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.
53-444: Ian Geoffrey Levine (born 22 June 1953) is a British songwriter , producer , and DJ . A moderniser of Northern soul music in the UK, and a developer of the style of hi-NRG , he has written and produced records with sales totalling over 40 million. Levine is known as a fan of the long-running television show Doctor Who . Levine was born into a Jewish family; his parents owned and ran
106-905: A disc jockey at the Blackpool Mecca with Tony Jebb. Levine joined other DJs in travelling to Stoke on Trent to join the Northern soul all-nighter "Torch", which was quickly shut down but was the fore runner of the Wigan Casino events, which Levine DJ'ed on the 3rd all-nighter. Working with fellow DJ Colin Curtis , the pair was responsible for guiding the Northern Soul scene away from its oldies-only policy and towards modern soul and disco. This resulted in BBC Radio 1 's DJ John Peel travelling to Blackpool to interview Levine. Opening on Dec 6, 1979, Levine became
159-403: A recording studio that oversees the production and recording of the final product. However, record producers can be involved in co-writing songs as the composer wearing two hats as the producer and songwriter as they may write and compose the original music such as the beat and then oversee the production that takes control of the recording sessions with the artist and engineer all the way down to
212-590: A Classic appeared on the release for Genesis of the Daleks . He also co-wrote the theme music for K-9 and Company , a pilot for a proposed Doctor Who spin-off series featuring the robotic dog and Sarah Jane Smith . In October 2017, Levine received criticism for his negative reaction to the casting of Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor , with some deeming his comments sexist. In response, Levine claimed he had quit Doctor Who fandom though he later set up
265-525: A Facebook group Ian Levine's Doctor Who Group . According to Ian, he was the unofficial continuity consultant for Doctor Who in the 1980s, apparently leaving after the casting of Bonnie Langford . In the documentary The Missing Years , he also credits himself with personally saving the entirety of The Daleks from destruction by BBC Enterprises . As of 2024, neither of these claims have been corroborated by any other individuals involved or any relevant documentation. He has claimed he co-wrote Attack of
318-447: A Top 20 album followed by further Top 40-hits with boy band Upside Down UPSIDE DOWN , Gemini, and mixed group Optimystic. Miami-based label Hot Productions reissued Levine's entire catalogue of the 1970s and 80s on CD from 1993 onwards as well as a big part of his Motorcity catalogue before folding in 1998. He also co-wrote and co-produced the theme music for the 2004 Donna Summer television special "Discomania" None . In 2010, Levine formed
371-511: A composer and a lyricist ( Andrew Lloyd Webber with Tim Rice , or Elton John with Bernie Taupin ), a performer and a producer ( Madonna with Patrick Leonard or Mariah Carey with Walter Afanasieff ), or between bandmates ( Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones or Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson of ABBA ). According to Billboard , the songwriting partnership between John Lennon and Paul McCartney remains
424-665: A cover version of " Could It Be Magic " which won the Best British Single at the Brit Awards 1993, and co-wrote their Top 20-hit " I Found Heaven " with Billy Griffin ), and the Pasadenas (he co-produced three tracks on their Yours Sincerely album of 1992 with Billy Griffin, including the No. 4 UK hit " I'm Doing Fine Now "). After Levine's falling out with Take That's Management, he formed Bad Boys Inc in 1993 and enjoyed 6 UK singles and
477-460: A favourite on the Northern Soul scene), Levine formed Centre City Records in 2007 especially to record a series of albums of tailor-made Northern Soul music, and released 9 albums of 24 tracks each between 2007 and 2012. After a hiatus of 12 years, Levine released his 10th album on the label, "Northern Soul 2024" in March 2024 which saw him reform a songwriting partnership with his previous collaborator from
530-488: A new boy band called Inju5tice. After the commercial failure of debut "A Long Long Way from Home", the album release was cancelled, and the group and Levine split. By 1998, Levine tracked down 179 former Northern Soul singers in the USA for his 4-hour documentary "The Strange World of Northern Soul". Following the various artists album "Solid Ground" in 2006 (named after his collaboration with Sidney Barnes in 2001 which had become
583-402: A number of elements for a song, including an introduction, various verses and a chorus. At minimum, a songwriter must prepare a lead sheet for a song, which consists of one or more pieces of sheet music with the melody notes and chord progression indicated on it. The songwriter may expand upon the melody and chord progression by adding an instrumental melody (which may occur before or after
