Where Does the Music Come From? Songwriters.

I thought I would have some more time before I had to resume my quest for getting some credit for songwriters on The Voice – but I see news tidbits that they are back in production, so here we go.  

For those new to the quest: back in May, I posted about the surprising tendency of some of the music professionals on The Voice to elide the creation of a song with the performance of a song.  (That first post is here: http://bit.ly/1cV7ugE.) I was obliged to revisit the topic in June, when music legends Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton were ignored in extensive conversations about their songs Crazy and I Will Always Love You, with credit (and seeming ownership) given over entirely to artists who had recorded their songs. (That second post is here: http://bit.ly/11ObUyr.)

In the intervening weeks, I’ve connected with a few people in the music business, and acquainted myself with some of the other issues affecting the music field.  A June speech from songwriter Paul Williams (president of ASCAP) made me aware of the copyright challenges that affect all artists/creators, from independents on YouTube to behemoths like Disney.  And there have been more than a few news stories on the apparently woefully low payment rate to songwriters by the online streaming music service Spotify.  

But while both of those aspects are important, they are the music equivalent of inside-baseball stories.  What I’m talking about is music literacy, not dumbing down the music-buying public – and at the very least, not misleading them about who the creators are behind the music they love. In our digital age, somehow the names of songwriters have become detached from their creations, and if you don’t have a CD in hand, it takes a little digging to find out the songwriters responsible for that new song you can’t get out of your head. 

I’ve singled out The Voice because of the way they approach the latter half of their season, when the coaches start working with the artists, speaking to them (and to the camera, thus directly to the audience) about song selection. It’s in these segments where I noticed the disconcerting tendency to incorrectly attribute songs – sometimes hilariously so in Blake Shelton’s case. But the show does edit together interesting and engaging behind-the-scenes footage and at some point they give the Twitter name for the artist via a Chyron in the lower right corner of the screen.  What I’m suggesting to the producers is that in these rehearsal sequences, they also put up a Chyron with the title of the song and the names of the songwriters.  Wouldn’t that be something?  

The other reason I’ve singled out The Voice, frankly, is that it’s a ratings juggernaut for NBC; the show is consistently at the top throughout their season, and at Number One in the later weeks.  The opportunity to have the names of the songwriters appear on the screens of some 20 million + viewers all at the same time fills me with a ridiculous kind of joy. 

A bit of personal testimony: I’ve been working for some time on an historical novel, much of which is set in the 1920s.  As part of my early research, I contacted the lovely folks at the Billboard Charts Department who sent me the Top 10 (or 12 or 14) lists for that decade (the hit counts varied back then). I was surprised when scanning the pages how many songs I knew; I think anyone who has an appreciation for the Great American Songbook would have a similar experience. But I recognized only a handful of singers, and those were the titans whose work crossed the decades: Fanny Brice, Al Jolson, Bessie Smith, and Eddie Cantor. But the songs endure: St. Louis Blues (W. C. Handy) from 1920, My Man (music by Maurice Yvain, English lyrics by Channing Pollock) from 1922, California, Here I Come (Buddy DeSylva and Joseph Meyer) from 1924, Tea for Two (Vincent Youmans and Irving Caesar) from 1925, Always (Irving Berlin) from 1926, Ol’ Man River (Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II) from 1928, Am I Blue? (Harry Akst and Grant Clarke) from 1929, and many, many others.

The last part of my personal testimony: the illustration that appears above is a WordCloud made from a mostly off-the-top of my head list of songwriters whose work I’ve loved–some of my personal favorites, I guess you could say, although I'm sure I'll realize I've left out a name or two. Chances are, if you were born after 1985 or so, many if not most of these names will be unfamiliar to you, which proves my point in a way.  I may have to do a WordCloud of some of their song titles next.

Jeanne McCafferty is an editor, writer and book designer.  You can see samples of her work and learn how to contact her at www.jeannemccafferty.com. 
She is on Twitter @IrishCabrini.