American Evan Bogart began his songwriting career with "SOS" for Rihanna, which was No. 1 in 15 countries. Since then, he has written for Beyonce, Adam Lambert, Britney Spears, Demi Lovato, Jason Derulo and Jennifer Lopez to name a few. He was recently in Norway to write songs, and now you can hear him in conversation with Torgny Amdam in the TONO podcast "Lage Musikk".
/ 27/03/2018 / Willy MartinsenEvan Bogart (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._Kidd_Bogart), also known as E. Kidd Bogart, was recently in Norway to participate in the songwriting camp by:Songs in Sandvika and Asker, where TONO was the main sponsor. In this connection, TONO was able to borrow an hour of the songwriter star's time for a podcast interview with "our man" Torgny Amdam in the studio of our podcast agency Moderne Produksjon in Brugata. Listen to the podcast here: https://itunes.apple.com/no/podcast/lage-musikk/id1339098348?l=nb&mt=2#episodeGuid=5ab94ca98bdf7ba53cccc5ec
Spotify Events
In the conversation, Bogart reveals how to arrange a song for success on Spotify. Interviewer Torgny Amdam asks if streaming is changing music, and a lot is now about a good intro, Bogart says:
– We talk about it sometimes when we write songs. It's not a definitive thing, but songwriters know how Spotify works, and there are situations where people say "we have to put the chorus first", or you put clips of the vocals there or something else "hooky", to keep the listener. No one wants to be a victim of "the Spotify skip rate". Spotify removes you from playlists if listeners skip the song and move on to the next one, Bogart says.
Ruthless profession
Bogart also says that songwriting in his circles is not primarily about chasing the next big hit:
– I always work with other songwriters, and when the environment is nice and the chemistry is good, that's when the best songs come. You have to love the process. But not all songs become hits. If you're a successful songwriter, maybe 10 percent of your songs per year will be recorded. Of those, maybe 10 percent will become singles, and of those, maybe 5 percent will do well. Those are low percentages, and if you're both miserable and don't feel like your songs are being used – what kind of life is that? If you don't like the process, this is the wrong industry to be in, he says.
It's the energy in the room that writes the music.
When several songwriters work together and the song is finished and the rights and distribution are to be done in TONO, music publishers, etc., the songwriters must agree on the distribution. Bogart's philosophy is that the work should be registered with equal shares for everyone who participated, regardless of whether some contributed more than others:
– You can learn to play an instrument or write good lyrics, but hearing a melody that has not yet been written is innate. When creative people work together in a room, everyone's antennae will filter out melodies from the universe, and everyone's energy contributes to the writing of a song. It is the energy in the room that writes the music, and that is why I also believe that the rights should always be distributed equally between everyone in the room, says Bogart.
Bogart also talks in the conversation with Amdam about what it's like to be the son of Neil Bogart, the music industry legend who started Casablanca Records and released the records of artists like Kiss and Donna Summer.