Every single year it's the same tired old tunes.

Is there some sort of issue with music rights or certain artists forbidding the show to use their songs forcing the song choices to be so limited, or it is the usual laziness, fear of risk taking and lack of imagination on the part of the producers?

It's pathetic either way.

last time they used disco as a theme was in 2013 i think and the songs used included ;

Play that funky music
Wishing on a Star
September
I Will Survive
Enough is enough


says it all really

It must be to do with recording rights. I think Simon Cowell mentioned something a few years back about having to get permission to sing some songs.

It's because there are records labels out there that don't want songs to be covered and as well as the severe lack of creativity and imagination on the producers part.

No it's nothing to do with that.

Any venue needs a PRS license to perform songs. PRS covers over 100,000 artists and 10m songs.

I'd go for 'the producers have no idea about any form of music other than bland generic kiddy pop or MOR karaoke dirges'.

There are so many brilliant song choices within each theme and yet they drag out of the same list of over used guff every series

Because Simon Cowell hasn't a clue about music and only thinks 100 songs have ever been recorded.

Or he just dismisses the other 1 billion songs that have been recorded because he doesn't like them.

He's got a limited taste in music, so his shows have a limited playlist for contestants to pick from, hence the same songs being performed every year since 2004.

In fact, looking back the songs performed in 2004 were probably the most original. Since 2005 it's all been the same.

i'd go with this as well

having 5 of last nights songs also being used the last time disco was a theme is a clear give away of a lack of imagination

That licence doesn't cover televising the performances though, so they do need to clear any song usage with the publishers. I suspect they have licensed a certain publisher's catalogue, or part of the catalogue, and any song outside of that will need separate clearance which is time consuming and costly to negotiate so it's just easier to stick with what their licence already covers.

Lack of ideas and clueless producers.

I agree. The voice can manage it but x factor don't seem to be able to move away from the same old bland rubbish. Anything different is frowned upon.

This. Simon has used the same old method for years. Remember when he had everybody sing Unchained Melody? Now it's anything by Adele. He is also really bad at picking songs for specific people. Emily had a bad choice last night. Just because she was really good with Creep a couple of weeks ago doesnt mean she can't do anything else. Disco week was a chance to try new things. Simon wants to keep everything the same.

It all stems from how SYCO markets its artists.

None of them is new or original. Simon sees cutting edge artists who have managed to break through. Then he looks for an artist who can do something similar, but packaged in a way that is safe and palatable for the masses.

Same with song choices.

It is 100% down to licensing. I can't remember who the contestant was, but there was a situation a few years back where they really wanted to sing a certain song but it couldn't get cleared in time so they had to fall back to the pre-cleared catalogue.

limited songs for limited voices bar Saara

because their scared of changing things up so they don't bother, its just like the same thing with different people every year. I do wish they'd change the songs up but I don't know why they don't, maybe its to do with rights to sing songs or something

"Change a word, pay a third" was a topic of discussion between Chris Evans and Cliff Richard, talking about rights to sing Elvis songs on Fridays R2 Breakfast.

So the likes of Honey G who would legally "change" a song by adding an extra word - or more - means the original writers / copyright owners have the final say.
Bowie and Queen said No regarding "Under pressure / Ice Ice Baby"

Have you got a link to that information?

Yes this sounds about right.

With only a week to learn a song and turn it into an entire performance, time is precious and it makes sense to get going on a Monday morning rather than sit around and wait for clearance on a song which may or may not materialise.

Blaming Simon and his personal taste in music is ridiculous.

All around the globe, other singing shows manage to pull it off.

Unless you believe the themes are truly random, they can work more than a week ahead.

On American Idol, the singer sent home already knew what they were supposed to sing the following week.

If time were the issue, why are there so many last-minute song changes?

American Idol is a proper show - not this amateurish rubbish. They cared about the acts, cared about them singing songs that suited them or from the correct genre, and gave them proper critique and only gave praise where praise was due. Plus, the contestants were artists who knew what they wanted to perform so the professionals were a help to them but didn't dictate. It's really impossible to compare the two shows.

Because the contestants are chancers rather than artists, most of them have no idea what they want to be as an artist and are happy to be moulded on the show. Last minute song changes happen for a variety of reasons, but I would guess that the contestant struggling with it and possibly having a meltdown would be one of the main reasons. If they knew anything about themselves as an artist, they would pretty much know from the off whether or not a song was within their capabilities or suited them as an artist.

It's not just American Idol.

The current season of the XF Australia is struggling in the ratings, but the song choices aren't completely stale.

This past weekend the song choices included the standard Whitney Houston, but also Faded by Alan Walker and Perfect Strangers by JP Cooper.

Found this quote on the PRS website:-

Revenues from UK music used on television have doubled from £29 million to £60 million due to the availability of more channels, wider distribution of British repertoire through formats such as X Factor and Pop Idol and the popularity of shows such as CSI and Grey’s Anatomy that use music by British songwriters.

Honey G literally said on Sunday night "I've got a wicked song lined up for next week".

They limit the song choices so that their samey winners always win.

If they broadened the options you might actually see someone more interesting win and they don't want that for some reason.