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Why is it so hard to earn a living as a songwriter today? Ryan Tedder — artist, songwriter, producer and founder of Runner Music — and David Israelite — president & CEO of NMPA — join Billboard On The Record to talk through the many economic pressures facing modern songwriters. Tedder and Israelite discuss how social media and streaming has impacted the way songs are written, and how the growth of writing rooms, sampling and courtesy credits for non-writing artists has led to less money for the average working class songwriter. Israelite explains why radio’s decline threatens crucial income for songwriters, and Tedder opens up about his creative process and how embracing collaboration has become his key to crafting hits for artists like Tate McRae, Beyonce, Jonas Brothers and Maroon 5 in recent years. Additionally, the two talk about creative opportunities with emerging AI tools, like Suno, and why K-pop has become a particularly lucrative genre for songwriters today.
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Billboard On The Record is a podcast in partnership with SickBird Productions.
Host:
Kristin Robinson
Executive Producers:
Diona DaCosta
Jade Watson
Produced By:
Kayla Forman
Mateo Vergara
Edited By:
Rachel Derbyshire
Kristin Robsinson:
It’s arguably harder than ever to make a living as a songwriter today. But it’s not a problem that exploded overnight. It’s something that grew slowly but surely over time. If you combine the decline of radio, the move to streaming services, the expansion of writing rooms, the growth of sampling, and so many other factors, it all comes down to this, songwriters just don’t make that much money, and it’s increasingly difficult for them to survive on music alone. So I’m joined today by two guests who really get this issue inside and out to help us understand it. Ryan Tedder, David Israelite, welcome to On the Record. Well, I wanted to have you both on to try to answer a very big question that I see a lot of people asking on the internet or just saying it as a statement, which is, it’s really hard to be a songwriter today, and it’s potentially harder than it ever has been to be a songwriter. And you guys come from two different perspectives that I think are going to be really valuable for the conversation. David, as the head of the National Music Publishers Association, you really understand the business side of what songwriting looks like and publishing in general and so like and also you’re one of the best explainers that I know. So that’s why I wanted you obviously from the creative perspective. But Ryan, you have all sorts of facets to your career, owning a publishing company, being a songwriter, being a producer, being an artist. So anyways, all that to say, I think it’s gonna be good. But before we get into kind of the doom and gloom of songwriting in 2026, I guess.
Ryan Tedder:
It’s not all doom and gloom.
Kristin Robinson:
It’s not all doom and gloom.
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