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[Dénouement]

(pictured: Dr. Luke and Katy Perry, the top male songwriter/producer and the top female songwriter/producer in the world)

The SS100 is a data driven ranking of the 100 most valuable songwriters & music producers in the world. We define value as capturing “Ear-share” - the relative popularity of music created or co-created by a songwriter and/or producer (yes, we made that term up!) To create our list, SongSplits uses mountains of data and lots of math to determine who, of the more than 3 million registered songwriters around the world, are the most relevant in music publishing & are possibly the top earners of the people who write & produce music. According to the data, these are people that any writer, producer or artist would be smart to work with, every publishing company & rights society around the world would be honored to represent & every music fan should keep an eye on. These are the top 100 songwriters & producers in the world. Or, as we like to call them, the SS100.

https://www.songsplits.com/campaign/SS100-2015_download-SongSplits.pdf

Calculating based on success from airplay, sales, and web streaming, SongSplits has compiled a list of the top 100 top songwriters/producers in the world right now in 2015.

The top 10 (in brackets are some of the big hits they worked on from the last year or two, more are included in the link above)
1. Dr. Luke
(Wrecking Ball by Miley Cyrus, Roar by Katy Perry, Dark Horse by Katy Perry (feat. Juicy J), Timber by Pitbull (feat. Ke$ha), Pills n Potions by Nicki Minaj, Sugar by Maroon 5)

2. Cirkut
(Wrecking Ball by Miley Cyrus, Roar by Katy Perry, Dark Horse by Katy Perry (feat. Juicy J), Timber by Pitbull (feat. Ke$ha), Pills n Potions by Nicki Minaj, Sugar by Maroon 5)

3. Max Martin
(Roar by Katy Perry, Dark Horse by Katy Perry (feat. Juicy J), Problem by Ariana Grande (feat. Iggy Azalea), Break Free by Ariana Grande (feat. Zedd), Bang Bang by Jessie J, Ariana Grande, and Nicki Minaj, Love Me Harder by Ariana Grande (feat. The Weeknd), Shake It Off by Taylor Swift, Blank Space by Taylor Swift, Love Me Like You Do by Ellie Goulding)

4. Ryan Tedder
(Counting Stars by OneRepublic, Burn by Ellie Goulding, Maps by Maroon 5)

5. Pharrell
(Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke (feat. Pharrell and TI), Get Lucky by Daft Punk, Happy, Sing by Ed Sheeran)

6. Avicii
(Wake Me Up, Hey Brother, A Sky Full of Stars by Coldplay)

7. Jimmy Napes
(Latch by Disclosure (feat. Sam Smith), La La La by Naughty Boy (feat. Sam Smith), Stay With Me by Sam Smith)

8. Katy Perry
(Roar, Dark Horse (feat. Juicy J), Black Widow by Iggy Azalea (feat. Rita Ora))

9. Sam Smith
(Latch by Disclosure (feat. Sam Smith), La La La by Naughty Boy, Stay With Me)

10. Pitbull
(Timber (feat. Ke$ha), Time of Our Lives (feat. Ne-Yo))

Full List.

Some of the people on the list are solely producers or solely writers on some/all songs, while others are both, which is probably why some are higher than others despite working on the same songs.

The trio of Dr. Luke, Cirkut, and Max Martin were expected. Dr. Luke and Max Martin have pretty much been dominating the pop music industry for the last 15-20 years, and it doesn't look their reign is letting up. Pretty impressive that Katy Perry is the highest woman on the list, though, and the only female pop star on the list until #33, which is Lorde.

 

[RustyNails]

Quincy Jones

 

[Draconian]

How did it really take four people to write Roar?

 

[themadcowtipper]

Shouldn't 9 be Tom Petty.............

 

[ItAintEasyBeinCheesy]

Would have thought Sia would be on the list somewhere pretty high?

 

[Dénouement]

Would have thought Sia would be on the list somewhere pretty high?

She's #80.

She hasn't really written any big hit lately, only really Chandelier. I'm pretty sure the ~every popstar needs a Sia written single~ phase is done.

How did it really take four people to write Roar?

It took 5. Bonnie McKee (who's #40 something) helped write it, too.

 

[Dénouement]

Hmmm....really looking at the list, it's funny to see some of the absences.

 

[Akahige]

How did it really take four people to write Roar?

