# Singers vs. Singer-Songwriters **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 20, 2009, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-vs-singer-songwriters/507042 "2009-08-20T05:52:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2009, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-vs-singer-songwriters/507042/21 "2009-08-21T21:06:04Z")
**statsman1982** said: > [@](#): > > In popular music, however, I know that I rarely have read any reviews that make a big deal of the fact that the musician writes all of his/her own music. That’s a valid point. It _seems_ that it should be important that a singer is voicing their own songs, rather than songs provided by someone else. That seems somehow truer to emotional connection, or something. Except singers do get credit for being songwriters. Think Bob Dylan, whose vocal talents are far overshadowed by songwriting skills. Though to be fair, at least early in his career he was intelligible. Or think of Billy Joel. Or Bruce Springstein. Etc. But the pop music industry does give far more credit to the performers than the writers. Furthermore, it gives far more credit to the singers than musicians in most cases. Sure, Eddie Van Halen, Joe Satriani, and Eric Clapton are known for their guitar skills above anything else they do, but they are exceptions when the “front” to a band is typically the vocalist. > [@](#): > > Sure, there are a lot of great singers in pop music today (I’ve heard Christina Aguilera praised by some trained singers I know) but beat, lyrics, mood, and other factors seem to make up for lousy singing in many cases. I don’t think this ought to be the case, but it is. A song is a whole package. Pop music is about different artists with different audiences. Some is about listening for emotional content, some for aesthetic enjoyment, some for dancing. And people have vastly different tastes. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2009, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-vs-singer-songwriters/507042/22 "2009-08-21T22:56:18Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > But the pop music industry does give far more credit to the performers than the writers. This is true of the TV and movie industries as well. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-vs-singer-songwriters/507042.md?page=1)