Writing your own music is for me a necessity to like an artist. I will even go further by saying that the main reason why I respect D'angelo (my all time favourite) an Prince (2nd) because they not only write their own stuff, but they also play (nearly) all the instruments and do all the vocals as well.
Their music is unbilievable as well (especially D'angelo's).

I hate artists like J-lo... who come into the studio get a text in front of their face (that they probably didn't see before) sing it and they're gone.

You're talking about performers, not artists, and I can enjoy them a lot too.

First time you hear something by a new artist you don't know, you can like it before you learn they didn't write the song.

That said, I want my favourites to write their stuff

I think 4 me it's a case-by-case basis. Take someone like Celine Dion, who is considered a great singer. She doesn't write her own songs. Put her against someone like Jewel, who writes and sings her own songs, but does neither very well. Then look at Ani DiFranco, who is considered a brilliant lyricist, but is neither an xplosive musician or singer. Who's worthy of the respect? (disregarding any personal preferences)

In many cases, I think it's a more respectable move 4 a performer 2 realize some1 else can write and produce it better than they could and they simply fill their role as a singer/rapper. So many bad records have made by people biting off more than they can chew in the studio. Not as impressive as some1 like Prince, but there's a skill in knowing your strengths and weaknesses as a performer.

i love grace jones, and most of her music - her best known work, anyway - was all covers of other songs. i listen to her because i like her voice and her image, and i like the way her albums were produced. if i want to hear brilliant singer/songwriters performing their own work, i listen to something else.

How an artist performs a song is more important. If the singer sucks or the delivery sucks then who cares who wrote it.

npgmaverick said:

yeah, Ani's not the greatest singer, but she can pluck the shit out of a guitar! maybe she's doing less of it in her more recent stuff (i don't know) but on her earlier releases she was ripping it up!

yes! cause listening to the music its how it is presented and performed that moves me. most of the time without the deleveriy it's just notes and words on a piece of paper.

I can definitely respect a great vocalist. Think of how many jazz singers you've heard singing standards or traditional songs they didn't write. That goes for alot of Motown singers too.



On the other hand, you have singers that can't sing, and didn't write the music, and are more or less the image to sell the songs.

sinisterpentatonic said:

Yep, she shreds on guitar. Funky as all get out. Her only problem is she's not great with melodies.

A few years ago singers weren't expected to write their own stuff.

Frank Sinatra
Billie Holiday--she wrote one great one, though
Ella Fitzgerald
Elvis

That said, I prefer people who write their own stuff!

I prefer the artist not to write their own stuff.


co-writing is the norm with pop music and thats fine for my tastes. As i only listen to stuff to do with love and having fun, its the production and melody that matters, something some singer/songwriters (morrisey for example) fail at.
Good lyrics, dull tune.

Only a few like Prince can do it all, and they suffer as well

i can love it, but i don't have as much respect for someone who only sings other people's words. that's not an artist, that's an interpreter.

cervante said:

You just need to appreciate vocalists of greater skill instead of falling for poppish crap. As it is, your criteria would disregard a good portion of jazz which was initially based on covers of popular songs. To me, it depends on the individual artist's skill. A great vocalist (which J Lo ain't) is as valid as a a songwriter or other kind of instrumentalist.

Also simply because an artist "only sings" does not mean it's all they are capable of doing. Aretha Franklin is an accomplished pianist and accompanied herself in many concerts in the 70s, but doesn't play much on her albums from that period.

Anxiety said:

Grace rules!

yes.

K-Ci Hailey couldn't write a song to save his life. But I'll listen to him sing any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

So yes, I could like an artist who doesn't write their own music.

doesn't matter to me. as long as credit is given to the deserving artist for their part. some people can write a masterpiece and the destroy it (performance). just as easily as someone could sing/play a song that brings people to an emotional high, yet couldn't write something worth being on the back of a cereal box. i don't appreciate anyone less or more depending on if they wrote the song they're singing/playing or not. some can sing and not write, some write and not sing, some do both. good for all of them i say. as long as it sounds good. that being said...i do think songwriters should get more recognition (if they want it) than some 'artists' who wouldn't be where they are at without them.

Of course I could LIKE them I just wouldn't have as much respect for them as an artist as, say... Prince

lilgish said:

I'll go along with this simple straight forward answer.

There are many great interpreters of music which is an admirable skill in itself.

Do folks like Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Nancy Wilson, Johnny Mathis, etc., get eliminated from my list of great artists simply because they didn't write any/all of their own material.

Hardly.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

I do prefer people who write their own music, but I do like many that don't. Some that come to mind are:

Whitney Houston
Frank Sinatra
Tony Bennett

Many people who are making a living in the music industry don't have much musical talent, but they have great looks and great bods, so they become famous. Some that come to mind are:

Janet Jackson
J.Lo
Britney
Kylie
Ciara

These people are not musicians, they are merely performers who are lucky enough to be blessed with good looks and good writers/producers.