Two people composing the music and two writing the lyrics isn't something out there.

 

[You Know Nothing]

(pictured: Dr. Luke and Katy Perry, the top male songwriter/producer and the top female songwriter/producer in the world)

Well, that Dr. Luke/Katy Perry combination certainly explains why everyone hates listening to pop radio.

 

[Floridian]

Katy is so hardworking. The recognition just won't stop.

 

[Booshka]

Quincy Jones

All-Time GOAT.

 

[Dénouement]

Well, that Dr. Luke/Katy Perry combination certainly explains why everyone hates listening to pop radio.

Apparently not, since the reasons they made it so high on the list is because everyone buys, listens, and requests their songs.

 

[DiscoJer]

(pictured: Dr. Luke and Katy Perry, the top male songwriter/producer and the top female songwriter/producer in the world)

Is it me, or is she orange?

Apparently not, since the reasons they made it so high on the list is because everyone buys, listens, and requests their songs.

Aren't music sales at an all time low? I know people like to blame piracy/streaming, but I have to think the poor quality of modern music is also is a factor.

 

[Deleted member 102481]

the let it go writers.

 

[Darksol]

Man that is a massive list of shit, successful or not.

 

[Booshka]

Needs more Chick Corea and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez.

 

[Beaniedude]

Is Dr Luke an actual doctor?
What did he get his PhD in? (actually semi curious)

 

[Dénouement]

Aren't music sales at an all time low? I know people like to blame piracy/streaming, but I have to think the poor quality of modern music is also is a factor.

Most people aren't in the "Music today sucks!" camp as much as people here would like you to believe. Kids/teens today aren't yelling at the clouds going, "Gosh, music was way better years ago!"

And single sales are doing okay. Take the two Katy Perry songs that are prevalent in the top 10 of this list - Roar and Dark Horse. Both are among the best selling singles ever with ~8 million-10 million sales each, and together have been streamed over 1.5 billion times on Youtube alone.

 

[old]

Edit: I feel like there should be a seperate category for writers who write for others and writers who write for themselves.

 

[FZZ]

Where the fuck is DJ Mustard and Mikewillmadeit

 

[Deleted member 13876]

Dan Schneider.

 

[jtb]

I didn't realize Sam Smith got a writing credit for Latch, good for him.

 

[You Know Nothing]

God Sam Smith really is awful.

Apparently not, since the reasons they made it so high on the list is because everyone buys, listens, and requests their songs.

If by listens you mean "is assaulted until they develop Stockholm Syndrome with the song" then I agree.

 

[Village]

If by listens you mean "is assaulted until they develop Stockholm Syndrome with the song" then I agree.

Or they just like the song and that's it.

 

[Currygan]

How did it really take four people to write Roar?

the same amount it took to write Uptown Funk

 

[You Know Nothing]

Or they just like the song and that's it.

I won't disagree. I like some Katy Perry songs. I just really dislike the way mainstream radio works.

 

[Cheebo]

God Sam Smith really is awful.



If by listens you mean "is assaulted until they develop Stockholm Syndrome with the song" then I agree.

People like Katy Perry, lots and lots of people. Her single sales, yes sales, are some of the highest of all time.

 

[DominoKid]

Max Martin must be so paid.

i didn't know Katy wrote Black Widow too. i'd like to hear what it'd sound like w/ her instead of Rita.

 

[enigmatic_alex44]

Sexy Sam Smith stays winning. You go gurl

Seeing Dr. Luke @ number 1 is a shock. Did Ke$ha drop her lawsuit against him or something? Yikes.

 

[BowieZ]

I'm not sure what's so hard to understand about pop music being collaborative... no more than a band working together on a song. Any time someone gives feedback on a lyric or vocal line here or there, they can legally demand credit for songwriting. But it's an honest open process just like jamming out a rock song.

It's not as though in a Pop Music Studio™ they have a team of monkeys working round the clock to churn out as uninspired a song as possible, which is fed to a focus group of teens to make it as commercial as possible.

It's simply that a pop producer writes a relatively formulaic tune and beat that he likes the sound of, and it builds from there. It's not indie music where the goal is to use the most unconventional instruments, vocal reverbs and time signatures as possible, which when you think about it, is also highly formulaic, and the majority of the times has had just as much input from various artists and producers and friends along the way.