Ghosts in the Hit Machine: The secrets of musical ghostwriters

Twenty Thousand Hertz

Dallas Taylor

Music, Design, Arts, Music Commentary

4.8 • 4.1K Ratings

🗓️ 25 May 2022

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Many of today’s biggest songs are written and produced by people whose names don’t appear anywhere in the credits. They’re called ghostwriters and ghost producers, and they’re a huge part of the music industry. So what’s it like to watch your song become a hit when you can’t legally talk about it? And how do you get in the mindset of a legendary rap star, in order to write verses for them? Featuring rapper and ghost songwriter Skyzoo and producer Dame Taylor. Follow Dallas on Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn. Watch our video shorts on YouTube, and join the discussion on Reddit and Facebook. Become a monthly contributor at 20k.org/donate. If you know what this week's mystery sound is, tell us at mystery.20k.org. Explore music education classes with Monster Sessions. Hiring? Sign up at Indeed.com/Hertz and get a $75 credit to sponsor your first job post for better visibility, more applications, and quicker hiring times. Episode transcript, music, and credits can be found here: https://www.20k.org/episodes/ghostsinthehitmachine Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	One of the best choices I ever made for my health was prioritizing regular checkups,
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0:24.3	Zocdoch.com slash Hertz.
0:30.6	You're listening to 20,000 Hertz.
0:37.3	It's a well-known fact that a lot of popular musicians don't write their own songs.
0:42.2	Instead, many of these hits are written by professional songwriters. And while most people don't
0:47.2	know the names of these songwriters, they're still famous within the industry. And of course,
0:52.2	you can find their names listed in the credits of the songs they write.
0:55.8	But that's not always how it works.
0:57.8	There are some songwriters who never get any credit.
1:01.0	They're called ghost writers and ghost producers, and they're a huge part of the music business.
1:06.0	That's 20,000 Hertz producer Andrew Anderson.
1:09.0	They're the people behind a lot of the most popular
1:11.5	music in the world. They write songs for famous singers, rappers, producers, and DJs, but you
1:17.5	won't find their names written anywhere in the credits. And this happens in almost every genre.
1:25.8	The term ghostwriter comes from literature. The most famous kind of ghost writing is probably
1:31.3	the celebrity autobiography. For a lot of those, a celebrity will hire a writer to interview them
1:36.4	extensively. The writer will then use those interviews as the basis of the celebrity's book.
1:42.6	In the world of music, the term ghostwriter didn't start getting used until the 1950s,
	...

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