Video summary
Rick Beato addresses a common misconception regarding modern pop music production, noting that while fans are often captivated by the public personas and behind-the-scenes content of artists on platforms like Instagram and TikTok, they frequently misunderstand the actual songwriting process. In many cases, the artist who performs a hit single is not necessarily its primary writer; instead, professional teams often craft lyrics and melodies based on an idea provided by the performer or select pre-written songs entirely for them to record. Beato contrasts this current landscape with the rock era of the 1980s, where bands like Bon Jovi and Kiss typically wrote their own material, though he acknowledges that co-writing has existed since the 1950s with artists like Madonna. He suggests that today's pop stars must also function as their own promotion departments, mastering social media to create viral moments essential for a song's success, citing Tate McCrae who utilizes YouTube and TikTok directly rather than relying solely on traditional record label machinery. The discussion shifts to the longevity of creative output, using The Beatles' breakup shortly after turning thirty as a pivotal example of potential age-related decline in creativity versus burnout from rapid production schedules. Beato points out that by 1970, John Lennon was nearly thirty and Paul McCartney twenty-eight when the band dissolved following an intense period where they released three albums within one year—*Rubber Soul*, *Help!*, and *Revolver*. He compares this frenetic pace to a rigorous workout routine; just as athletes lose their edge if they stop training for long periods, modern artists often struggle with songwriting after touring extensively because the road life prevents consistent creative work. Consequently, when bands return from tour, they must spend weeks re-acclimating before producing viable material, whereas The Beatles were so famous and confined to hotel rooms that they could write constantly without interruption. Beato further explores the mechanics of composition by distinguishing between "producer-driven" songs and those driven by artists or traditional songwriters. He defines producer-driven tracks as instances where producers like Max Martin and Dr. Luke compose both music and lyrics before an artist records them, a model prevalent in modern pop hits such as Kelly Clarkson's "Since You've Been Gone." This contrasts with the historical norm where musicians improvise melodies first and then fit lyrics to them, though he notes Elton John is a rare exception who often improvised his songs over Bernie Taupin's finished lyrics. In these traditional setups, the musician sits at an instrument like a piano or guitar to develop the song organically before recording, whereas producer-driven models involve bringing fully programmed tracks into sessions where artists simply sing over existing compositions. The transcript also details Beato's experience in Nashville during 2014, illustrating how modern country and pop production has evolved toward collaborative "track guy" sessions involving multiple writers from different publishing companies working simultaneously on a laptop-based track. In these environments, producers bring fully programmed drums, guitars, and banjos to facilitate rapid iteration where everyone contributes lines instantly, leading to the conclusion that almost all music currently heard on radio is producer-driven. This shift represents a significant departure from earlier eras where individual artistic vision was paramount, highlighting how industry structures have changed to prioritize efficiency and commercial viability over solitary creativity or band-based songwriting dynamics seen in groups like Coldplay or The Beatles.
Read the full video transcript
What do most people not understand about
the process of making a pop song now? I
think everybody's got this allure of of
music. It really is pop music is moving
into pop culture. It's crossing over.
People are seeing behind the scenes
Instagram stories, relationships,
tabloid journalism, whether it's from
Tik Tok or, you know, citizen
journalists or YouTube channels doing
reactions. But I think that the process
of getting to the stage of this song is
now live seems to have changed quite a
lot. So what is it that people don't
necessarily get about what that process
looks like now?
So I just made this video where I was
talking about the people that are behind
the scenes that help write the songs and
in many cases write the songs
and people have the impression that
because somebody sings a song that they
are the writer on it or if they have
co-writers that the co-writers are are a
minor part of this, right? But the but
in reality, most pop songwriters, not
all, but most, have very little to do
with their songs other than choosing
them. They might come in and say, "Okay,
I have an idea for a story of a song."
They'll describe it and then these
professional songwriters will help them
realize that idea or the people might
have the song completely done and they
come in.
hard to generalize, but does Taylor
Swift write her write all of her lyrics?
He probably writes most of her lyrics, I
would think. But um but typically
um it used to be that when when you
in the 1980s, rock bands, there would
there were very few people that were
songwriters that worked with artists.
Desmond Child was one. and he worked
with Bon Joy, worked with Kiss and he
would coowrite. He was a specialist that
would write with rock bands, but it was
very rare. Rock bands wrote their own
songs.
And
a lot of pop artists wrote their own
songs, but you know, Madonna always had
co-writers. This has been a thing since
the 1950s. People have had songwriters.
They've had co-writers.
The thing now about pop music is that
you have to be your own promotion
department. basically to be really
successful. So, you have to be you kind
of have to be an expert in social media.
And I see people that um
um
one of the people is Tate McCrae is a
huge pop star and she started on
YouTube. She knows how to make her own
videos for and she'll make
20 30 Tik Toks for a song for a single.
You can't beat that for advertising. And
and people that have that advantage,
they can just put up their phone and
they can lip-s sync, they do a dance,
they can cut the stuff themselves on
their phone and upload it. And you're a
big pop star. If you can do that, that's
a tremendous advantage. And it this is
how songs become hits because
if you don't have a viral moment with a
song that's you know the the days of the
record labels creating your career are
pretty much over. Yes, they can help but
um but it's very difficult if you don't
have something that's on TikTok blowing
up to uh to have a successful single. Is
there a problem with so many songwriters
contributing to the end product? Is
there an issue with that? I I get the
sense that maybe some people when the
veil gets revealed and they understand
how the sausage is made go hang on 15
people wrote this coalplay song, it's
vocals and the guitar and program drums.