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#1732852743039636-516: A publisher can be the first step for any professional songwriting career, with some writers with a desire for greater independence outgrowing this set-up once they achieve a degree of success. Songwriter Allan Eshuijs described his staff writer contract at Universal Music Publishing as a starter deal. His success under the arrangement eventually allowed him to found his own publishing company so that he could "keep as much [publishing income] as possible and say how it's going to be done." A beatmaker
689-527: A reunion of 60 Motown stars, including Edwin Starr and Levi Stubbs on top of the Pontchartrain Hotel close to the original Hitsville USA building, Motorcity Records was launched as a record label. Initially distributed by PRT , then Pacific, Charly and finally Total/BMG , the label ended in the 1992 due to severe financial losses,. 750 songs had been recorded, and a further 107 songs would be added in
742-408: A rock producer that may rarely contribute as a co-writer of a song. A top-line writer or top-liner is a songwriter who writes a song over a pre-made beat. In top-lining, the writer is not creating a song from scratch, but rather creating lyrics and melodies over an existing music genre , tonality , harmony , rhythm , and form of a song. In modern commercial writing, it is a common practice for
795-533: A song becomes a hit record ; legally, in the US, songs written after 1934 may be copied only by the authors. The legal power to grant these permissions may be bought, sold or transferred. This is governed by international copyright law . Songwriters can be employed in a variety of different ways. They may exclusively write lyrics or compose music alongside another artist, present songs to A&R , publishers, agents and managers for consideration. Song pitching can be done on
848-468: A song created under an employment contract cannot be "recaptured" by the writer after 35 years. In Nashville, young writers are often strongly encouraged to avoid these types of contracts. Staff writers are common across the whole industry, but without the more office-like working arrangements favoured in Nashville. All the major publishers employ writers under contract. Obtaining a staff writer contract with
901-467: A songwriter's behalf by their publisher or independently using tip sheets like RowFax , the MusicRow publication and SongQuarters . Skills associated with song-writing include entrepreneurism and creativity. Staff writers do not necessarily get printed credit for their contributions to the song. Songwriters who sign an exclusive songwriting agreement with a publisher are called staff writers . Being
954-430: A staff writer effectively means that, during the term of the songwriter's contract with the publisher, all their songs are automatically published by that company and cannot be published elsewhere. In the Nashville country music scene, there is a strong staff writer culture where contracted writers work normal "9-to-5" hours at the publishing office and are paid a regular salary, says staff writer Gary Growden. This salary
1007-444: Is a songwriter who creates and composes music or beats for a song, often laying the groundwork or 'musical bed'. Then a composer who specializes in melody will create the top line for the track. Tools typically used are keyboards, drum machines, softsynths and digital audio workstations . Beat makers or composers are not necessarily record producers by definition or acting role since they generally do not work directly with an artist in
1060-613: Is an Irish musician and composer from Drogheda , County Louth , Ireland. Trench first studied Chemistry at Trinity College, Dublin , before moving on to the University of Georgia in 1963, and then the University of Cincinnati . From 1969 to 1991, he lived and worked in London . In 1972, he co-produced, and played keyboards on, the If album Waterfall , as well as appearing on Solid Gold Cadillac 's eponymous first album. In 1973, he played piano on
1113-422: Is because the process of "working out" a song or arrangement requires a songwriter to play an instrument, typically the guitar or the piano , to hear how the chord progression sounds and to hear how well a given set of chords supports a melody. In addition to selling their songs and musical concepts for other artists to sing, some songwriter-musicians create songs to perform themselves. Songwriters need to create
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#17328527430391166-400: Is co-written, written jointly or written in collaboration with other authors. Co-writers may use the "stream of consciousness" approach, referring to having ideas flow rather than being discussed. The first step in co-writing is to establish the division of the contribution between co-writers. In copyright law, there is no distinction of importance between the lyrics of the song or the melody of
