I don't understand all the hate.<p>Okay I get we don't have a lot of backstreet boy or Britney fans here (not one either) & I get the whole "pop music sounds the same lament, but at the same time, there's a market for it & he's excelled at creating something that sells that.<p>Just because it's pop music doesn't mean you can't give the guy credit for understanding his market & dominating his field.
"Every major pop song" seems like a bit of an overstatement. He's clearly very good at finding the sound that sells - but there are many successful songs (even just in the genre of "pop") not written by him...
Interesting to see similarities in musical preferences & identifying common threads that lead to popularity. This video / song [1] was viral a few years ago because it demonstrated the similarities between major popular songs spanning multiple decades through the use of just four chords..<p>[1] <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pidokakU4I" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pidokakU4I</a>
I wonder why people find this surprising. This is how pop music has always been done and it even used to be more in the open. Bands/singers didn't have to get people to (ghost)write songs/lyrics for them - they used to just be performers.<p>Many of the important names are on this list: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inductees_of_the_Songwriters_Hall_of_Fame" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inductees_of_the_Songwriters_Ha...</a> and a really obvious example is a guy like Paul Williams <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Williams_(songwriter)" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Williams_(songwriter)</a> who made The Carpenters and Three Dog Night famous.
On HN of all places we should value the creative process. I think we should do so even when we don't agree with the content, as long as there are no ethical/legal issues. The title is plain silly, of course. There are many other talented songwriters and producers out there - Babyface is one, I'm sure there are others.<p>Songwriters and producers don't get their due though (unless they also sing). Back in the day, I used to read CD liner notes to get to know the producers behind the songs I liked. But I always paid more attention to producers than songwriters: for some songs it's hard to know which one out of the five listed songwriters was the real creative force; songs with samples will often have lots of unrecognizable names; and I've always valued producers as being more critical to a song's success than songwriters.
Reminds me of the Monkees. In the early days, the studio hired the best songwriters to write the tunes for them. After a while, the Monkees rebelled and insisted they could write their own songs.<p>And the Monkees pretty much ceased to exist.<p>Pretty much the same story for David Cassidy.
When someone close to me had kids, I came close to loading up an iPod with <i>all</i> of Weird Al's music, so that they would hear <i>his</i> versions first, and they would think that he was the <i>prime musical force of the past 30 years.</i> I didn't follow through, though I regret that sometimes.
Many of us on Hacker News dislike pop music. And there are good reasons to do so, but its popularity alone should not be one. I like to remind myself some of the greatest music in the world was once pop music. For example, J. S. Bach used to perform at the Café Zimmerman in Leipzig[1]. Could you imagine going into a coffeehouse and listening to Bach playing a Teleman concerto? Or a flute concerto of his own?<p>Now, I'm not saying that the Backstreet Boys have the musical genius of Bach. But neither should you discard their music because it is popular and overplayed. Would the world be better off had they never sung?<p>"The [Café Zimmerman] was destroyed during an air raid on Leipzig in December 1943." [1] I would have loved to stand inside it.<p>[1] <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Café_Zimmermann" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Café_Zimmermann</a>
Does anyone know what's the equivelent in rap? Can I assume most mainstream rappers(Kanye, Wiz, 50 Cent etc.) heavily contribute to their own lyrics? I'm particularly curious about Eminem.
That is a gross, absurd exaggeration.<p>He has a few classic pop songs, no doubt, and clearly a very lucrative career writing and producing tracks for A-list pop stars. But in the last 10 years I'm not sure he's written <i>any</i> of what I'd call the best pop hits. Looking through his discography on wikipedia I suspect there's some of those songs I know by melody and not by name, but I think he's long past his songwriter peak. And obviously there's dozens off great pop songs that he didn't write (which were smash hits).<p>edit: I missed all the Katy Perry ones, so I guess maybe he's still got it. But still, I don't see any work with Rihanna, who is probably the biggest pop star of the last decade.
I have always been a fan of trashy pop (too busy still listening to "As Long as You Love Me" 10 years later to have any shame). I remember when I was 13 and used to read all the pocket leaflets from audio tapes I would buy. And reading the entirety of the fine print/credits for all my favourite songs after I'd memorized the lyrics (backwards too).<p>I remember coming across Max Martin and Denniz Pop prominently figuring in just about every single one of my favourite songs. I would be amazed to find a song I liked that didn't mention at least Max Martin. I was amused to find this consistent across BSB, NSync and Britney Spears (and I didn't like very many of her songs). I always thought to myself "This man, whoever he is, whatever he does, is a genius, because he seems to be the only real common factor across all my favourite trashy pop songs. Why isn't he the most important man in pop music?"<p>I got over my obsession over the backgrounds of pop musicians shortly. But I still find my favourite songs (within my understandably terrible taste according to those with a finer appreciation for the arts) to often be Max Martin produced.<p>He deserves a lot of respect and credit for not only dominating his field and picking the right talent to work with, but moreso for keeping up with the trends and times (or defining them?), entertaining teenagers and youngsters for multiple generations even as he grew older. That is definitely no easy feat, in music, movies, social media (hi Facebook) or any other industry.<p>As a game designer, I hope I can develop that talent to cater to the most important demographics in my industry even as I outgrow it.
It's extremely difficult to write a great melody, much less produce a great song. While I don't often listen to his tracks for "fun", I have to give him that he's a great songwriter.<p>Same with Diane Warren.
I'm an elitist when it comes to music, but I admitted to myself that Taylor Swift's I Knew You Were Trouble and a couple Backstreet Boys' songs are catchy, well-composed tunes. Good melodies are good melodies. But I'm glad I don't have to credit Taylor Swift anymore :p<p>A lot of these songs have much more musical merit than a lot of pretentious indie songs, which tend to be repetitive and lacking in melody. Contrary to unpopular belief (by the "hip" minority), you're not necessarily unsophisticated if you enjoy a wildly popular band like Coldplay.
I have a lot of respect for someone who can earn that much money with honest work. And those were mostly good songs, well written and arranged, and very suited to the singer, except for 22 which sucks.
What I think is interesting is what it may mean for both web and mobile apps.<p>Is there a particular holy grail magical formula for mobile and web apps that produces more hits than losers?
I used to be very fascinated by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stock_Aitken_Waterman" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stock_Aitken_Waterman</a> a group that produced many of 80's pop hits and didn't think that there would be a "more modern" equivalent that could stand up to them.
"Virtually Every"?<p>He doesn't even compare to someone like Kara DioGuardi let alone "writing virtually every major pop song" <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kara_DioGuardi#Professional_songwriter" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kara_DioGuardi#Professional_son...</a>
I clearly don't share the musical taste of most developers - I love most of the music he has written. I'm probably not the target demographic (more like the target's dad) but I still love pop music as much as I did when I was a teenager in love with Agnetha Faltskog.
Great NYer profile of another pop hit lyricist & production team:<p><a href="http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/03/26/120326fa_fact_seabrook" rel="nofollow">http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/03/26/120326fa_fact_...</a>
Not surprised by the other bands from the list, but Bon Jovi? That was very surprising to me. I always thought he had fairly original songs. It's not like they've only done one or two known albums and disappeared.