It's brutal out here: Olivia Rodrigo and how the music business makes songwriters fight over credits

Decoder with Nilay Patel

Vox Media Podcast Network

Business, Technology

4.2 • 3.4K Ratings

🗓️ 15 September 2021

⏱️ 62 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week on Decoder we are doing something a little different. We're talking with Charlie Harding, co-host of the podcast Switched on Pop a podcast about pop music, about the state of the music industry particularly as it relates to copyright. The conversation is framed around Olivia Rodrigo's debut album Sour and why she keeps handing out songwriting credits months after the album was released. This is kind of a hybrid between an episode of Decoder and an episode of Switched on Pop. We play a lot of music throughout the episode and in case you want to go back and listen to full songs we've made playlists for both Spotify and Apple Music. Spotify - https://spoti.fi/3nuMTt7 Apple Music - https://apple.co/3986hUw Links Olivia Rodrigo Studied All the Right Moves https://www.vulture.com/2021/05/olivia-rodrigo-sour-album-review Why Taylor Swift is rerecording all her old songs https://www.vox.com/culture/22278732/taylor-swift-re-recording-fearless-love-story-master-rights-scooter-braun Olivia Rodrigo Gives Taylor Swift Songwriting Credit on Second ‘Sour’ Song, ‘Deja Vu’ https://variety.com/2021/music/news/olivia-rodrigo-taylor-swift-songwriting-credit-deja-vu-1235015769/ Olivia Rodrigo Adds Paramore to Songwriting Credits on ‘Good 4 U’ https://variety.com/2021/music/news/olivia-rodrigo-paramore-good-4-u-misery-business-1235048791/ ‘Blurred Lines’ Copyright Suit Against Robin Thicke, Pharrell Ends in $5M Judgment https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/robin-thicke-pharrell-williams-blurred-lines-copyright-suit-final-5-million-dollar-judgment-768508/ Katy Perry Wins Appeal in ‘Dark Horse’ Infringement Case https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/katy-perry-dark-horse-copyright-win-appeal-969009/ Led Zeppelin Wins Long ‘Stairway to Heaven’ Copyright Case https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/05/arts/music/stairway-to-heaven-led-zeppelin-lawsuit.html Isley Feels Vindicated In Bolton Case https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/78775/isley-feels-vindicated-in-bolton-case Transcript - https://www.theverge.com/e/22436745 The Verge is turning 10 and we're throwing a party in New York City! Purchase tickets here - https://bit.ly/2YRI8iR This episode was produced by Creighton DeSimone, Alexander Charles Adams, and Andrew Marino. We were edited by Callie Wright. And our music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:56.6	Translating over 36 months and 20th December 2022, 36 months advice by my
1:00.0	late-term plan up to 24 months, 18 plus credits, and 12 in-times apply.
1:03.0	Hello and welcome to Decoder.
1:06.6	I'm Neil Appetel, Editor in Chief of the Verge, and Decoder is my show about big ideas and other problems.
1:12.2	Today's episode is a little different.
1:13.8	We're doing a crossover with one of my favorite podcasts, switched on pop.
1:18.2	The show about how popular music is made.
1:20.8	I ask my friend Charlie Harding, one of the co-hosts to come on Decoder,
1:24.4	and walk me through a particularly big change to the business of pop music that's come about in the streaming era.
1:31.0	Specifically, I wanted to understand why so many people keep coming for Olivia Rodrigo.
1:36.9	If you don't know Olivia Rodrigo is an 18-year-old singer-songwriter whose debut album,
1:41.5	Sauer, is one of the biggest hits of the year.
1:44.6	Just this week, she won three MTV Video Music Awards, including best new artist and song of the year.
1:51.7	If you're not familiar with Olivia Rodrigo, well, probably are.
	...

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