This is a fascinating story of how many pop hits are written by teams. <\/p>\n
How an Unlikely Duo Became the Hottest Songwriters in Pop Music<\/strong><\/p>\n JOE COSCARELLIJAN reports for the NY Times. Jan 7. <\/p>\n \nLOS ANGELES \u2014 Ten minutes into a recent recording session with a Grammy-winning producer they had never previously met, Julia Michaels and Justin Tranter, the in-demand pop songwriters of the moment, had a bouncy new hook.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s a new girl now,\u201d Ms. Michaels, 22, sang with finger-snapping pop-soul syncopation for maximum catchiness. Mr. Tranter thumbed the words into his iPhone, fleshing out Ms. Michaels\u2019s lines, which alluded to liquor and Instagram. The pair petted each other\u2019s tattooed arms while volleying ideas, never separating by more than a few feet until Ms. Michaels entered the vocal booth. Mr. Tranter, 35, called out suggestions and encouragement.<\/p>\n The songwriter Jason Boyd, better known as Poo Bear, in Los Angeles this month.Poo Bear, Speaking Softly and Carrying a Bieber ComebackOCT. 15, 2015 Within three minutes, Ms. Michaels had delivered another melody wordlessly into her phone, citing Radiohead as inspiration. \u201cHot butter on breakfast toast,\u201d J-Roc said, approvingly.<\/p>\n That fresh perspective, along with speed and precision, has been the modus operandi for Ms. Michaels, a professional songwriter since her early teens, and Mr. Tranter, a former glam-rock frontman, throughout their radio-dominating hot streak. Last year, the unlikely duo scored four Billboard hits together (and some apart), including \u201cGood for You\u201d by Selena Gomez and \u201cSorry\u201d by Justin Bieber, both of which peaked in the Top 5 on the Hot 100 and topped the pop airplay chart.<\/p>\n The pair\u2019s other successes included \u201cLove Myself,\u201d the self-care anthem by the Oscar-nominated actress Hailee Steinfeld (\u201cIt\u2019s very clearly about masturbation,\u201d Ms. Michaels said), along with tracks for Demi Lovato and Fifth Harmony. After helping elevate newer stars beyond their tween die-hards, Ms. Michaels and Mr. Tranter were courted for sessions with established icons like Britney Spears, Gwen Stefani, Courtney Love and John Legend.<\/p>\n \u201cThey became my go-to writers so quickly because their batting average was so, so high,\u201d said Aaron Bay-Schuck, the president of A&R at Interscope, whose job includes finding big artists their hits. \u201cThey just kept delivering.\u201d<\/p>\n In this age of carefully engineered hit-making, with upward of a half a dozen writers contributing to each potential smash, earning a song placement on a top-tier album is highly competitive. In addition to known quantities pitching songs on spec, major labels often convene so-called writing camps for their biggest artists, featuring an array of musicians from different worlds all gunning for the same finite track list.<\/p>\n Increasingly, as genre lines and principles continue to blur, indie-leaning musicians are making their living in the studio, not onstage, guiding the sounds of pop radio with near-anonymity. Following in the footsteps of 4 Non Blondes\u2019s Linda Perry and Semisonic\u2019s Dan Wilson, artists cultivating careers as writers include Miike Snow\u2019s Andrew Wyatt and the Cardigans\u2019 Peter Svensson.<\/p>\n \n\u201cIt\u2019s very valuable to have people from different backgrounds and perspectives in a room together,\u201d Mr. Bay-Shuck said of Ms. Michaels and Mr. Tranter.<\/p>\n Besides churning out irresistible radio candy, the duo have developed a proven knack for giving a relatable voice to stars\u2019 public psychodramas. After delivering for both Mr. Bieber and Ms. Gomez \u2014 famous exes \u2014 at the moment of their professional maturations, the songwriters contributed to Ms. Stefani\u2019s post-divorce comeback single, \u201cUsed to Love You,\u201d a midtempo ballad from a 25-year pop veteran.<\/p>\n \u201cI think when you know the story, it\u2019s much easier to write,\u201d Ms. Michaels said of her job as a pop-star counselor and translator. \u201cI\u2019m just good at listening, taking exactly what they feel and putting it on paper. It\u2019s a very therapeutic thing.\u201d<\/p>\n Photo<\/p>\n Fluency across styles, like the Prince-inflected minimalism of Selena Gomez\u2019s new single, \u201cHands to Myself\u201d \u2014 has kept Ms. Michaels and Mr. Tranter from being pigeonholed. Credit Elizabeth Weinberg for The New York Times Having been through the industry wringer as the vocalist for the New York rock group Semi Precious Weapons, Mr. Tranter cherishes his new role of behind-the-scenes sensei.<\/p>\n While his proudly queer band never achieved mainstream success despite four record deals and what Mr. Tranter estimated as $500,000 in personal losses, Semi Precious Weapons has been cited as an influence by Lady Gaga, for whom it opened on world tours, and Sam Smith, who recently credited his career to Mr. Tranter on Instagram.<\/p>\n \u201cGwen texted me and was like, \u2018Wait, is this just what you do?\u2019\u201d Mr. Tranter said of Ms. Stefani. \u201c\u2018You just inspire people and make them feel comfortable and strong and confident?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n When his band fizzled amid suggestions that he act less feminine, Mr. Tranter, bubbly and warm, focused on his interpersonal and melodic skills in the studio: \u201cI was really good at getting the vibe going in most sessions,\u201d he said. \u201cBeing a songwriter, you are accepting that this isn\u2019t about you. If you do want it to be about you, you\u2019re going to be really miserable.\u201d<\/p>\n After so many false starts toward stardom, he added, \u201cI just want to make music that people hear, and I\u2019m not ashamed of that.