How many songwriters does Beyonce's 'Renaissance' have? WAY MORE than what Dianne Warren thought
Beyonce's seventh solo album, 'Renaissance,' has been in the news for various reasons since its release on July 29, 2022. A song from the album called 'Alien Superstar' got dragged by the singer-songwriter Diane Warren. Warren recently questioned Beyonce over the song's credits as it features 24 songwriters. However, the album has not 24 but 104 writers! Yes, you read that right!
Warren struck a nerve on Monday, August 1, 2022, when she questioned why the new Beyonce song 'Alien Superstar' would need 24 songwriters, this led to a series of backlashes on Twitter, and many claimed it as a racially insensitive inquiry. However, a report in 'The Wrap' suggests that "even if a tiny snippet of a song is used, each source-material songwriter gets their name along for the ride, plus due royalties." As Beyonce has continued to rise in stature, so has her available sampling pool, which has included everything from Donna Summer to Led Zeppelin.
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How are song credits given to other artists?
'Renaissance' has 104 credited songwriters (including Beyonce herself), for a total of 170 songwriting credits. With 16 songs, that’s an average of 10.6 credited songwriters per track. By comparison, 'Lemonade,' her 2016 tour and most recent 'LP', had 74 songwriters on its dozen tracks, for just over 6 credits per song. Going back to her debut 'Dangerously in Love' from 2003, we see 57 songwriters on 15 tracks, for 3.8 credits per song. The song, 'Alien Superstar' that Warren called out for its 24 songwriters has four samples ('I’m Too Sexy' by Right Said Fred, 'Moonraker' by the Foremost Poets, 'Unique' by Danube Dance, and a speech by Barbara Ann Teer) with a total of seven songwriters. Excluding Beyonce, she leaves 16 original contributors whose work is unaccounted for.
Credits can be passive, if someone brings Beyonce a song, she decides to use a bit of it, and you get a check one day to actively work alongside the talent in the studio. Each gets a percentage of song revenue determined by a third party, based on the amount of contribution to the finished product.
In 'Renaissance', there are beat gurus, sampling scholars, hook doctors, lyrics wizards, and instrument aces who contributed to the production. However, for the most part of the album Beyonce herself is the only individual with a writing credit on each of 'Renaissance’s' 16 songs. On the album, many of the 104 credited songwriters get their mention for a single track. Several others have worked across most of the album, like Terius 'The-Dream' Gesteelde-Diamant, the singer, songwriter, and super-producer who has worked with Rihanna, Mariah Carey, Kanye West, Britney Spears has credits on 11 'Renaissance' songs.
However, the controversy fuelled by Warren has now settled after her apology to Beyonce. On Twitter, she said, "Ok, I meant no disrespect to @Beyonce, who I've worked with and admire. I'm sorry for the misunderstanding.”
Ok, I meant no disrespect to @Beyonce, who I've worked with and admire. I'm sorry for the misunderstanding
— Diane Warren (@Diane_Warren) August 1, 2022
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