5. Taylor Swift's "Love Story" Ironically Makes Fun of a Guy She Was Dating That Everyone Hated
Source: Billboard
"It's not a phase, MOM! THIS IS WHO I AM!" Basically is the gist of this song. Without digging into the pseudo Shakespearean relevance, Taylor wrote a perfect "love story" out of a tumultuous coupling.
“It took me getting mad at my parents because they didn’t want me to date this dude when I was 17, and I threw a fit and ran to my room fit and wrote [the] song on my bedroom floor.” Though at the time, Taylor had no idea what a smash hit the song would be, adding, “That turned into something I never expected it to be. Our first, number one worldwide hit.”
Source: Teen.com
4. Rebecca Black's “Friday” Was Written in 30 Minutes as a Joke Partyin, partyin, yeah, partyin, partyin, fun.... so on and so forth. This innocuous hit was a permanent fixture of end of the week joyousness since 2011 and proudly served as “The Worst Youtube Video Ever Made.” The song was written in THIRTY MINUTES after an endless Thursday night of songwriting.
“‘Friday’ took me probably about 30 minutes. It did. 30 minutes, yeah. It happened 12:00 a.m. in the morning. Guess it was Thursday, and I’m like ‘I need to make a song, I need to make a song.’ Then it was Friday and I was like ‘Oh, it’s Friday. Oh, that’s a song. There’s no song about Friday out there.’”
Source: Mediaite
“Co-Writer” Patrice Wilson was up all night churning out pop songs when finally, relieved to see the dawn of Friday, came up with this ear worm. Rolling Stone calls “Friday” an “unintentional parody of modern pop.”
3. Beyonce's “Flawless” Was Modified to Include a Joke About Her Sister Solange
Source: Hello Giggles
The song was originally recorded as angry Beyonce airing her beefs with the world.. but she modified it ADDING a joke about the Solange/Jay Z Elevator fight.You may have “woke up like dis,” but the song certainly didn't start with those same lyrics. This aphorism for the narcissist Everywoman actually was written by an enraged Beyonce. The original title of the song illustrated her commanding for dominance, “Bow Down.”
"I went into the studio, I had a chant in my head, it was aggressive, it was angry, it wasn't the Beyoncé that wakes up every morning," she told iTunes Radio. "...Imagine the person that hates you. Imagine a person that doesn't believe in you. And look in the mirror and say, 'Bow down, bitch' and I guarantee you feel gangsta.”
Source: The Atlantic
"Beyonce took everyone by surprise again over the weekend by releasing new music -- a remix of "Flawless" that references that much-talked-about Jay Z and Solange elevator fight." Source: CBS News
2. Blink 182's Rock Show: An Effort in Taking Editorial Criticism Extremely Literally
Notorious for their poop jokes and shenanigans, pop punk sensation Blink 182's 2001 hit “Rock Show” was written as a joke. When MCA told Mark Tom and Travis to write some more “upbeat songs,” they took the advice literally creating the summertime hit, “Rock Show.” Mark wrote the song in ten minutes
"DeVoe sat in the control room and quietly listened to the recordings, and pressed the band at the end on why there was no "Blink-182 good-time summer anthem [thing]". DeLonge and Hoppus were furious, remarking, "You want a fucking single? I'll write you the cheesiest, catchiest, throwaway fucking summertime single you've ever heard!"[2][17] Hoppus went home and wrote lead single "The Rock Show" in ten minutes, and DeLonge similarly wrote "First Date", which became the biggest singles from the record and future live staples.[18]"
Source: ebook
1. The Actual Writers of Avicii's "Hey Brother" Made $12,000 Hey... Brother... You just ripped off Aloe Blacc pretty damn bad.
The #1 most streamed song on Spotify last year was the innocuous hit, "Hey Brother" by DJ Avicii. The actual songwriters made $4,000 each from the deal and because of copyright laws, there is absolutely nothing they can do about it. Musicians are required by law to allow any business to purchase their song at a set cost for a sample or cover. Aloe Blacc was one of the three writers of the song and just published his story for Wired Magazine.
"But the world doesn’t work that way for songwriters. By law, we have to let any business use our songs that asks, so long as they agree to pay a rate that, more often than not, was not set in a free market. We don’t have a choice. As such, we have no power to protect the value of the music we create. The abhorrently low rates songwriters are paid by streaming services—enabled by outdated federal regulations—are yet another indication our work is being devalued in today’s marketplace. Consider the fact that it takes roughly one million spins on Pandora for a songwriter to earn just $90. Avicii’s release “Wake Me Up!” that I co-wrote and sing, for example, was the most streamed song in Spotify history and the 13th most played song on Pandora since its release in 2013, with more than 168 million streams in the US. And yet, that yielded only $12,359 in Pandora domestic royalties— which were then split among three songwriters and our publishers. In return for co-writing a major hit song, I’ve earned less than $4,000 domestically from the largest digital music service. If that’s what’s now considered a streaming “success story,” is it any wonder that so many songwriters are now struggling to make ends meet? IN RETURN FOR CO-WRITING A MAJOR HIT SONG, I’VE EARNED LESS THAN $4,000 DOMESTICALLY FROM THE LARGEST DIGITAL MUSIC SERVICE."
Source: Wired
