# One hit song -- 30 credited writers



## JohnG (Mar 9, 2019)

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/03/07/magazine/top-songs.html#/travis-scott

NYT: How many people does it take to write a No. 1 hit? In the case of Travis Scott’s smash “Sicko Mode,” which came out Aug. 3, 2018, and has been on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart every week since, 30 different songwriters are credited. That’s a preposterously high number that speaks, in part, to the shift in top-tier rap toward a collaboration-heavy, auteurist mode of creation. It also speaks to the song’s unorthodox structure. “Sicko Mode,” which Scott performed at the Super Bowl halftime show, switches between three different beats created by six different producers, with additional work, it turns out, from a Switzerland-based washing-machine salesman.

[article continues]


----------



## jbuhler (Mar 9, 2019)

JohnG said:


> https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/03/07/magazine/top-songs.html#/travis-scott
> 
> NYT: How many people does it take to write a No. 1 hit? In the case of Travis Scott’s smash “Sicko Mode,” which came out Aug. 3, 2018, and has been on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart every week since, 30 different songwriters are credited. That’s a preposterously high number that speaks, in part, to the shift in top-tier rap toward a collaboration-heavy, auteurist mode of creation. It also speaks to the song’s unorthodox structure. “Sicko Mode,” which Scott performed at the Super Bowl halftime show, switches between three different beats created by six different producers, with additional work, it turns out, from a Switzerland-based washing-machine salesman.
> 
> [article continues]


And here I thought an "auteurist mode of creation" was the opposite of 30 different songwriters contributing... 

This seems to be in the genre of that NYT specialty, the fake trend story.


----------



## d.healey (Mar 9, 2019)

jbuhler said:


> And here I thought an "auteurist mode of creation" was the opposite of 30 different songwriters contributing...


Me too


----------



## Desire Inspires (Mar 9, 2019)

This is why I love the music industry. They get that music is a collaborative effort. 

Music licensing on the other hand, terrible. Everyone wants to sit in front of a computer for hours trying to be a virtuoso at every instrument just so they can have 100% of the writer's share. Hello, work with others to fill in the spots you are not skilled in!!!


----------



## chillbot (Mar 9, 2019)

God damn. Plus another 15 publishers as well. I would LOVE to see the splits on this....


----------



## babylonwaves (Mar 9, 2019)

high five for the washing machine guy


----------



## Jdiggity1 (Mar 9, 2019)

Props for giving credit, no matter how small


----------



## chillbot (Mar 9, 2019)

Jdiggity1 said:


> Props for giving credit, no matter how small


It's good business for everyone.... except the poor sap doing the cue sheet....


----------



## SchnookyPants (Mar 9, 2019)

So... _this _is how you write a hit song in the 21st century.


----------



## givemenoughrope (Mar 9, 2019)

Is Coldplay guy listed up there? I could only take about nine seconds so I didn’t hear him.


----------



## JC_ (Mar 9, 2019)

Jdiggity1 said:


> Props for giving credit, no matter how small



This. There are tons of hit records that didn't credit all of the writers.


----------



## Desire Inspires (Mar 9, 2019)

Oh wow, so Drake is ‘Graham Aubrey Drake’ in the credits. He isn’t listed with a PRO affiliation. Who collects his royalties?


----------



## dzilizzi (Mar 9, 2019)

I wonder how much of it is, "I'll give you writers credit if you let me use your mic/play the drums for me/ let me use your studio/ teach me how to sing so I don't sound too stupid/ etc....


----------



## Jeremy Gillam (Mar 9, 2019)

Change a word, get 1/30


----------



## paularthur (Mar 9, 2019)

It's more of a medley than a song. A lot of beat changes, diff beats featuring diff samples...


----------



## Jdiggity1 (Mar 9, 2019)

dzilizzi said:


> I wonder how much of it is, "I'll give you writers credit if you let me use your mic/play the drums for me/ let me use your studio/ teach me how to sing so I don't sound too stupid/ etc....


It happens. There's also the old "whoever's in the room with you when you wrote it gets a cut".
But knowing how cue sheet credits are given (and not given) for music in media, I'm not going to judge the pop world.


----------



## Jimmy Hellfire (Mar 9, 2019)

Everyone wrote one beat of the kick drum and then had to take a break. By the time they had the song done, they had burnt through 30 writers. I wonder what the rates are!


----------



## Desire Inspires (Mar 9, 2019)

givemenoughrope said:


> Is Coldplay guy listed up there? I could only take about nine seconds so I didn’t hear him.



Are you talking about Chris Martin? No, this Chris Martin is a producer named DJ Premier. The song ‘Sicko Mode’ uses a bunch of samples. DJ Premier probably co-wrote one of the songs that was sampled.


----------



## Ben H (Mar 10, 2019)

30 writers and THAT'S the best that they come up with.


----------



## ein fisch (Mar 10, 2019)

Im usually not a fan of this certain kind of rap, but they did a hella good job with it IMO and i dont think that it was as easy as they make it look like it is


----------



## dzilizzi (Mar 10, 2019)

Desire Inspires said:


> Are you talking about Chris Martin? No, this Chris Martin is a producer named DJ Premier. The song ‘Sicko Mode’ uses a bunch of samples. DJ Premier probably co-wrote one of the songs that was sampled.


I didn’t think about that. This is probably how they permission to use the sampled music. Just give everyone credit. Most pop songs don’t sample, so this is not an issue.


----------



## Desire Inspires (Mar 11, 2019)

dzilizzi said:


> I didn’t think about that. This is probably how they permission to use the sampled music. Just give everyone credit. Most pop songs don’t sample, so this is not an issue.



Man, damn!

In the song "Sicko Mode", the song "Gimme The Loot" by The Notorious B.I.G. was sampled. The song "Gimme The Loot" contained samples from a bunch of other songs including but not limited to "Scenario" by A Tribe Called Quest, "Throw Ya Guns" by Onyx, "Just To Get A Rep" by Guru of Gangstarr, and other songs. 

Wow. It's no surprise that there are 30 writers on this song.


----------

