New York (AP) — When songs top the charts, they become inescapable: Cross-genre hits are heard on the radio, on streaming, in lobbies and grocery stores. The artists who perform them become famous. But the people who wrote those earworms? Many do not.
At least, that used to be the case.
In the last few years, a new generation of songwriters has begun stepping into the spotlight. Muni Long has a successful R&B career; songwriter HARDY has done the same in the country music space. Julia Michaels writes big pop hits and records her own. Victoria Monét went from Grammy nominations as a songwriter and producer to taking home trophies as a solo artist. Amy Allen has become a household name following the ubiquity of her work with Sabrina Carpenter. The same could be said about Édgar Barrera, who has dominated Latin music as both a songwriter and producer.
On Netflix, a new reality show, “Hitmakers,” follows a group of songwriters as they ship off to writing camps to work on songs for John Legend, Shaboozey, Usher and Blackpink’s Lisa.
The industry has taken note, too. For the 2023 Grammys, a “songwriter of the year” award was created to spotlight the talents of those who write for others. That year’s award went to Tobias Jesso Jr., for his songs for Harry Stiles, Adele, FKA Twigs and others. Theron Thomas won in 2024 and Allen in 2025.
Here’s how it happened.
A changing tide
Why is there a buzz around songwriters now? The answer is challenging to pinpoint. Allen says she’s noticed a shift in “the past six years,” she told The Associated Press.
“I am so grateful that the general public is starting to take interest in the people behind the curtain of how music is made,” Allen said. “But I think songwriters have kind of long gone without any type of visibility or recognition.”
She credits fans – modern music listeners – for driving attention to her and her colleagues and social media platforms like TikTok for some of this newfound interest. Online, dedicated fans are curious about the names behind their favorite songs, what Allen describes as a desire to “connect the dots … like they’re trying to solve a murder mystery.”
PYNK BEARD, an emerging country music artist and a Grammy-award winning R&B songwriter under the moniker Sebastian Kole, agrees, but says that crate-digging behavior is reserved for “super fans.” Algorithms, too, must be credited here: The exposure to other artists — including songwriters — emerges from listening to a playlist or online radio.
Michaels says some of the credit goes to the artists they write for, who are making their collaborators known by name.
“I sometimes think songwriters are sort of the dishwater of the music industry. We get the short end of the stick a lot of the time. And so, it really comes down to artists’ recognition of songwriters,” she says. “For that to happen is really special. And I see it happen more and more nowadays. It’s really great that songwriters are getting their flowers.”
Songwriters are artists themselves
It’s not only that songwriters are now being recognized for their gifts – they’re releasing music under their own names, too, while simultaneously penning hits for the biggest artists around.
Take Michaels for example. She’s cowritten songs like Justin Bieber’s “Sorry” and Selena Gomez’s “Lose You to Love Me,” and has had her own hits with “Issues” and “If The World Was Ending” with JP Saxe.
“Songwriting is always my first love. Like, I’m always going to want to write songs with and for other people,” she says. “But there’s also this very strong desire to be able to have my own voice as well.”
The majority of PYNK BEARD’s songwriting career as Sebastian Kole has been in the R&B space, working with Alessia Cara, Legend, Alicia Keys, Halle Bailey and more. As a solo artist, he makes country music. He says writing for others and writing for himself are two distinct skill sets, each a unique expression of creativity and empathy. “As a songwriter, my job is to listen and mimic,” he says. “My job as a songwriter is to get as close to their voice as possible.”
Writing for himself “is completely different … you have to really get to know yourself again.”
An economic reality
In the first episode of Netflix’s “Hitmakers,” the writer Trey Campbell introduces himself by saying that even though he is Grammy nominated, he still drives for Uber to support himself. For many writers, that is the reality of the job.
“The songwriter position is probably the most glorified, underappreciated job in music, right? Everybody thinks, ‘Oh, the songwriter, the person that wrote the song, they make all this money,’” says PYNK BEARD. “Well, we don’t.”
In the music industry, artists, songwriters, and producers earn income from their creative works via music royalties. There are two kinds: publishing (the notes, melodies, chords, rhythms, lyrics, etc.) and master rights (the master recording, typically owned by the record label). Songwriters do not receive master rights, which limits how much they are compensated.
“You can’t make any money. You can’t make a living. But if you are the artist, then all of a sudden, you get to participate on the master,” he says. That changes things.
But ultimately, it’s not just a financial reality. Songwriters choosing to record their own music is just another expression of creative autonomy.
“As an artist, you get to be more in the driver’s seat,” he says. “I think you’ll see a lot more songwriters doing that.”
