Why It Doesn’t Matter How Many People Are Credited With Writing A Song Nowadays… (As If It Ever Did…)

As a near-lifelong semi-pro musician, I tend to frequent a forum on Facebook called Cover Band Central. Years ago, when I first discovered this particular group, things were more civil, but there was a fair share of cranks that had their own near-Luddite opinions on how working bands should be doing things, on everything from onstage attire (my advice: don’t dress like a slob) to whether or not to step onto that stage (or stage-like area) while under any amount of influence (my advice: Don’t, period… — I’ve dealt with two weedheads and a raging alcoholic for bandmates in the past) to whether or not to use an iPad onstage (my take: Would you rather the “offending” party had a thick three-ring binder full of every song in the band’s repertoire?) As the old saying goes, opinions are like assholes, we all have one…

Recently, one poster at Cover Band Central had posted the lyrics to a recent hit pop song (the reason of which I have long forgotten), which led someone else to comment, “This song has seven songwriters and three producers. It has all the integrity of a stick of bubblegum.” Given that your humble writer is just as likely to throw Blackpink onto his stereo as he is Black Flag or Black Sabbath, picking on pop music in any ignorant or narcissistic manner would be a hypocritical move on my part. The commentator, whose only real point was apparently on top of his head, believed he was being edgy under the self-informed belief that since…