I came across this Wall Street Journal video article today on Beyonce and her Songwriters. In summary, Beyonce has come under fire for using over 60 songwriters to help her write her latest album ‘Lemonade’.
But how have things evolved over the last few decades? Why do we react so strongly to this idea of so many songwriters being involved in an artist’s work?
Here’s the video. I’ll give you my thoughts after the jump.
My initial thoughts:
1) What on earth happened to the art of writing a song for the sake of writing a song? (CON)
2) Looks like this is the evolution of art (PRO)
In relation to that first thought, songwriting and collaboration as teams of songwriters is nothing new. The Beatles were hardcore collaborators in this way, spending thousands of hours writing together. Whether you like them or not, this skilled and honed approach to songwriting as a team penned some of the greatest hits of the last 100 years. Working as a team does not diminish the value of a well-written song. So that’s not the issue here.
The Beatles also wrote songs to make money. They may have loved the songs, but they weren’t sitting down in their bedroom just to write a great song (like we all imagine good songwriters seem to do, or at least that’s what my mind’s eye conjures up). Whether you agree with this attitude or not is also irrelevant, because a great song is a great song, intent is irrelevant. The final product will stand or fall on it’s own merits, not on the intent with which it was written. So that’s not the issue with Beyonce’s album here either.
You’ll note I’m practically tearing down my own ‘con’ in relation to this. I find that hard. My emotional reaction is “what the hell?!”, but my intellectual reaction very quickly tempers that to “actually, I think my emotions may be off this time”.
Where our thoughts differ from reality…
We WANT to believe that songwriting is purely expressive. We want to believe that songwriters just want to move people with their music. And I think (just my opinion) that the best songwriters put that desire first, and (combined with skill and craft) that results in timeless songs… but I think it’d be naive and ignorant to suggest that all great songs in the last 50-60 years were not written with at least the hope of the song being written becoming a huge hit and allowing them to make enough money to (ideally) make more such songs. Money is a great enabler in this regard, it’s when it becomes an end in itself that we start to take issue with art becoming a product, rather than a form of expression.
The Evolution of Music
In business, if you want to hate on something, you surely don’t hate the player, you hate the game. The game of business and making money is what can compromise people’s own integrity for the sake of money, fame or other such accolades. The music becomes a means to an end, rather than an end in itself.
Everything evolves in response to pressures around it. The writing of songs is no different.
And today, when a hit can make you millions one day and be out of the charts the next, and you’re competing against increasing teams of songwriters from other artists fighting for their spot in the charts, is it any wonder why you would want to do EVERYTHING you can to secure your spot? Is it any different to companies prepping their company’s image and books for scrutiny before going public on the stock market? Is it any different to seeking the best team for a business to succeed? I’m not sure it is.
Sure, the artist, singer and musician in me says “yes, it’s totally different”… and I think in some ways it is. But in reality the music BUSINESS has more in common with that picture than people might like to realise.
Don’t like that picture?
I’m not sure I do either. But I have to respect that’s what we as consumers have enabled (we vote with our wallets after all), and that’s the beast we live with now. If you don’t like that, then start to look out for grass-roots songwriters. The ones who work a normal job and sing for pleasure in the evening. The ones that do it for the LOVE of the music and nothing else. Go and support their local show, buy their CD, and encourage them with feedback to help them make better music.
Not all great singers need to be in HMV or on a billboard, but the industry can’t show you these guys/girls. So go out and find them for yourself. You never know, you might find that next songwriter that blows your socks off.