The Four Songwriter Archetypes
The Faceless Super Writer
Examples: Diane Warren, Billie Mann, Max Martin, Hillary Lindsay
Traits:
- They write for other artists and very rarely ever release their own albums
- They write ALL THE TIME
- They write a variety of songs and write in a lot of co-writes
- They often get into writers deals with publishers
- They own a lot of equity in their publishing
- They are pillars in their industry
The Classic Singer/Songwriter
Examples: Leonard Cohen, Norah Jones, Jack Johnson, Joni Mitchell
Traits:
- They focus on writing songs that will outlive them
- They are a performing artist, but their product is the song itself, not necessarily a show….
- They are great at crafting stories around their songs
- Their songs fit within a genre, but they are easily re-produced by other artists
- They tend to build long term relationships with the people they cowrite with, and therefore don’t cowrite with as many people.
- They release their own albums and tour like a popular recording artist
- Musical styles tend to be stripped down and easily sung in a coffee shop - focus is on the song.
The Recording Artist Songwriter
Examples: Sting, Alicia Keys, Coldplay, Justin Bieber
Traits:
- Singer/Songwriter 2.0 (not better than, but more performance oriented)
- It’s harder to distinguish between the artist and the song
- They place top value on putting on a great show and performance
- They recognize that great songs are key to the longevity of their careers, but…
- They aren’t afraid of going outside of the box which makes them very uniquely attached to the songs they write
- Their voice and “sound” plays a critical role in the delivery of the song
- They not only do their original songs, but other ones as well
The Composer Songwriter
Examples: Gotye, Owl City, Seth Mosley, Andrew Loyd Webber
Traits:
- Probably the most creative artists of the list
- These songwriters shine in the studio as producer/writer/composers
- They tend to be really good musicians on more than one instrument
- They may or may not release their own albums
- They write a variety of songs specifically for licensing to film, tv, theater, or other custom public performances
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