1219-432: Is in effect the writer's "draw", an advance on future earnings, which is paid monthly and enables them to live within a fixed budget. The publisher owns the copyright of songs written during the term of the agreement for a designated period, after which the songwriter can reclaim the copyright. In an interview with HitQuarters , songwriter Dave Berg extolled the benefits of the set-up: "I was able to concentrate on writing
1272-543: Is responsible in creating the entire music and lyrics of a song. According to Billboard , 44% of the songs that reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart during the 1970s were written by just one songwriter. The percentage declined to 42% in the 1980s, 24% in the 1990s, 6% in the 2000s, and 4% in the 2010s. Lionel Richie and Diane Warren are the only songwriters with at least 8 number-one singles written solely by themselves. Songs written by more than one person
1325-526: The If album Double Diamond . He and his songwriting partner of the 1980s Ian Levine wrote and produced some popular hi-NRG club hits of the era for Miquel Brown , Barbara Pennington and Evelyn Thomas . It was through Levine that he came to co-write the theme tune for the 1981 BBC Doctor Who spin-off K-9 and Company . He is credited with the string arrangements on the Boomtown Rats ' " I Don't Like Mondays " and " Fairytale of New York " by
1378-479: The K-pop music industry. Sampling is the reuse of a portion (or sample) of a sound recording in another recording. The original songwriter(s) of a song usually receive co-writing credit when their work is sampled on another song, although they did not literally involve in making the latter. For example, Sting is credited as a co-writer alongside Todd Gaither and Faith Evans for " I'll Be Missing You " (1997) due to
1431-601: The "Lemon Tree" complex in Blackpool, including its casino and nightclub . Levine is openly gay . He suffered a major stroke in July 2014, leaving him with severely limited movement on the left side of his body. Levine spent decades tracking down 3,000 of his relatives. He has organised several meetings with hundreds of family members over the years, which have been covered by media outlets. Levine has written books about his genealogy search. Levine began collecting Motown records from
1484-454: The 1970s and 80s, Fiachra Trench. Ian Levine is known as a long running fan of the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who . and put a halt to the destruction of old episodes in 1978, as well as returning 21 missing episodes. By purchasing private copies of all the existing episodes, Levine in conjunction with BBC-employee Sue Malden successfully stopped 4 further episodes junkings. Levine
1537-461: The Cybermen , although Eric Saward disputed this. According to Richard Bignell, Levine has also claimed that Saward was to write a story for Season 23 called Gallifrey , but Saward has also disputed this claim. Levine has also claimed that a storyline for the unmade Season 23 story Yellow Fever and How to Cure It was written, but Bignell has noted that there is no evidence such a storyline document
1590-662: The Pogues . Other artists he has worked with include Van Morrison on his 1989 album Avalon Sunset , Elvis Costello , Art Garfunkel , Sinéad O'Connor , the Corrs , Phil Lynott (including the orchestral arrangements on Lynott's solo hit "Old Town"), Sweet (arrangement and piano on early hits), Joan Armatrading and Paul McCartney . His string arrangements on the Van Morrison song, Have I Told You Lately , are among his most beautiful works. He taught McCartney's late wife Linda to play
1643-522: The UK Top 30, ensuring them both an appearance on Top Of The Pops on Feb 19, 1976. Barbara Pennington would enjoy a big disco hit in the U.S.A. the following year with "24 Hours a Day" (No. 4 Billboard Disco Charts) as would James Wells whose "My Claim to Fame" reached the same position in 1978. Following a string of albums on artists such as Evelyn Thomas, Barbara Pennington, L. J. Johnson, Doris Jones, Tyrone Ashley, Eastbound Expressway, and Seventh Avenue, towards
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1696-643: The age of 13, building a collection from UK record shops and those his family visited on holidays to Miami and New Orleans . He later became an avid collector of soul, R&B , and Northern soul . After his parents emigrated to the Caribbean in 1979, Levine sold most of his records to fund a house purchase in London. Having attended some early Northern soul all-nighters at "The Twisted Wheel" nightclub in Manchester with DJ Les Cokell, after leaving school in 1971 he became
1749-468: The club's first resident DJ at London 's gay disco Heaven on its set-up, and remained there through almost all of the 1980s. He finally left in 1989. Levine was also the first UK-born DJs to mix records . In 1973, Levine caught notice when he turned Robert Knight's "Love on a Mountain Top" into a UK Top 10 hit, leading to him assisting Dave McAleer in compiling Solid Soul Sensations the following year, which
