A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. A songwriter who mainly writes the lyrics for a song is referred to as a lyricist. The pressure from the music industry to produce popular hits means that song writing is often an activity for which the tasks are distributed among a number of people. For example, a songwriter who excels at writing lyrics might be paired with a songwriter with the task of creating original melodies. Pop songs may be composed by group members from the band or by staff writers – songwriters directly employed by music publishers. Some songwriters serve as their own music publishers, while others have external publishers.
Mandy Kane is a singer, songwriter, producer and remixer. He is best known for his single "Stab" which peaked at number 18 on the ARIA charts in 2004.
David Sneddon is a Scottish singer, songwriter, musician and music producer of contemporary pop music. He began his career performing on stage and television, singing lead roles in stage musicals in Glasgow. In 2002, he won the first series of BBC One music competition Fame Academy. He released his first single "Stop Living the Lie" in 2003 which was a UK number one hit single selling over 250,000 copies, making it Britain's twelfth-highest selling single of 2003. Sneddon's debut album Seven Years – Ten Weeks was released in April 2003 and reached number 5 in the UK Albums Chart. He achieved three more UK Singles Chart singles – "Don't Let Go", "Best of Order", and "Baby Get Higher". His song "Baby Get Higher" was a hit on the dance floor for Almighty Records and a chart hit for VanVelzen in 2006, and also for Emin Agalarov.
Artists and repertoire is the division of a record label or music publishing company that is responsible for scouting, financing and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists and songwriters. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label or publishing company. Every activity involving artists to the point of album release is generally considered under the purview and responsibility of A&R.
A demo is a song or group of songs typically recorded for limited circulation or for reference use, rather than for general public release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas in a fixed format, such as cassette tape, compact disc, or digital audio files, and to thereby pass along those ideas to record labels, producers, or other artists.
Derek Andrew Safo, better known by his stage name Sway or Sway DaSafo, is a British rapper of Ghanaian descent. He is also a producer, having established Dcypha Productions, signed to Island/Universal. Safo's 2008 track "Black Stars" gave appreciation to popular Ghanaians across the diaspora. Sway's first big track, "On My Own" was released under the name Sway DaSafo.
William Wylie MacPherson, known professionally as Bill Martin, was a Scottish songwriter, music publisher and impresario. His most successful songs, all written with Phil Coulter, included "Puppet on a String", "Congratulations", "Back Home", and "Saturday Night". He was presented with three Ivor Novello Awards, including one as Songwriter of the Year.
James Douglas Vallance is a Canadian songwriter, arranger and producer. He is best known as the songwriting partner of Canadian musician Bryan Adams. Vallance began his professional career as the original drummer and main songwriter for Canadian rock band Prism under the pseudonym "Rodney Higgs." In addition to Adams, Vallance has written songs for many famous international artists such as Bonnie Raitt, Aerosmith, Carly Simon, Rod Stewart, Roger Daltrey, Tina Turner, Alice Cooper, Ozzy Osbourne, Ted Nugent, Europe, Kiss, Scorpions, Anne Murray, and Joe Cocker. His most recognizable songs are "What About Love" (Heart), "Spaceship Superstar" (Prism), "Run to You", "Cuts Like a Knife", "Heaven", "Summer of '69", "Now and Forever ", and "Edge of a Dream". He also co-wrote "Tears Are Not Enough" for Northern Lights for Africa, an ensemble of Canadian recording artists in support of the 1985 African famine relief. He has won the Canadian music industry Juno award for Composer of the Year four times. Vallance is a Member of the Order of Canada.
Hayley Michelle Aitken is an Australian pop singer-songwriter and record producer who also performs mononymously as Hayley. She had a top 40 hit on the ARIA Singles Chart with her second single, "Kiss Me Quick". Aitken has worked as a songwriter or producer for other artists, and is a prolific producer for many K-pop artists.
Raghav Mathur, known professionally as Raghav, is a Canadian singer. He has released three studio albums: the debut Storyteller in 2004, Identity in 2009, and The Phoenix in 2012. His most known commercial success was with "Angel Eyes" which peaked at number 7 in the UK in 2005. His singles "So Confused", "Can't Get Enough" and "It Can't Be Right" also reached the UK top ten in 2004. Raghav continued to have success on Canadian charts in 2010s with subsequent hits like "So Much" with Kardinal Offishall, "Fire", "Top of the World", "Woohoo" and "Until the Sun Comes Up" (featuring Indian actor Abhishek Bachchan and US artist Nelly. In an interview with Calgary Herald in 2017, Raghav says his upbringing in Calgary plays a crucial role in his musical development.
Keith Eric Martin was an American R&B singer-songwriter and record producer. He was best known for writing and singing romantic love songs.
Fame Games Radio is a music discovery radio program produced by Meer Music International (MMI) for Envision Radio Network in association with Dial Global Radio Network, since February 2010.
Karl Johan Schuster, known professionally as Shellback, is a Swedish record producer and songwriter. He was listed as the No. 1 producer of 2012 on Billboard magazine's year end chart, and he also topped the list of their "Top 10 Songwriters Airplay Chart" the same year; he has won four Grammy Awards.
Haras Fyre is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. After writing songs for Sister Sledge and Ben E. King early in his career in a songwriting duo with his girlfriend Gwen Guthrie, Fyre spent some time in the backing band for The Drifters, before relocating to Switzerland to become a composer of music for corporate events.
Katrina Carlson is an American singer-songwriter. She currently resides in Santa Monica, California with her husband, Kenneth A. Carlson, and her three children, Mackenzie, Alexander and Ruby Rose.
Andrew Lane is a pop-hip hop-R&B record producer and songwriter. He was born in San Diego, California.
Laney Stewart is an American songwriter, music producer, musician, music publisher, music executive, manager and youth mentor. He has written, produced and published hits for some of the biggest names in R&B, hip hop and pop music over the past three decades.
"Forgiveness" is a single from Tottenham-born rapper Wretch 32 that appears on his second album Black and White and features vocals from British and Odd Child Recordings-signed singer Etta Bond. The lyrical content on the song follows Wretch asking forgiveness of those around him as he attempts to pursue his dream – including his son. Cited as his favourite track from the album, the song was selected as the fourth single to see release in the United Kingdom and was released as a digital download on 11 December 2011. The track was edited for the official release, removing the first minute of the track in which producer Labrinth sings his version of the chorus.
Music Connection is a United States–based monthly music trade magazine that began publication in 1977. The magazine caters to career-minded musicians, songwriters, recording artists, and assorted music industry supporting personnel. Initially, the magazine focused solely on the Southern California music scene, but has since expanded to a national distribution. The publication and its website provide information about the music business, including directories of contact information for professionals and free classifieds for musicians. Music Connection also publishes reviews of unsigned and independent live performers and recording artists. Several acclaimed artists achieved their first music magazine cover status from Music Connection including Guns N' Roses, Madonna, Jane's Addiction, Alanis Morissette, The White Stripes, and Adele.
Philip Martin Lawrence II is an American songwriter, record producer, entrepreneur and voice actor, best known for his work with the songwriting and production team The Smeezingtons, alongside Bruno Mars and Ari Levine. He has won eight Grammy Awards for his work. Lawrence's latest recording project, 24K Magic, won at the Grammys in the categories Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best R&B Song, Best R&B Album, and Best R&B Performance. Lawrence is co-writer and co-producer on the majority of the songs released under these ventures. He also sings vocal with The Hooligans band who tours with Mars. He is also a voice actor, as he is the current voice of Sebastian since 2007, replacing Samuel E. Wright.
