Do Pop Stars Really Write Their Own Hits?

Many Singers "Collaborate" In Name Only

(AP)  Grammy-winning songwriter Dallas Austin says he's had a manager rave about a song Austin wrote all by himself, and then tell him, "We wanna know if we can get a piece of the pie on it because (the artist) wants to feel like she has a part ownership on the song.

"And I'll say, 'In all fairness, no. ... If you want to work with me at least sit here and put something into it, instead of coming after I've done everything and try and claim percentages on it.'"

Gerson calls the practice unfair but says it's "pretty prevalent in pop and R&B ... I think the way people now divide publishing splits is who was in the room. 'OK ... I changed the word 'the' to 'a,' and I deserve 10 percent of the publishing.'"

Sean Garrett, who has created smashes for Beyonce, Kelis, Fergie and others, says he gave up credit when he was just starting out, which is common for newcomers. "It bothered me but I knew it was just a price that I had to pay to continue my career and stay focused with the big prize," he says.

Ne-Yo, a true singer-songwriter who co-wrote Beyonce's "Irreplaceable," says early in his career he had to deal with the same thing. He says some artists feel they are doing a novice a favor by recording their song — especially if it becomes a hit — so they deserve a piece of the royalties.

"If you're an unknown songwriter and you are lucky enough to get on a superstar's album and you know that the song is going to be a single," Ne-Yo says, "and it means if it becomes No. 1 everyone is going to know your name because you wrote it, I think it's worth giving up a piece of publishing ... you are going to make your money back."

Shropshire recalls working with an A-list singer, whom he did not want to name, who wrote two words on a song and ended up getting a large piece of the publishing rights. But he couldn't complain when the song became a hit.

"It didn't really bother me that much. The song came out and it did wonderfully well," he says. "That's just the way the industry works."

That shouldn't be the case, says Warren. Although she had credit taken from her early in her career, she quickly put a stop to it. Later, one major superstar demanded some of Warren's royalties for the privilege of said superstar recording her song. But Warren refused.

"It's like, 'OK, you want some publishing? OK then, give me a piece of the money you're making touring for the next five years for the hit I just wrote you.'"

But now that songwriters like Warren, Garrett and Ne-Yo are established, they rarely find themselves taken advantage of any more.

"I give other people credit where credit is due, like Beyonce really did vocally arrange ('Irreplaceable')," Ne-Yo says. "So for someone to come in and take my credit because they are who they are? That doesn't work for me. I don't care who you are. ... I'm not going to give you something you don't deserve."

[brianbwb-2009]

It has never mattered who wrote the songs, Whitney Houston made Dolly Parton a lot richer with "I Will Always Love You", and I'm sure Dolly isn't complaining. Smokey Robinson was the genius behind the Temptations' "My Girl", and many other legendary songs by other artists.

Many years ago I was a young session musician for a record company, we had to sign a contract giving to the companies all rights to what we created to "flesh out" sketches by arrangers and producers in exchange for $250 to $500 per session, which was "good money" for a musician, but less than nothing compared to what the companies made from our contributions.

The music industry was formed and grew through mafia like operations, and continues to function under the same style, that is it's nature. The problems happen when royalties are not paid to the writer, and all record companies are guilty of this.

To anyone who believes artists should write their own material, not all good writers are good performers...

[olebd]

There's only a handful of real taslent these days who cana both write their own songs and sing them too. Most singers today are plucked out of nowhere by producers because they are good looking. Notice how most everything sounds the same thse days? It's all about greed, instant gratification, the flash/bang quick buck and on to the next "big thing" popped oit and propped up in Disney fashion. Most of the music you hear today is disposable and won't have the staying power of real music of the past that was written/composed and crafted.