音楽を作る作業はとても個人的なものだ。ヴォーカロイドを駆使する日本の音楽制作者などは、歌をうたう人もいないので、ほとんど自分一人で作業が完結してしまう。
しかし、世界のヒット曲ではこのような制作方法はもはや過去のものとなり、3人、5人という作詞作曲者がクレジットされるようになっている。私が知る限り最多のクレジット数はカニエ・ウエストの「All Day」の15人である。



Billboard誌によると、2015年のBillboardのヒット・チャート「Hot100」に入った曲で、作詞作曲者が1名だったのは、2曲のみなのだそうだ。

なんで何人もの作詞作曲者が関わるようになったかというと、メジャーのヒット曲の製作方法が孤独な一人の作業から共同作業にかわったからである。
最近の制作方法は「トラック・アンド・フック」(Track And Hook)という。
「トラック・アンド・フック」とは、

・トラック・メイク(コード進行とリズムをつくる)
・フック・ライティング(キャッチーなメロディ:フック:日本で言う「サビ」をつくる)
・アレンジ(トラックとフックを自由に組み合わせる)

これを分業で行うものである。
最近は、ProToolsやLogicといったデジタル・オーディオ・ワークステーション(DAW)のデータをDropBoxで交換し、連絡はSNSやSkypeを使ってコラボレーションするのである。
最新のProToolsにはコラボレーション機能や、Dropboxにかわる音楽データのクラウド・サービスも付いている。

20160821_ProToolsCollaboration
http://www.avid.com/ja/avid-cloud-collaboration-for-pro-tools/how-does-it-work

このような制作方法を流行らせたのが、プロデューサーのマックス・マーティンである。
彼は、1997年から2015年までに、Billboard Hot100に入る曲を、なんと56曲もプロデュースしている。
http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/6664085/ask-billboard-max-martin-has-written-how-many-hot-100-top-10s

最高位, 曲名, アーティスト名, 最高位記録日
No. 7, "Do You Know (What It Takes)," Robyn, 8/2/1997
No. 2, "Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)," Backstreet Boys, 9/6/1997
No. 7, "Show Me Love," Robyn, 11/29/1997
No. 4, "Everybody [Backstreet's Back]," Backstreet Boys, 5/9/1998
No. 1 (two weeks), "...Baby One More Time," Britney Spears, 1/30/1999
No. 6, "I Want It That Way," Backstreet Boys, 6/26/1999
No. 10, "(You Drive Me) Crazy," Britney Spears, 11/13/1999
No. 6, "That's the Way It Is," Celine Dion, 3/4/2000
No. 6, "Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely," Backstreet Boys, 3/18/2000
No. 9, "Oops!...I Did It Again," Britney Spears, 6/10/2000
No. 1 (two weeks), "It's Gonna Be Me," 'N Sync, 7/29/2000
No. 9, "Shape of My Heart," Backstreet Boys, 12/2/2000
No. 2, "Since U Been Gone," Kelly Clarkson, 4/9/05
No. 6, "Behind These Hazel Eyes," Kelly Clarkson, 6/11/05
No. 9, "U + Ur Hand," P!nk, 5/5/2007
No. 9, "Who Knew," P!nk, 9/29/2007
No. 3, "Hot N Cold," Katy Perry, 1/22/2008
No. 1 (seven weeks), "I Kissed a Girl," Katy Perry, 7/5/2008
No. 1 (one week), "So What," P!nk, 9/27/2008
No. 1 (two weeks), "My Life Would Suck Without You," Kelly Clarkson, 2/7/2009
No. 1 (one week), "3," Britney Spears, 10/24/2009
No. 10, "Whataya Want From Me," Adam Lambert, 5/1/2010
No. 1, "California Gurls," Katy Perry feat. Snoop Dogg, 6/19/2010
No. 2, "Dynamite," Taio Cruz, 8/21/2010
No. 1 (two weeks), "Teenage Dream," Katy Perry, 9/18/2010
No. 4, "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love," Usher feat. Pitbull, 10/9/2010
No. 8, "Teenage Dream," Glee Cast, 11/27/2010
No. 1 (one week), "Raise Your Glass," P!nk, 12/11/2010
No. 1 (one week), "Hold It Against Me," Britney Spears, 1/29/2011
No. 2, "F**kin' Perfect," P!nk, 2/12/2011
No. 7, "Blow," Ke$ha, 3/19/2011
No. 6, "Loser Like Me," Glee Cast, 4/2/2011
No. 1 (five weeks), "E.T.," Katy Perry feat. Kanye West, 4/9/2011
No. 3, "Till the World Ends," Britney Spears, 5/14/2011
No. 7, "I Wanna Go," Britney Spears, 8/20/2011
No. 1 (two weeks), "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)," Katy Perry, 8/27/2011
No. 3, "The One That Got Away," Katy Perry, 1/7/2012
No. 6, "Domino," Jessie J, 2/18/2012
No. 1 (one week), "Part of Me," Katy Perry, 3/3/2012
No. 9, "Scream," Usher, 8/4/2012
No. 2, "Wide Awake," Katy Perry, 8/11/2012
No. 1 (three weeks), "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together," Taylor Swift, 9/1/2012
No. 1 (nine weeks), "One More Night," Maroon 5, 9/29/2012
No. 5, "Beauty and a Beat," Justin Bieber feat. Nicki Minaj, 1/5/2013
No. 2, "I Knew You Were Trouble.," Taylor Swift, 1/12/2013
No. 7, "Daylight," Maroon 5, 2/23/2013
No. 1 (two weeks), "Roar," Katy Perry, 9/14/2013
No. 1 (four weeks), "Dark Horse," Katy Perry feat. Juicy J, 2/8/2014
No. 2, "Problem," Ariana Grande feat. Iggy Azalea, 6/7/2014
No. 4, "Break Free," Ariana Grande feat. Zedd, 8/30/2014
No. 1 (four weeks), "Shake It Off," Taylor Swift, 9/6/2014
No. 3, "Bang Bang," Jessie J, Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj, 10/4/2014
No. 7, "Love Me Harder," Ariana Grande & The Weeknd, 11/22/2014
No. 1 (seven weeks), "Blank Space," Taylor Swift, 11/29/2014
No. 3, "Love Me Like You Do," Ellie Goulding, 3/7/2015
No. 6, "Style," Taylor Swift, 3/21/2015
No. 1 (one week), "Bad Blood," Taylor Swift feat. Kendrick Lamar, 6/6/2015
No. 1 (one week to-date), "Can't Feel My Face," The Weeknd, 8/22/2015

古くはバック・ストリート・ボーイズから、テイラー・スウィフト、アリアナ・グランデ、ジ・ウィークエンドまで含まれている。

私もこのコラボレーションの中に、自分の作家を送り込もうと、画策中である。