Songwriter
A
songwriter is someone who writes the
lyrics to songs, the
musical composition or
melody to songs, or both. That is to say, a songwriter is a
lyricist, a
composer, or both. The word 'songwriter' is however more commonly used to describe one who writes
popular songs than to describe a writer of
art songs.
Songwriters may perform the songs they write themselves, or may write for somebody else to perform. People who sing their own songs are nowadays typically called
singer-songwriters, although the tradition of doing this dates back hundreds of years. It is often speculated that pre-historic man must have made up and sung songs. More recently, the
troubadours of the
Middle Ages sang their own work, as did the German
Minnesingers.
Most art songwriting is written for somebody other than the composer to perform, although it is known that
Franz Schubert often sang his own songs at private parties, and there have been a number of composers who were also singers and wrote for themselves,
Carl Loewe being one example.
Many modern
rock and roll bands have one or two songwriters, usually members of the band. In many cases, the
lead singer is one of the songwriters.
There have been quite a few popular songwriting teams such as the
Tamla Motown team of
Brian Holland,
Lamont Dozier and
Eddie Holland and the teams of Leiber and Stoller,
Lennon and McCartney,
Morrissey and
Johnny Marr,
Elton John and
Bernie Taupin,
Alan Jay Lerner and
Frederick Loewe,
George and Ira Gershwin,
Jagger and Richards,
Roger Cook and
Roger Greenaway,
Guy Fletcher and
Doug Flett,
Geoff Stephens and
Tony Macaulay,
Rodgers and Hart,
The Bee Gees,
the Jackson brothers,
Albert Hammond and
Mike Hazlewood,
Joe Strummer and
Mick Jones,
Ashford & Simpson, and
Robert Plant and
Jimmy Page.
Many songwriters also serve as their own
music publishers, while others have outside publishers. Songs in
country music are often written by
staff writers; songwriters directly employed by music publishers. Legally, songs may only be copied or performed publicly by permission of the authors. The legal power to grant these permissions may be bought, sold or otherwise transferred. This is governed by
copyright law. Songwriting and publishing
royalties can be a substantial source of income, particularly if a song becomes a
hit record.
Songwriters in the popular music genre often also work as
record producers, commonly using the professional title
Producer-songwriter.
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List of songwriters*
Songwriters Hall of Fame*
Singer-songwriter*
WikiBooks The open-content textbooks collection: Music.
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Blogging Muses Songwriting Blog for Songwriters.
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Songwriters Guild of America*
Searching song copyright holder information on US Copyright office website*
Popular Songwriters*
UK Songwriting Festival*
Song writing tips and ideas*
The Songwriting Hub Be inspired! Free ebooks, articles, tips, and news for songwriters.
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SongQuarters Song pitching and publishing for songwriters
Simple:Songwriter
