Artists Who Don't Write Their Own Music
When I was younger, I naturally made the assumption that whatever name was on the front cover of a CD was the group of people who wrote the songs I was hearing. Eventually, I came to realize that many artists don't write their own tunes. Now, while anyone who writes a song gets credit as at least a cowriter of the piece and therefore receives royalties, I still feel there should be a certain level of involvement by the musicians in the writing process. While I don't fully disapprove of outside writers, I believe that if your name is credited for the material on the album, then you should be involved as at least a co-writer on the songs on that record. When I have expressed this opinion to people previously, some brought up the argument that some people have a talent in performing while others have a talent in writing and therefore we should not restrict people talented in one area. To a point, I agree with this argument. Some musicians are much better at performing songs while other are fantastic composers. This is why I believe in the partial role of the artists, especially when an entire band is involved. As long as the artist (or at least one of the band members) is contributing to the creative process, I see no problem with initial ideas coming from outside sources provided there is some level of involvement. But when it comes down to it, good music is good music. Regardless of whether and artist writes their own music or not, I will buy their records if I like the material presented. I just believe that a level of creative involvement is important to maintain artistic integrity.
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