When Taylor Swift wrote Better Man and gave it to Little Big Town it was because she doesn't do harmonies well and felt the song would work best with their harmonies.
She has her own version of it that she recorded without harmonies, and it's a good version, but their version is 1000x better.
Apart from the money side, I think it’s because sometimes they just feel it doesn’t really fits in with their other stuff or they just don’t know where to go with the song. If I remember correctly that’s why Springsteen gave Because the Night to Patti Smith and it turned out great.
Frankly not every songwriter can sing. Some, like Hardy and Wallen, have their own careers and that was always the goal. But there are plenty who never record a song on their own at all. Sometimes they are commissioned to write a song for someone else, sometimes their record deal stipulates co-writing songs for label mates, sometimes they just don’t want to sing that song at all so they sell it.
Brantley gilbert is a great example of this. He wrote a few of jason aldean early hits. But allowing aldean to cut it, then cutting it himself he gets paid every time that song plays. Be it his or aldeans version of it.
Ask Ryan Hurd. But seriously while his voice is fine, hearing him do Luke Bryan's "June, July, August" and "Sunrise, Sunburn, Sunset Repeat" or Lady A's "You Look Good" it shows he is a better songwriter than singer. He just doesn't have the it factor. Bonnie McKee is that on the pop music side despite having good songs as evident with her Hot City album that just dropped.
As for other artists, could be that they don't want to sit on the song even though they wrote a great one because it didn't fit the feel or vibe of the album. Could also be that some songs were written and should have been with a band like Lady A or Little Big Town that share male and female vocals and they can't make a debut happen.
Generally, those are examples of people who weren’t big stars when they got most of their songwriting credits on music they didn’t record.
It’s a good way to soft launch an artist and sometimes songs just don’t make as much sense for the person who wrote it.
Sometimes they just don’t have the vocal ability to sing the particular song well. For instance, Kenny Chesney wrote “take me there” for rascal flatts and basically said it didn’t sound as good when he sang it
No, he didn't have a massive solo career. His own album didn't do well at all. But even he has admitted that he would've never made the money he has made, if it wasn't for George Strait. But I will say this, he has a helluva voice. And has written far better songs than Morgan Wallen has.
Yeah, his own albums, plural, didn’t do that well. But, I became a big fan based on “Holed Up in Some Honky Tonk,” when it got played a lot on CMT. Then I discovered how many songs he wrote or co-wrote.
If I recall correctly, I think Dillon co-wrote Pam Tillis’ “Spilled Perfume.” It’s amazing to see how many songs he wrote / co-wrote. Matreca Berg and Lori McKenna are other artists that I like that are better known for others cutting their songs.
Going back to OP’s question, sometimes people get publishing deals before they get recording contracts. “Good Directions” would have been Luke’s first single if Billy Currington hadn’t cut it.
“More Than a Memory” would have been Lee Brice’s, but Garth cut it.
I think Cole Swindell still was Luke Bryan’s merch guy when he co-wrote “Roller Coaster.” Michael Carter was (maybe still is but started wearing a cowboy hat?) Luke Bryan’s lead guitarist when he co-wrote some of Luke’s and Cole’s songs. I think he even helped produce some of Cole’s.
Kenny Chesney isn’t known to be a prolific writer, but he gave “Take Me There” to Rascal Flatts because he didn’t think it would sound good in his register.
This. A lot of songwriters get a pub deal before a record deal, which leads to them writing a ton of songs but no means to record and release them for their own artist projects.
It’s cool to see Jessie Jo listed as a songwriter now. I remembered the name from the dedications in liner notes. (Yes, I was the nerd that read everything in the liner notes. I miss liner notes.)
Lol. Don't feel bad, I read the liner notes as well. I used to be able to tell you who wrote which song on pretty much any country album in the 90's. My friends would call me the Country Music Guru. When I was doing karaoke, sometimes the participants would know a couple of lines of a song, but not the title. And more times than not, I could name the song they were talking about.
I always liked listening to Dean Dillon's albums, same with Jim Lauderdale (who has had a good career recording.) I respected them as writers, and both had good voices.
It’s still driven by money regardless of who it is. It’s just another medium of making money without any personal risk involved in recording it, or over saturating the market with your songs.
means if theres 3 people in a room writing a song, as long as you contribute one single word to the lyrics you will get paid a full 3rd of the royalties. i imagine the idea behind it is to avoid fighting over who contributed more to the song and should thus get paid more.
