best sound if everything is done by yourself