1802-643: The commissioning editor of the Doctor Who DVD range did not use Levine's animation on the DVD release of the story. The completed Levine version appeared on torrent sites almost two years later, on 12 October 2013. Levine has been responsible for producing a number of extras on the Doctor Who DVD releases: the documentaries Over the Edge and Inside the Spaceship were included on the 3-disc set The Beginning , while Genesis of
1855-483: The decision, and together with the series' production manager Gary Downie gathered a group of actors from the series to record " Doctor in Distress ". The single was universally panned. Levine also organised a private project to recreate the incomplete 1979 Doctor Who story Shada with animation and newly recorded dialogue from many surviving cast members. Levine had hoped that the project would be released on DVD, but
1908-568: The end of 1979, Levine's record productions came to a halt when he had 4 album deals fall through due to demise of disco, leaving him indebted due to the high production costs. In 1983, the London-based record shop Record Shack offered Levine £2,000 to set up a new joint-venture record label , Record Shack Records. Through friend Jean-Philippe Iliesco, he used his Trident Studios , and reformed his songwriting partnership with Fiachra Trench after his 3-year recording hiatus. The first record from
1961-650: The label was " So Many Men, So Little Time " by Miquel Brown , which sold two million copies and got to number 2 on the American Dance Club Songs chart. This was quickly followed by " High Energy " by Evelyn Thomas , Levine's biggest hit, selling more than 7 mio. copies worldwide. Several other dance singles followed, before the partnership with Record Shack ended in 1985. After several more releases on various labels throughout 1986, Levine set up his own Nightmare Records in December, releasing 90 Hi-NRG singles over
2014-428: The late 90s with Pat Lewis and Brenda Holloway. The label only enjoyed one Pop hit with "Footsteps Following Me", a UK Top 20-hit in 1991, ironically by one of the least known singers of the whole roster, Frances Nero . Following the financial failure of Motorcity Records , Levine wrote and produced hi-NRG-derived singles for various bands, including Take That (he co-produced three tracks on their debut album, incl.
2067-418: The melodies or lyrics. There is a way to prevent such legal battles. A songwriter can commit their "intent to make a song", which prevents any of the parties ripping the song apart. Some artists send out a legal disclaimer making clear that if their melody is not used after doing a topline, it reverts to them, and the track back to the track writer. Songwriters are also often skilled musicians. In part, this
2120-435: The mix stage. They are referred to as Record Producer / Songwriters as they generally receive songwriting and production credits for both roles. This is especially true for R&B, hip-hop producers in urban hip hop production , when composing the original music as the co-writer is integrated into their traditional role as a Record Producer, such as Rodney Jerkins , Dr. Dre , Timbaland or Pharrell Williams , as opposed to
2173-588: The most successful one of all time, resulting over 180 songs and a record 20 number ones for the Beatles on the Billboard Hot 100. Songwriting camp is a gathering of multiple producers and topliners in a pre-selected location for the purpose of writing songs for a specific artist. As one of the most successful artists in releasing many hit songs , Rihanna has been known for holding various writing camps to make her albums. Writing camps are also very popular in
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2226-417: The musical track to be produced first without any vocal melody or lyrics. This is partially due to the rise of portable music production equipment and digital audio workstations that are designed for the swift arrangement of electronic music, such as Cubase and Ableton Live . The top-liner usually is also a singer, and will sing over the track as the demo singer. If the song is for a particular artist,
2279-504: The next 3 years. He also mixed numerous dance-pop hits for a variety of artists, including Pet Shop Boys , Bucks Fizz , Erasure , Kim Wilde , Bronski Beat , Amanda Lear , Bananarama , Tiffany , Dollar , and Hazell Dean . It was during his Nightmare Records period that Levine got to work with former Motown singer Kim Weston in 1987, a collaboration that lead Levine to record several other ex-Motown acts, incl. The Supremes ' Mary Wilson , Jimmy Ruffin and Brenda Holloway . After