\u201d<\/p>\n Pop songwriting sessions can often be like blind dates, with an array of writers and producers shoved into a room with minimal direction. Ms. Michaels and Mr. Tranter, who are both represented by the music publisher Warner\/Chappell, met at one such setup in late 2013, though Ms. Michaels\u2019s shyness almost doomed the collaboration.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you\u2019re in the room with somebody you don\u2019t know, and you have to be practically naked, it can be really overwhelming,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n So Ms. Michaels hid in a hall closet while the producer played a beat on loop and Mr. Tranter stood by skeptically. She was \u201cso nervous and insecure,\u201d Mr. Tranter recalled, until suddenly \u201cshe kicks open the door and sings this insane melody with my song title plugged into it. I honestly knew at that moment: \u2018Oh, this is over\u2019 \u2014 in a good way.\u201d<\/p>\n Rita Ora and the mega-D.J. Calvin Harris recorded that first song soon after; Christina Aguilera and Kelly Clarkson picked two others from their first batch of five. \u201cThat ratio is insane,\u201d Mr. Tranter said.<\/p>\n Although Ms. Michaels had more session experience of the two, landing interstitial music for MTV\u2019s \u201cThe Hills\u201d and the theme song for Disney\u2019s \u201cAustin & Ally\u201d by 18, she found a champion in Mr. Tranter. \u201cI\u2019m very emotional and vulnerable,\u201d she said. \u201cHe\u2019s very light and energetic and keeps everything bright. I like to think of us as one perfect human being.\u201d<\/p>\n Born in Iowa and raised near Los Angeles, Ms. Michaels, who is prone to disarming giggles and over-sharing, was home-schooled as she and her older sister pursued music. She was self-taught on piano and never trained as a vocalist. \u201cI just wanted to write the songs,\u201d she said. \u201cI never wanted to sing them.\u201d<\/p>\n Ms. Michaels also had a millennial\u2019s omnivorous music taste, moving between the teen pop of her formative years (Ms. Spears, \u2019N Sync, the Spice Girls) and metal bands (she once had a colorful Mohawk) before discovering female singer-songwriters like Fiona Apple and Lauryn Hill.<\/p>\n Fluency across styles \u2014 from the tropical reggaeton beat of \u201cSorry\u201d to the Prince-inflected minimalism of Ms. Gomez\u2019s new single, \u201cHands to Myself\u201d \u2014 has kept Ms. Michaels and Mr. Tranter from being pigeonholed, or even linked to their various hits by many listeners.<\/p>\n What ties those songs together is that they are often \u201cunder-sung,\u201d Mr. Tranter said, \u201cdrawing attention to the story.\u201d More important, he added, \u201cI want to make sure in every song we write that women are given power.\u201d (His gender-swapping exclamations around the studio include \u201cOh my goddess!\u201d and \u201cA-wo-men!\u201d )<\/p>\n That project extends to his work with Ms. Michaels. \u201cShe\u2019s so confident in what she does, and yet because this world is so awful to women she still apologizes for having ideas,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n In the studio with J-Roc, one such unnecessary apology from Ms. Michaels prompted a gentle mocking from Mr. Tranter: \u201cOh, I\u2019m so sorry I\u2019m writing all these songs and making people all this money,\u201d he said lovingly.<\/p>\n Returning the next night, the duo filled in Ms. Michaels\u2019s melodic sketch from the end of the prior session, once again taking inspiration from her life but also from some celebratory studio supplies around them. \u201cStrawberries and Champagne,\u201d she sang, \u201cain\u2019t gonna fix a damn thing.\u201d J-Roc mimed shooting heroin to convey his bliss.<\/p>\n Because of Ms. Michaels\u2019s age, demographic and recent successes, questions about the next step for her are inevitable. Songwriters like Sia, Ester Dean, Jessie J and Bruno Mars have attempted the leap from studio to stardom with varying degrees of success. \u201cThere will be no shortage of labels that are interested in Julia as an artist,\u201d said Mr. Bay-Shuck of Interscope. \u201cUltimately, she has to ask herself what she wants.\u201d<\/p>\n For the moment, it\u2019s not more spotlight. \u201cNow more than ever, because of social media, songwriters are getting way more attention,\u201d Ms. Michaels said, adding that she often suffers from panic attacks and was only recently recognized in public for the first time.<\/p>\n \u201cI write songs for myself, but I never keep them,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m like, \u2018O.K., that was my therapy \u2014 it\u2019s out of my body now. I\u2019m going to give it to somebody else, so it can be their therapy, too.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\nSelena Gomez releases her new album, \u201cRevival,\u201d on Oct. 9.Selena Gomez Tilts the Disney Halo With \u2018Revival\u2019SEPT. 24, 2015
\nLess than an hour later, they had a story of feminine renewal \u2014 taken from Ms. Michaels\u2019s life, but sung from the male viewpoint \u2014 and a simple, layered keyboard demo. There were 10 minutes to spare before dinner, enough for J-Roc, the producer known for his work with Timbaland (Justin Timberlake, Beyonc\u00e9), to cue up a futuristic R&B track.<\/p>\n
\nMr. Tranter often serves that same role for his songwriting partner. \u201cJulia writes the songs as if she\u2019s the artist,\u201d he said, estimating that Ms. Michaels leads 75 percent of their studio time. \u201cI\u2019m the extra piece to the puzzle.\u201d (Without Ms. Michaels, his credits include Fall Out Boy\u2019s \u201cCenturies\u201d and new music for Joe Jonas\u2019s DNCE.)<\/p>\n