How? Why? What were the There's Chris
Martin, then there's the other one. I
think there's two more. Who the [ __ ] who
are these 11 people in the room with
them? Well, I always wonder that, too.
Like, who are these people? Cold Play,
the first to me, the first two Cold Play
records are great records. Really, the
second record to me is an absolutely
brilliant record. Um, as people get
older,
I've made videos about this that uh that
once people hit 30 or so artists
Mhm.
they begin to um
lose the spark, if you will. The Beatles
broke up the year that Lenin and uh
Ringo turned 30. Otherwise, Paul
McCartney was 28 when they broke up.
George Harrison was 27. These guys were
young guys. They did 12 albums over the
course of eight years. Uh, some of the
most important songs ever written. And
they were they weren't even 30. They
literally broke up. Lennon turned 30 on
November 9th, 1970. They were already
broken up by then. How much do you think
that's due to the fact that they were 30
and how much of that do you think is due
to the fact that they released 12 albums
in the space of 8 years? Because it
seems to me that the pace of release, I
know you've talked about this, is now
slower. Y
that people are producing an album every
18 months, something like that. Maybe if
you're cranking, right? and then to run
it once, twice, come back, run it, run
it again. Um, well, that would, you
know, extend that you're talking about a
20 year career off the back of the same
pacing. So, how much of it do you think
is, I don't know, some sort of wall that
creatives hit at 30 and how much of it
is I've just exhausted my my juice? I
think I think it's both those things.
So, one of the things if you think about
writing songs is like working out,
right? So, the Beatles in 1965,
they released the the record Rubber Soul
on August 6th, 1965. Then on December
3rd, they released or they released
Help, I'm sorry. And then they released
Rubber Soul on December 3rd, and they
released Revolver on August 5th. So, in
364 days, they released three 14 song
albums.
So, they wrote, recorded, and released.
Yeah. and they toured three records in
one calendar year. That's insane. But
and and they had so many hit songs on
it. But that's like working out, you
know? It's the more you work out.
Whereas nowadays, if you go most bands
now, they do a record, they go out and
tour for 18 months, they tour for two
years, whatever, then then it's you're
kind of out of shape writing because
when you're on the road, most people
don't like to write on the road. So what
do you have to do? You come back, you
put down a bunch of ideas and h those
aren't very good. That's the the
starting to get back in shape again. You
know, it takes a couple weeks to
How did the Beatles do it?
The Beatles were just they well, first
of all, they were so famous that they
couldn't do anything else. They were
stuck in hotel rooms a lot, I guess. Um,
and they had incredible competition
between Linen McCartney and George
Harrison to to to write better and
better songs. Plus, they were
competitive with bands like the Beach
Boys as well. But, um,
that
Beatles are kind of a unique
Yeah, I it's it's like I don't know,
talking about Usain Bolt's ability to
run fast or something. Uh, so just
explain
how would you identify or categorize the
difference between a producer driven
song and an artist driven song? Is is
there such a thing or does it just is it
just meritocracy and whatever sounds
best at the end of the day is is what
matters.
Producerdriven songs are songs like um
would be something like Since You've
Been Gone by Kelly Clarkson. That was
Max Martin and Dr. Luke wrote this song.
They recorded they wrote the song. They
wrote the lyrics. They recorded
everything. She came in and sang it. And
that's a producer driven song. uh
literally written by the two guys that
produced it, including the lyrics. So,
um most music nowadays or a lot of music
is producer driven, whereas um people
come up with a track, whether it's
country music, whether it's uh pop
music,
even rock music, there's some bed track
first. Now to be fair, historically
almost every songwriter writes the music
first. They sing a melody and then they
write lyrics to the melody. Elton John
being the exception. Bernie Toppen was
Elton's lyricist. They co-wrote the
stuff. Bernie would finish the lyrics,
give them to Elton. Elton would sit at
the piano, improvise the song, sing it,
re record it on a half inch or on a DAT,
and then uh and then they would cut the
song. He would basically improvise it to
the lyrics he had. I mean, this is very
rare. I think in the Beatles catalog,
from what I know, there was one song
across the universe where John Lennon
had the lyrics first. So So
I mean, it's like the juice world of the
pop
Yeah.
era.
Yeah. So this is this is when when I
went to Nashville to do some
songwriting, I told you I had a a I had
one number one song, the only country
song I ever wrote. But then I I went to
Nashville and I they if you have a
number one song they put you in with all
the A-list songwriters. So I went there
and I uh in for probably three months in
2014 and I wrote with all the top
songwriters in Nashville. So the first
session I went in and it was always
three people and I was like why is it
three people? Well that's the way that
we do it here. And I was like why? Well
because we want to involve you know at
the time as many publishing companies as
possible different publishing companies.
So I was signed to Sony ATV. There was a
guy from there would be a writer from
Warner Chapel or maybe two writers from
Warner Chapel. And you get in a room. I
was a track guy. So I came in with my
laptop and I would have five tracks that
I programmed drums. I played guitar. I
played banjo. I played whatever on and I
had a full track. What do you think of
this? Oh, that's interesting. Um, what
else you got? Play the next song. Oh, I
like that. I think I might have a chorus
line. Everybody opens their lap laptops.
What do you think of this? And then
they're looking through typing through.
Oh, I got this line from someone else.
And then they would have to be included
in on the songwriting too or whatever.
So that would be
uh that was in Nashville and but
at that time period that's when track
guys started. The track guys are
basically the producers that would come
in and and um
uh that would be a producer driven song.
And almost everything you hear on
country radio now is producer Trevet. In
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