What do three helicopter pilots do when they have a free night in Las Vegas? If the decision is made under a “one-woman, one-vote” system, they go to see Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.
Even if you’re not a pop music fan you’ll be amazed at how many popular songs were created by Carole King (composer) and her husband Gerry Goffin (lyricist). The musical shows them working 24/7 through the 1960s to provide hits for various groups. It made me wonder if we’ve lost something with the singer-songwriter idea. If there is a team of experts creating songs and a second team of experts performing them, won’t the results be better than if there is just one team trying to do both?
Readers: What do you think? Are pop songs better or worse than they were in the 1960s?
[Separately, the musical shows that husband Gerry had a good relationship with two daughters but a poor relationship with Carole, not least due to the fact that he was having sex with at least two other women. Carole King responded to the situation by suing her husband and moving to Los Angeles with the girls, plainly ending their relationship with the father in that age of expensive airline tickets. Instead of relying on Goffin to write lyrics she would write them herself. Women in the audience went nuts at this point in the show, cheering with delight. There was no part of the show that evoked a stronger or more favorable response among the mostly-female audience. The program included an advertisement for a group of divorce litigators. (But see Real World Divorce: Nevada for how a plaintiff might be a lot better off by moving to California, New York, or Massachusetts before suing!)]
I recall reading three or four years ago that many pop songs are now created mechanically by algorithm and a “lyricist” then fits some words to the music. I’m sure many or your readers will know the details of this system.
Your connection as to the quality of the music with separate performers and songwriters is one I agree a with but my wife tends not too as much. The argument tends to be that if you are looking for personal insight in the art then the creator needs complete control. Then the question becomes who’s is the creator? At best, it is a moving collaboration between composer and performer. At worst it is songs by committee. So, it depends. Performing your own music is like printing your own photos which all the great photographers obviously did except, well, nearly all of them… For the record, pop music, IMHO, was better in the sixties but I am mostly thinking of the Beatles and they were singer-song writers. I don’t like much pop music much so maybe someone else should answer the actual question.
Pop music still is very often written by songwriters, and shopped to performers. Some genres more than others.
Singer-songwriters have a stronger claim to authenticity, but even they often live or die by the talents of their producers.
Aren’t most hits written by Max Martin these days?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Songs_written_by_Max_Martin
(Max is from Sweden, the commenter whispered to himself.)
Of note,
both Carole King and Gerry Goffin were married 4 times, with Carole apparently concluding her last marriage by running off on a one night stand that lasted 7 years with a much younger man.