Who’s Writing, Who’s Not?

Filed under: Music Analysis — dpenn @ 10:42 am

Ever wonder if artists are writing their own material or using outside songwriters? Here’s a look at 10 of the highest ranking albums on the Billboard 200 for the week of 12/19/09 (excluding compilations, total cover albums and soundtracks).

#3: Taylor Swift
Fearless – Pop/Country

Total Album Writers: 6
Total Album Tracks: 3

Tracks composed solely by artist: 6 / 46%
Tracks composed by artist and collaborators: 7 / 54%
Tracks composed solely by outside writers: 0 / 0%
Total 13 / 100%

#5: Lady Gaga
The Fame – Pop

Total Album Writers: 8
Total Album Tracks: 13

Tracks composed solely by artist: 0 / 0%
Tracks composed by artist and collaborators: 13 / 100%
Tracks composed solely by outside writers: 0 / 0%
Total 13 / 100%

#6: Carrie Underwood
Play On – Country

Total Album Writers: 25
Total Album Tracks: 13

Tracks composed solely by artist: 0 / 0%
Tracks composed by artist and collaborators: 7 / 54%
Tracks composed solely by outside writers: 6 / 46%
Total 13 / 100%

#7: Norah Jones
The Fall – Jazz/Soul

Total Album Writers: 6
Total Album Tracks: 13

Tracks composed solely by artist: 8 / 62%
Tracks composed by artist and collaborators: 5 / 38%
Tracks composed solely by outside writers: 0 / 0%
Total 13 / 100%

#10: Michael Buble
Crazy Love – Standards/Pop

Total Album Writers: 23
Total Album Tracks: 13

Tracks composed solely by artist: 0 / 0%
Tracks composed by artist and collaborators: 2 / 15%
Tracks composed solely by outside writers: 11 / 85%
Total 13 / 100%

#12: Justin Bieber
My World (EP) – Pop/R&B

Total Album Writers: 18
Total Album Tracks: 9

Tracks composed solely by artist: 0 / 0%
Tracks composed by artist and collaborators: 3 / 33%
Tracks composed solely by outside writers: 6 / 67%
Total 9 / 100%

#13: Lady Gaga
The Fame Monster (EP) – Pop

Total Album Writers:
Total Album Tracks: 9
8
Tracks composed solely by artist: 0 / 0%
Tracks composed by artist and collaborators: 8 / 100%
Tracks composed solely by outside writers: 0 / 0%
Total 8 / 100%

#16: Rihanna
Rated R – R&B/Pop

Total Album Writers: 22
Total Album Tracks: 13

Tracks composed solely by artist: 0 / 0%
Tracks composed by artist and collaborators: 10 / 77%
Tracks composed solely by outside writers: 3 / 23%
Total 13 / 100%

#17: john Mayer
Battle Studies – Pop/Rock, Blues

Total Album Writers: 1
Total Album Tracks: 11

Tracks composed solely by artist: 11 / 100%
Tracks composed by artist and collaborators: 0 / 0%
Tracks composed solely by outside writers: 0 / 0%
Total 11 / 100%
*Note – 2 of the tracks were covers.

#18: Miley Cyrus
The Time Of Our Lives (EP) – Pop

Total Album Writers: 14
Total Album Tracks: 7

Tracks composed solely by artist: 0 / 0%
Tracks composed by artist and collaborators: 1 / 14%
Tracks composed solely by outside writers: 6 / 86%
Total 7 / 100%

Analysis:

• Out of 113 total tracks, 22% were composed exclusively by the band/artist, 50% by the band/artist in conjunction with outside songwriters, and 28% were composed exclusively by outside songwriters.
• There were a total of 132 writers used on 10 albums.
• Carrie Underwood used the most outside songwriters on her album (25), while John Mayer exclusively wrote all of his songs (with the exception of two covers).
• Only 3 out of the 10 artists had at least one track on an album that they exclusively wrote.
• Miley Cyrus had the least amount of input in her album, with 86% of the tracks being written exclusively by 14 outside songwriters.
• Excluding Michael Buble (who does quite a few covers), Miley Cyrus (86%), Justin Bieber (67%) and Carrie Underwood (46%) rely heavily on cuts exclusively from outside songwriters. This represents the Pop and Country markets.
• As for the artists who exclusively write their own songs, John Mayer led the pack at 100%, Norah Jones wrote 62% and Taylor Swift wrote 46% of her own songs.