16 MusicWeek 22.06.12 BUSINESSANALYSIS EUSONGWRITERS
Carl Falk you need to travel,” he says. “With your publisher, of course, you have to know which people are in the Shakira or Roc Nation camp or who is involved with Dr Luke. For an artist like Pink, for example, a publisher needs to get their songwriters to Los Angeles to write with her or with other songwriters who might already have a couple of tracks on her album. You can’t just depend on being in Stockholm or London or wherever and write great songs and hope they will be discovered.” In the case of Stargate, Blacksmith says the pair
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT Brits abroad: Songwriters Adele Adkins, Steve Mac, Fraser T Smith and Wayne Hector
relocated to the States because they wanted to prove themselves in the biggest music market in the world, having already been very successful across Europe penning hits for acts such as Blue and S Club 7. “[The US] is the biggest place for music right
Rihanna, Katy Perry and Ne-Yo. Pre-dating even Stargate in the States was
Stockholm-based Cheiron Studios whose writers included Max Martin, Rami Yacoub and the late Denniz Pop and who were behind Nineties hits for acts such as Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys and ‘N Sync. As Syco managing director Sonny Takhar notes:
“Some of the writers who came through Cheiron like Rami are the guys still having hits today. They really set the tone for European songwriters and producers having major success with American artists in America. They paved the way for the current crop of songwriters.” Following on the heels of Cheiron, the Stargate
duo of Tor Erik Hermansen and Mikkel Eriksen have been at the forefront of what has been a significant shift both musically in the States as well as a change in how many Hot 100 hits are now created. As the US mainstream has gone more pop and dance, including on recordings by urban artists, the more the American industry has looked towards Europe, which particularly excels in these genres. At the same time it has become increasingly common for “committees” of songwriters and producers to be
behind the biggest hits, rather than one or two individuals. These “committees” are often built around established production teams such as Stargate, but they may also involve other writers who are pooled from across the globe and will each contribute a particular skill. To meet this demand, Thomas Scherer, who is
in charge of international repertoire coordination at BMG Rights, says more and more songwriters are travelling the world to work rather than just staying in their home territory. Most commonly, this songwriting migration is occurring between Europe and the US. “If you want to make something happen in the
States with the songwriter guys we have like [One Direction hit What Makes You Beautiful co-writer]
“Some of the writers who came through Cheiron like Rami [Yacoub] are the guys still having hits today. They really set the tone for European songwriters and producers having major success with American artists in America. They paved the way for the current crop of songwriters” SONNY TAKHAR, SYCO
now and some of the most incredible artists in the world are here,” he notes. “It’s like being a top class footballer who’s played most of his life in the Premiership and he wants to try his hand in La Liga and he wants to go up against some of the best players in the world. You’ve got to keep challenging yourself.” As a co-writer of two Hot 100 hits in Break
Your Heart with Taio Cruz and Set Fire To The Rain with Adele, Fraser T Smith is a good example of a writer who has benefited from how the US music scene has developed in recent years. He has found US attitudes changing both towards his own music and how US executives regard European musicians and writers and what they can do. “There’s always been a great respect for pan-
European writers, but 10 years ago when the US dominated the R&B and hip-hop scene I found it difficult to do anything because a lot of executives over there were very closed to UK writers,” says the Sony/ATV-signed writer and producer. Even when it came to his work with Taio Cruz
– now one of the biggest-selling digital artists of all time in the States with Dynamite alone having been downloaded around 6 million times there – Smith found US attitudes initially were cold. “I remember Sarah (Smith’s wife and manager] had a meeting and played an executive Break Your
A PERFECT TIME FOR POP AMERICA’S CHANGING MUSIC TRENDS OFFER OPPORTUNITIES
FOR UK AND EUROPEAN songwriters and producers targeting the States the musical environment there right now both on radio and in the download charts is perfect for them. However, that was not always the case. As
Darah Music managing director David Howells recalls, around two decades ago US labels and radio stations completely turned their back on pop. But as there was still a demand for it from
Max Martin
the public an opportunity opened up for European writers, including Cheiron Studios writers such as Swede Max Martin who helped to kick-start a European writing and production revolution when he penned Britney Spears’ iconic breakthrough hit Baby One More Time and continues to be a leading force, often in collaboration with US writer and producer Dr Luke. And in 2012 pop in the States is in vogue once more. “People are back to great pop songs,” says Howells whose clients include Steve Mac, co-
writer of The Wanted’s US smash Glad You Came. “You listen to a Katy Perry track or Adele or Bruno Mars. There’s a whole bunch of people making fabulous pop songs, coupled with amazing vocal talent and production values. If you put it together right and you deliver an album full of hits the album sells.” Another factor in this new European
songwriting invasion is what BMG Rights’ Thomas Scherer notes has been the rise of urban as effectively the new pop music in the US. However, the immediate result of this shift was less focus on the melody and lyric and hits becoming more track-driven. This created yet another opening for UK and European writers as someone was needed to add the melody to the beats. “European songwriters have a lot of skills
when it comes to the melody,” Scherer suggests. “In Stockholm they craft the songs. They work on one song maybe three months and try to find the essence of it. It’s the same
with Steve Mac and Wayne Hector who is tremendous when it comes to finding the right melody.” “There’s nowhere better for melodies than
Stockholm. There’s something in the water there,” adds Syco managing director Sonny Takhar. “We’ve always made records in Sweden, dating back to the early Cheiron days with artists like Five.” For Carl Falk and his fellow Swedish
songwriters the resurgence of pop music and focus again on melody in the US has suited their talents perfectly. “We like good melodies and today it’s
easier to write a solid, genuinely good song without drowning it in a big production. It’s all about the song today,” says Falk who penned three tracks on Syco act One Direction’s Billboard 200 chart-topper Up All Night with fellow Swede Rami Yacoub and Swedish- based US writer Savan Kotecha. Another big help for European writers has been the breakthrough of dance music onto
www.musicweek.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60