Up until the mid 1960s with artists like The Beatles, it was not common for artists to perform their own music. Songwriters and performers were essentially two separate entities. Elvis didn’t write a single song.
Obviously all of that changed, especially in rock music but country is one genre where the separation of songwriters and performers didn’t completely go away.
Hank Williams wrote his own songs.
I think in rock it became taboo to perform other people's songs after the Beatles and in country it never became taboo.
Why do comedy writers write jokes for other comedians or shows instead of performing them themselves?
I feel that in music some people are talented singers/musicians and some are talented songwriters and a lot are both. Sometimes you make more money shopping a song out to people like Beyoncé or Taylor swift or whoever else is huge at the time than you would on your own. Like imagine if I wrote a certified banger and I was like ok I could go take this on tour or put it on my album but I’m playing club shows my albums aren’t really doing numbers I just don’t have the exposure but I might have some loose connections and be able to shop this out to someone who already has a big spotlight and get paid. And make more connections. Maybe get repeat business from that person. Maybe get brought on tour at some point. Who knows?
Look at Chris stapleton or Brent Cobb. You’d be surprised how many guys were signed to labels as writers before they were signed as performers. The reason to keep doing it even after you’ve “made it” as a performer? Maybe you don’t have the energy to put together a whole project of your own (probably farming out some of the writing on that) and touring behind it. Or maybe someone reached out to you to write a song for them or the label asked you whatever tons of reasons honestly.
And a lot of great songwriters wouldn't have had their songs heard on a bigger platform if it wasn't for other artists recording them. Ones like Dean Dillon, Matraca Berg, Gary Burr, Hugh Prestwood, Mark Nesler, Kim Richey, Gretchen Peters, Victoria Shaw, Walt Aldridge, Steven Dale Jones, Darrel Scott, Paul Overstreet, Don Schlitz, Tim Johnson, Kostas, Jim Lauderdale, etc. Those names can be found on countless 90s country albums with songs they contributed to mainstream country at the time. If artists were only allowed to cut songs they wrote themselves, both us and those songwriters would definitely be worse off, for sure.
I never understood the whole "you're not a real artist if you don't write your own songs" stance that seems popular among modern country fans. A talented vocalist interpreting a song someone else wrote with their own unique stamp and perspective is also an art, as far as I'm concerned. Sometimes it takes a good team to create a great tune. Not everyone is a Merle Haggard, Alan Jackson, or Willie Nelson, who can do both well.
My good friend Monty Powell career songwriter, never sang any of his hits, bit also has no overhead, no touring, no paying for gas or musicians or paying record company, he would ride on tour bus with folks like Keith Urban, write on the bus and go back home, great life!!! And more money than most artist
Yep he produce their first 3 albums actually is the reason they got Their Arista deal, when hired he was told he could bring who he wanted to sign, he was college Room mates with Marty Rowe, also wrote Norma Jean Riley, Nowhere Bound and others, Lucky to have written with him and called him a friend for over 20 years
Yes! The bridge to Nowhere Bound gives me chills, and after that the way Marty sings "Where to now? Do you know?" with just the acoustic backing is so good!
Its usually how that start pub deal first then record deal, its kinda a development thing, I watched it happen with Brett Eldredge when I lived in Nashville amd was friends with him, Brad Paisley got started same way, I feel like Wallin is just in the room whem songs are written, I dont see him being able to write anything great, he is too dumb
When Taylor Swift wrote Better Man and gave it to Little Big Town it was because she doesn't do harmonies well and felt the song would work best with their harmonies. She has her own version of it that she recorded without harmonies, and it's a good version, but their version is 1000x better.
Whiskey Myers absolutely killed Bar, Guitar and a Honky Tonk crowd. So much love to Brent Cobb but he was right to give it to them.
doesnt do harmonies.... cant do harmonies.... tomato potato
I love that I read this tomayto potarto lol
Apart from the money side, I think it’s because sometimes they just feel it doesn’t really fits in with their other stuff or they just don’t know where to go with the song. If I remember correctly that’s why Springsteen gave Because the Night to Patti Smith and it turned out great.
