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A comment on Hit songwriters ask pop stars to stop taking credit for songs they didn't write. Parent comment

Re:Hit songwriters ask pop stars to stop taking credit for s... by hammock on Wednesday March 31, 2021 @03:51PM (#26652216)
They kind of say: "look good, sound good."

Having worked in this industry myself, is it definitely a talent to have good stage presence, good presence in front of a videocamera, photogenic and modeling skills. Not to mention charisma when dealing with radio and TV interviews, fanbase, etc.

It's also a talent to sing well, to sing consistently, to be able to channel inflection and emotion on command in a studio or on a stage.

There is more to being a pop star than the songwriting.

(Note I'm saying all this while still holding huge respect and value for the songwriters and producers themselves. I'm a total music fan.)

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Re:Hit songwriters ask pop stars to stop taking credit for s... by sorokod on Wednesday March 31, 2021 @04:29PM (#26652714)
But that was always the case. I have the (perhaps incorrect) impression that over time, pop performers perform someone else's materials more and more.
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Re:Hit songwriters ask pop stars to stop taking credit for s... by philmcc on Wednesday March 31, 2021 @05:13PM (#26653263)
It wasn't really always the case. If you scroll back, so to speak, a generation or so, the further and further you get, the less necessary it was to win the trifecta of being Attractive, A Dancer, and a Live Performer. Let alone songwriter. There's only so many people that are all 4 and you know all of them by name.

You could be VERY plain looking, and unable to dance at all, and chart in in 1965.

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Re:Hit songwriters ask pop stars to stop taking credit for s... by WalterBright on Wednesday March 31, 2021 @06:21PM (#26653870)
Fred Astaire's original audition allegedly was noted as: "can act, can sing, can dance a little."
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Re:Hit songwriters ask pop stars to stop taking credit for s... by hnick on Wednesday March 31, 2021 @08:04PM (#26654946)
Attraction followed from fame, rather than the other way around.
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Re:Hit songwriters ask pop stars to stop taking credit for s... by aspaceman on Wednesday March 31, 2021 @06:33PM (#26653991)
I would argue that it has waxed and waned. 50s most music was written by a composer. Have a songwriter behind a big name like Frank Sinatra. 60s has a surge of bands producing their own music in a smallish crew (Beatles, Beach Boys). But then arena rock was tightly controlled by the industry, but then Nirvana and grunge got big.
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Re:Hit songwriters ask pop stars to stop taking credit for s... by rhart92 on Thursday April 01, 2021 @05:57AM (#26658476)
That's a really interesting point. Do you think that pattern applies to other genres too?
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Re:Hit songwriters ask pop stars to stop taking credit for s... by alfiedotwtf on Thursday April 01, 2021 @01:31AM (#26656961)
Yep. And to go to the extreme like Milli Vanilli, when they’re performing they’re not even the one’s actually singing!
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