So somehow I roped myself into watching The Dawn FM Experience on Amazon Prime.

Then I thought - well, if these songs are from Dawn FM, maybe I should listen. It's very new-wave and 80's inspired. I like the vibe of it.

I got to looking at his discography, didn't realize he had quite that many records. Then I looked at the track listings.

Damn, how many fucking people does it take to write one song?! There are upwards of 7-10 people on many tracks; most have 4-6 writers minimum.

I wonder - are these people getting credits because they came up with a synth line or a half a line somewhere, or are they truly contributing that much to his music. Moreover, while he's a good singer, is he that incapable of writing a whole song by himself (producing aside - that's another topic)? Maybe he's not. Maybe he comes up with lyrics and a lead line, and that's it. I don't know.

It's just that given the hype around him and his musical prowess, the stock drops when you see the plethora of songwriters on all of his records. It's some Beyoncé level shit. (And we know damn well she ain't writing all those song by herself anyway.)

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on him, and on the Dawn FM album, which I'm enjoying as I type this. I dig The Weeknd. I suppose I'm more surprised at the songwriting situation.

TrivialPursuit said:

So somehow I roped myself into watching The Dawn FM Experience on Amazon Prime.

Then I thought - well, if these songs are from Dawn FM, maybe I should listen. It's very new-wave and 80's inspired. I like the vibe of it.

I got to looking at his discography, didn't realize he had quite that many records. Then I looked at the track listings.

Damn, how many fucking people does it take to write one song?! There are upwards of 7-10 people on many tracks; most have 4-6 writers minimum.

I wonder - are these people getting credits because they came up with a synth line or a half a line somewhere, or are they truly contributing that much to his music. Moreover, while he's a good singer, is he that incapable of writing a whole song by himself (producing aside - that's another topic)? Maybe he's not. Maybe he comes up with lyrics and a lead line, and that's it. I don't know.

It's just that given the hype around him and his musical prowess, the stock drops when you see the plethora of songwriters on all of his records. It's some Beyoncé level shit. (And we know damn well she ain't writing all those song by herself anyway.)

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on him, and on the Dawn FM album, which I'm enjoying as I type this. I dig The Weeknd. I suppose I'm more surprised at the songwriting situation.

I did the same thing.

What's worse is that many of the new songs involve Max Martin, and we know all he does is write write write.

I want to give him credit for at least the sound and style of his recordings but the trend of having a laundry list of writers started early in his discography.

CynicKill said:

I did the same thing.

What's worse is that many of the new songs involve Max Martin, and we know all he does is write write write.

I want to give him credit for at least the sound and style of his recordings but the trend of having a laundry list of writers started early in his discography.

Max Martin can sure write a hook though. I'll give him that. But even then, is Dawn FM that hooky? I think it's a good record. It appeals to my 80s sensibilities. It sounds like what a-ha would've sounded like if they were a US based band.

I heard an interview or something where Weeknd said he just did what he wanted on this album. He felt free on it, didn't try to stick to any notions that people had about him. I can see that, although I'm not terribly familiar with his music. I do know his more popular songs. Barely recognized anything during his Super Bowl show. But I did enjoy this album.

I mean, I guess I should give him credit for not trying to hide that he has over a half-dozen people writing one song. Beyonce tried that shit for a while.

How does a motherfucker even get paid with that many chefs in the kitchen?

TrivialPursuit said:

CynicKill said:

I did the same thing.

What's worse is that many of the new songs involve Max Martin, and we know all he does is write write write.

I want to give him credit for at least the sound and style of his recordings but the trend of having a laundry list of writers started early in his discography.

Max Martin can sure write a hook though. I'll give him that. But even then, is Dawn FM that hooky? I think it's a good record. It appeals to my 80s sensibilities. It sounds like what a-ha would've sounded like if they were a US based band.

I heard an interview or something where Weeknd said he just did what he wanted on this album. He felt free on it, didn't try to stick to any notions that people had about him. I can see that, although I'm not terribly familiar with his music. I do know his more popular songs. Barely recognized anything during his Super Bowl show. But I did enjoy this album.

I mean, I guess I should give him credit for not trying to hide that he has over a half-dozen people writing one song. Beyonce tried that shit for a while.

How does a motherfucker even get paid with that many chefs in the kitchen?

And how does the song turn out NOT being a total mess?

Most of the songs of late that have a lot of writers end up being so simple in the end. "Peaches" comes to mind.