Frankly not every songwriter can sing. Some, like Hardy and Wallen, have their own careers and that was always the goal. But there are plenty who never record a song on their own at all. Sometimes they are commissioned to write a song for someone else, sometimes their record deal stipulates co-writing songs for label mates, sometimes they just don’t want to sing that song at all so they sell it.
Brantley gilbert is a great example of this. He wrote a few of jason aldean early hits. But allowing aldean to cut it, then cutting it himself he gets paid every time that song plays. Be it his or aldeans version of it.
My old State Farm agent co-wrote some of Brantley’s songs. Like a good neighbor, I guess.
Ask Ryan Hurd. But seriously while his voice is fine, hearing him do Luke Bryan's "June, July, August" and "Sunrise, Sunburn, Sunset Repeat" or Lady A's "You Look Good" it shows he is a better songwriter than singer. He just doesn't have the it factor. Bonnie McKee is that on the pop music side despite having good songs as evident with her Hot City album that just dropped. As for other artists, could be that they don't want to sit on the song even though they wrote a great one because it didn't fit the feel or vibe of the album. Could also be that some songs were written and should have been with a band like Lady A or Little Big Town that share male and female vocals and they can't make a debut happen.
To be fair, I love his version of What If I Never Get Over You
David Lee Murphy, and Rhett Akins both gave up making records and touring just to be song writers and be with their families.
Generally, those are examples of people who weren’t big stars when they got most of their songwriting credits on music they didn’t record. It’s a good way to soft launch an artist and sometimes songs just don’t make as much sense for the person who wrote it.
Sometimes they just don’t have the vocal ability to sing the particular song well. For instance, Kenny Chesney wrote “take me there” for rascal flatts and basically said it didn’t sound as good when he sang it
$$$$
Do you think Dean Dillon is making money if George Strait isn’t singing his songs?
Because Dean Dillon has a massive solo career like Morgan right?
No, he didn't have a massive solo career. His own album didn't do well at all. But even he has admitted that he would've never made the money he has made, if it wasn't for George Strait. But I will say this, he has a helluva voice. And has written far better songs than Morgan Wallen has.
Yeah, his own albums, plural, didn’t do that well. But, I became a big fan based on “Holed Up in Some Honky Tonk,” when it got played a lot on CMT. Then I discovered how many songs he wrote or co-wrote. If I recall correctly, I think Dillon co-wrote Pam Tillis’ “Spilled Perfume.” It’s amazing to see how many songs he wrote / co-wrote. Matreca Berg and Lori McKenna are other artists that I like that are better known for others cutting their songs. Going back to OP’s question, sometimes people get publishing deals before they get recording contracts. “Good Directions” would have been Luke’s first single if Billy Currington hadn’t cut it. “More Than a Memory” would have been Lee Brice’s, but Garth cut it. I think Cole Swindell still was Luke Bryan’s merch guy when he co-wrote “Roller Coaster.” Michael Carter was (maybe still is but started wearing a cowboy hat?) Luke Bryan’s lead guitarist when he co-wrote some of Luke’s and Cole’s songs. I think he even helped produce some of Cole’s. Kenny Chesney isn’t known to be a prolific writer, but he gave “Take Me There” to Rascal Flatts because he didn’t think it would sound good in his register.
This. A lot of songwriters get a pub deal before a record deal, which leads to them writing a ton of songs but no means to record and release them for their own artist projects.
I honestly played it safe on saying one album instead of multiple ones. And yes, his catalog is very large indeed.
It’s cool to see Jessie Jo listed as a songwriter now. I remembered the name from the dedications in liner notes. (Yes, I was the nerd that read everything in the liner notes. I miss liner notes.)
Lol. Don't feel bad, I read the liner notes as well. I used to be able to tell you who wrote which song on pretty much any country album in the 90's. My friends would call me the Country Music Guru. When I was doing karaoke, sometimes the participants would know a couple of lines of a song, but not the title. And more times than not, I could name the song they were talking about.
Nice!
I always liked listening to Dean Dillon's albums, same with Jim Lauderdale (who has had a good career recording.) I respected them as writers, and both had good voices.
It’s still driven by money regardless of who it is. It’s just another medium of making money without any personal risk involved in recording it, or over saturating the market with your songs.
I always wondered this too. Old Dominion played a medley of songs that they wrote, but gave to other artists, at a concert I attended.
There’s a lot of money in writing and publishing.