2332-682: The role of producer is not generally understood by the public, the average listener does not know when an artist also takes on the role of producer. Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys is one of the earliest and most widely known examples of a songwriter turned music producer. Within two years of the band's commercial breakthrough, Wilson had taken over from his father Murry, and he was the sole producer of all their recordings between 1963 and 1967. Many singers also write songs for themselves, and as such, they are usually referred to as singer-songwriters. In solitary songwriting or sole writing, only one person
2385-626: The sample of " Every Breath You Take " (1983), a song he solely wrote for the Police . However, "I'll Be Missing You" did not have legal approval for the sample before its release, thus Sting sued and received 100% of the song royalties, with payments reportedly going until 2053. Beyoncé 's album Lemonade (2016) features as many as 72 co-writers due to use of samples in majority of its tracks. Fiachra Trench Fiachra Terence Wilbrah Trench (born 7 September 1941, in Dublin , County Dublin , Ireland)
2438-526: The song, therefore each writer is given equal ownership over the song, unless another agreement is arranged. "Phantom" songwriters provide small contributions to songs. The songwriter suggests a line for a verse or a session musician who informally proposes a chord progression for a coda. "Phantom" songwriters are usually not given credit. Songwriting partnership or songwriting duo is a prolific collaboration which consists of two songwriters, usually sharing 50% royalty each. Songwriting partnership can be between
2491-531: The top-liner may sing the demo in that artist's style. Top-liners often work in groups to co-write. Sometimes producers send out tracks to more than one top-line writer so that the producer or singer could choose the best option. Since the track is the same, melodies by different writers can sometimes be very similar. Occasionally, the producer might choose a few lines of melodic or lyrical ideas from one top-liner without properly crediting or paying them. These situations sometimes result in legal battles over ownership of
2544-401: The vocal melody, or alongside the vocal melody) and creating a more complex song structure (e.g., verse, chorus, bridge, instrumental solo section, etc.). With recent technological improvements, a songwriter can now create commercially viable music almost entirely on their laptop. This technological advancement has made the producer/songwriter role a much more popular occurrence. Perhaps because
2597-478: The whole time and have always had enough money to live on." Unlike contracted writers, some staff writers operate as employees for their respective publishers. Under the terms of these work for hire agreements, the compositions created are fully owned by the publisher. Because the recapture provision of the United States Copyright Act of 1976 does not apply to "works made for hire", the rights to
2650-480: Was commissioned from Robert Holmes , and has also taken issue with Levine's claim that the Rani would not have been featured in said story if created - as documentation exists to show permission was received from Pip and Jane Baker to use the Rani. Levine owned the only complete set of DC Comics in the world, completed in 2004, with at least one copy of each DC comic book sold at retail from 1935 to 2015. His collection
2703-503: Was consulted by members of the production team about continuity for a while during the mid-1980s. In 1985, when the BBC announced that the series would be placed on an eighteen-month hiatus, and the show's cancellation was widely rumoured, Levine was heavily involved with the media protest covertly organised by series producer John Nathan-Turner . He appeared on the ITN 's News at One arguing against
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#17328527430392756-737: Was photographed in D.C.'s own official history book. He sold the collection in 2008 "for a tiny fraction of their value" in Berkeley, California . Songwriter The old-style apprenticeship approach to learning how to write songs is being supplemented by university degrees , college diplomas and "rock schools". Knowledge of modern music technology (sequencers, synthesizers, computer sound editing), songwriting elements and business skills are significant for modern songwriters. Several music colleges offer songwriting diplomas and degrees with music business modules. Since songwriting and publishing royalties can be substantial sources of income, particularly if
2809-795: Was released on the British Disco Demand label and reached No. 30 on the UK Albums Chart . With his father's investment, he travelled to New York City and co-produced Reaching for the Best with girl group the Exciters , which reached No. 31 on the UK Singles Chart selling 80,000 records. This allowed Levine to then travel to Chicago , where he auditioned and signed three unknown singers: Postman L.J. Johnson, Barbara Pennington , and Evelyn Thomas . Thomas and Johnson's debut records would both chart in
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