https://www.tiktok.com/@halsey/video/7100595685912775979 (https://www.tiktok.com/@halsey/video/7100595685912775979)
QuoteThe label didn't want to put the first version of So Good out because it was slow and emotional.
They asked her to re-produce it as a "classic pop record", so she worked with Max Martin.
Once they got that version, they said she needs to put out a "big pop song".
Now the label is blocking her from releasing this because it didn't go viral on tiktok.
So they let her release an industrial album but not this pop record?
I mean, the label won't release the song until it gets viral on TikTok.
So she releases a TikTok about the song complaining about the label... and it goes viral.
Well done.
Quote from: nanofives on May 30, 2022, 09:03:39 PM
So they let her release an industrial album but not this pop record?
it's a marketing scheme to drum up drama and "scandal" to give the song more attention, promote it, etc. it's the new trend with artists pretending that their label is forcing them to make TikToks. Charli XCX has done it
https://www.instagram.com/p/CeOZonFsoAT/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
Sry for the double post but I just actually listened to the snippets for the first time and this song sounds amazing. Like such a nostalgic throwback to early 2010s Max Martin. A little bit of T Swift in the writing, a little Ed sheeran / Carolina liar. Glad that Halsey is embracing this and I hope it does well bc that means we could get more of that anthemic acoustic pop genre which I honestly never get tired of
Doesn't really sound trendy. I can totally understand that a label doesnt see anything in it unless it goes viral, albeit that I only heard this little part so my judgment isn't fair.
Quote from: melodicmoonlight on May 31, 2022, 09:29:46 PM
it's a marketing scheme to drum up drama and "scandal" to give the song more attention
This.
I mean if all she wanted to do is to ,,release music" as she claims, she could go independently without any label involvement whatsoever.
And it is ridiculous to claim that a label is holding back the release if Max Martin is on the record. If the label agreed to pay big bucks for Max then they absolutely do believe in the record.
She cannot release music without the label's permission. That would be a violation of her contractual obligations. If labels would allow their 'stars' to do that, they would take the risk of letting these stars breaking down their image which the label has invested a lot in to be the best it can be. Obviously they don't wanna take that risk cause they aint stupid. Hence, these artists have contractual obligations that restricts those artists in coming out with new music related to the brand of the star.
The label is perhaps not the one who invested in Max Martin on this record. It could have also been set up by a publisher who invested in a song.
Labels take the most risk financially by dropping singles. The big three (Universal, Sony, Warner) are very picky and stingy about it and they should be. Otherwise they would have a hard time, just like those little indie labels who appear and are gone by the wind. The reason they vanish from the scene is because they invest money in songs that have no place in the charts and consequently the revenue of those songs becomes too low to keep their head above the water. Remember why Cheiron decided to morph their record label into a publishing company?
Quote from: Helluvafella on June 06, 2022, 11:26:59 AM
And it is ridiculous to claim that a label is holding back the release if Max Martin is on the record. If the label agreed to pay big bucks for Max then they absolutely do believe in the record.
Actually there's a lot of Max's songs pending to be released over the years that up to this day haven't seen the light, mostly because labels think that the artist wouldn't make it.
Some examples are Bonnie Mckee's Nothing But You, Usher's Bedroom, Anitta's latest album that supposedly had a lot of songs with Max, Jonas Brothers' last album.
Please correct me if these examples are wrong.
I would love to hear those discarded songs.
I love unreleased songs. Enrique Iglesias' Alive is one of my favorite Max's songs ever.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObUvyMtiP34
So Good is out.
Written By Sammy Witte, Sarah Aarons & Halsey.
Produced By Tobias Karlsson & Max Martin.
Mixing Engineer: Șerban Ghenea
Quote from: j.fco.morales on June 10, 2022, 03:19:26 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObUvyMtiP34
So Good is out.
Written By Sammy Witte, Sarah Aarons & Halsey.
Produced By Tobias Karlsson & Max Martin.
Mixing Engineer: Șerban Ghenea
So much for the industrial pop era. Time for her to become the next puppet for Max's dead career.
Loving this one a lot
I'm glad Max coming back to one of his oldest collaborators, it's been 7 years since the last time Max collaborated with Tobias Karlsson. At the same time makes me want a new Carolina Liar album.
Incredible.
Songwriting is on point, production is simple but effective, great melody, and Halsey sounds great on this track. Taylor Swift would be proud
Quote from: j.fco.morales on June 10, 2022, 03:19:26 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObUvyMtiP34
So Good is out.
Written By Sammy Witte, Sarah Aarons & Halsey.
Produced By Tobias Karlsson & Max Martin.
Mixing Engineer: Șerban Ghenea
Don't want to sound disrespectful but for the last 10 years or so, it's when you hear one you hear them all. It's all on autopilot, structure, arr, melody, even video clips. This industry is becoming mundane. Max is still the melody king but overall impression is not exciting. No creativity, no surprisingly good parts, no stellar melody outside the famous Cheiron scheme... I still love this industry and guys but something is missing and looks like nobody cares. Or all the good songs are spent already,
Quote from: Dagge on June 11, 2022, 04:46:45 PM
Don't want to sound disrespectful but for the last 10 years or so, it's when you hear one you hear them all. It's all on autopilot, structure, arr, melody, even video clips. This industry is becoming mundane. Max is still the melody king but overall impression is not exciting. No creativity, no surprisingly good parts, no stellar melody outside the famous Cheiron scheme... I still love this industry and guys but something is missing and looks like nobody cares. Or all the good songs are spent already,
Or maybe the right artist hasn't come along.
As talented as Max is I wonder how instrumental singers like, say, Taylor Swift were in elevating their MM-produced songs. I think he's at his strongest when he partners with equally creative singers who have a specific vision and intention with their music. I'm not saying Halsey isn't up to the task. She has some
great top tier pop tunes (and hits) in her discography. But not just any artist can recruit Max to work for them and automatically guarantee a stellar track with surprisingly good parts, creativity, etc. This Halsey song seems more like a one-off that the label demanded to tighten up a track she brought to them to make more commercial. She just came out of a very experimental left-of-center album and is pivoting back to a Top 40 sound. Maybe she's more ambivalent about it?
I will say the chorus melody is simple but very effective, enjoyable, ear-wormy and sweet. I love it. It reminds me of T. Swift mixed with some Avril from 2011. I also like the reversed order of the longer pre-chorus coming before the second chorus instead of the first. Usually by the second pre-chorus it's shortened in order to "get to" the chorus faster. Idk if that was Max's choice but I found that to be unique in terms of structure. (If you watch the music video for So Good, you'll notice how they edited the song to make both pre-choruses the same longer length with the extra verse.)
Halsey writes lyrics, she doesn't write music.
She said it in one interview during the Manic era.
The same applies to Lana Del Rey. She doesn't write music, too, only texts. In was in the interview of the previous guy who wrote all her albums prior Antonoff.
It's not only text: is melody and lyrics. And that is music.
I don't know if any of you had the chance to watch the Mariah Carey's masterclass but she SANG EVERY PART of a string arrangement. Same with Michael Jackson back in the day and it's basically the same thing a lot of creative people do with their collaborators.
I find it a bit reductive, specially if they're women.
Quote from: melodicmoonlight on June 12, 2022, 03:19:36 AM
I will say the chorus melody is simple but very effective, enjoyable, ear-wormy and sweet. I love it. It reminds me of T. Swift mixed with some Avril from 2011.
After you said this I realized the hihats/snare at the beginning of the chorus it's mostly the same as Avril's What The Hell, it's also similar the way they're arranged.