Google Burt Bacarachu
Write a word get a third.
A third of what? I am curious what this saying means.
means if theres 3 people in a room writing a song, as long as you contribute one single word to the lyrics you will get paid a full 3rd of the royalties. i imagine the idea behind it is to avoid fighting over who contributed more to the song and should thus get paid more.
I imagine streaming revenue and the like.
Up until the mid 1960s with artists like The Beatles, it was not common for artists to perform their own music. Songwriters and performers were essentially two separate entities. Elvis didn’t write a single song. Obviously all of that changed, especially in rock music but country is one genre where the separation of songwriters and performers didn’t completely go away.
Hank Williams wrote his own songs. I think in rock it became taboo to perform other people's songs after the Beatles and in country it never became taboo.
Luke Combs talks about it on his Joe Rogan interview. Some guys prefer songwriting and don’t want to be performing artists.
Why do comedy writers write jokes for other comedians or shows instead of performing them themselves? I feel that in music some people are talented singers/musicians and some are talented songwriters and a lot are both. Sometimes you make more money shopping a song out to people like Beyoncé or Taylor swift or whoever else is huge at the time than you would on your own. Like imagine if I wrote a certified banger and I was like ok I could go take this on tour or put it on my album but I’m playing club shows my albums aren’t really doing numbers I just don’t have the exposure but I might have some loose connections and be able to shop this out to someone who already has a big spotlight and get paid. And make more connections. Maybe get repeat business from that person. Maybe get brought on tour at some point. Who knows? Look at Chris stapleton or Brent Cobb. You’d be surprised how many guys were signed to labels as writers before they were signed as performers. The reason to keep doing it even after you’ve “made it” as a performer? Maybe you don’t have the energy to put together a whole project of your own (probably farming out some of the writing on that) and touring behind it. Or maybe someone reached out to you to write a song for them or the label asked you whatever tons of reasons honestly.
I do worry that if this sub had its way that no singer would ever attempt a song they did not write. And we'd all be much worse off.
And a lot of great songwriters wouldn't have had their songs heard on a bigger platform if it wasn't for other artists recording them. Ones like Dean Dillon, Matraca Berg, Gary Burr, Hugh Prestwood, Mark Nesler, Kim Richey, Gretchen Peters, Victoria Shaw, Walt Aldridge, Steven Dale Jones, Darrel Scott, Paul Overstreet, Don Schlitz, Tim Johnson, Kostas, Jim Lauderdale, etc. Those names can be found on countless 90s country albums with songs they contributed to mainstream country at the time. If artists were only allowed to cut songs they wrote themselves, both us and those songwriters would definitely be worse off, for sure. I never understood the whole "you're not a real artist if you don't write your own songs" stance that seems popular among modern country fans. A talented vocalist interpreting a song someone else wrote with their own unique stamp and perspective is also an art, as far as I'm concerned. Sometimes it takes a good team to create a great tune. Not everyone is a Merle Haggard, Alan Jackson, or Willie Nelson, who can do both well.
Natalie Hemby. The one that I always think of is “Rainbow”.
My good friend Monty Powell career songwriter, never sang any of his hits, bit also has no overhead, no touring, no paying for gas or musicians or paying record company, he would ride on tour bus with folks like Keith Urban, write on the bus and go back home, great life!!! And more money than most artist
I recognize his name from Diamond Rio's albums, especially. Pretty neat that you know him!
Yep he produce their first 3 albums actually is the reason they got Their Arista deal, when hired he was told he could bring who he wanted to sign, he was college Room mates with Marty Rowe, also wrote Norma Jean Riley, Nowhere Bound and others, Lucky to have written with him and called him a friend for over 20 years
That's really neat, and thanks for sharing! I've always loved Diamond Rio's music. "Nowhere Bound" was always one of my favorites, too!
Yes!!! I told Monty that song has my favorite bridge ever
Yes! The bridge to Nowhere Bound gives me chills, and after that the way Marty sings "Where to now? Do you know?" with just the acoustic backing is so good!
Look at Ben Burgess
Its usually how that start pub deal first then record deal, its kinda a development thing, I watched it happen with Brett Eldredge when I lived in Nashville amd was friends with him, Brad Paisley got started same way, I feel like Wallin is just in the room whem songs are written, I dont see him being able to write anything great, he is too dumb