You may not know her by name, but I'm sure you are familiar with her songs. But singer/songwriter/producer Heather Bright is the latest talent to come out with guns blazing over the fact that there are artists who are so ashamed at their lack of songwriting talent, that they feel the need to put their name on other people's work. Heather has written for the likes of Britney Spears ("Trouble for Me,") Justin Bieber ("Somebody to Love") and Fantasia ("Even Angels,"). You can check out her interview with Free Wired below where she talks about writing a song for Britney's Femme Fatale album, Justin Bieber getting a writing credit on a song he didn't write, and Lady Gaga.
Free-Wired: So "I am rock, I am soul, I am pop, I am electro... I am a record company's worst nightmare and greatest success." How did that come about?
Heather Bright: It's just something that I believed to be true about myself. It's just something that popped in my head. I'm so many different genres. My background is so diverse, just in terms of the style of music that I grew up listening to and the different kinds of people that were around in my whole life. So I'm kind of a mix up of a bunch of different things; a mash up of country and city, all kinds of stuff. Rock, pop, just all kinds of cultures. I lived in New York for a long time and I just loved all the different cultures in the city. I just love being around all kinds of stuff. I'm attracted to things that are different.
FW: You seem like a pretty busy woman!
HB: I'm extremely busy right now! I'm way too busy! It's not that I'm not focused. I have two different things; I have my artist thing, and the songwriting and production thing, which kind of goes hand in hand. So it's like two things, but those two things are major. You can't be Rihanna and be producing and writing records. You just can't be doing that. You just won't have time. All the appearences, the performances, and the 'this,' and the 'that,' you gotta show up to record, you gotta promote the album, go on tour. I mean, people like Lady Gaga - It's amazing that they can find time to write! They have to write on tour, all of those artists who actually write!
FW: Lady Gaga actually wrote her whole new album on a tour bus, I think.
HB: I'm sure she did! She must write most of her songs on a tour bus right now, 'cause when does she have time? So it's kind of like, with me, it's gonna be either one or the other. It can't really be both. Like either what I'm doing now is gonna be - well, in terms of my artistry and this new concept that I'm doing, that's either gonna blow up and I won't have time to write for other artists anymore, or it won't, and my business will go more towards production and songwriting.
FW: But, like, with publishing deals and everything, don't the composers - the songwriters and producers - make more than the actual singers?
HB: It depends on who you are. Rihanna takes publishing, Justin Bieber takes publishing, Kanye West takes publishing. On all the stuff that they don't write, they take publishing.
FW: This is something I just have to ask, actually. So "Somebody to Love" was originally meant for Usher, right?
HB: Yup.
FW: So how did Justin Bieber get a writing credit on it?
HB: Umm... How did he get a writing credit on it?
FW: Yup.
HB: That's an interesting question. I don't know. (laughs)
FW: That's understandable. So you work a lot with Livvi Franc, whom I love. The stuff you did together - was it for your project, or hers?
HB: We actually wrote "Trouble for Me" for her project when she was on Jive, and she ended up leaving the label. Her A&R that signed her originally suggested to Barry Weiss, the president, that perhaps Britney should cut the record. They played it in a meeting and everybody flipped, and it was the first record that she cut, to my knowledge, on the project.
FW: I think it's the best track off the record, honestly.
HB: I haven't heard the whole thing, but I like "Inside Out," "Criminal." I think those are the two other records that I thought were cool.
With Beyonce always getting flack for taking credit for other people's songs, I'm glad Heather put that fake ass pop star Justin Bieber on blast for trying to act like he's a jack of all trades. I also applaud Britney Spears and Rihanna, who we all know wrote none of their songs on Femme Fatale and Loud for admitting that they don't write their own stuff. The reason why these artists take credit where's it's not due is because most of the time they get alot of shit for not write=ing their own songs. Artists shouldn't be crucified for not writing their own songs. Yes it's good to get some of that publishing coin, but everyone knows the real coin is in touring and merchandising Not overyone has the gift to write a good song which is why songwriters exist. You think Celine Dion and Whitney Houston give a shit that they don't write their own songs? Anyways, you can read the rest of the interview by heading here
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