Remember when there used to be numerous solo hit songwriters like Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Carly Simon, Carole King, Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, Sting, Paul McCartney etc.? And remember when there usually would be no more than 2 songwriters on a hit single which would be written by such teams as Leiber and Stoller, Goffin and King, Bacharach and David, Lennon and McCartney and Jagger and Richards? And the absolute most number of writers on a hit single would be 3, such as the team of Holland, Dozier, and Holland who wrote the majority of the Motown hits?
Well, you'd best remember all of them while you still can because the solo hit songwriter species will soon be extinct.
The link at the top of this page is an article about how Music Week magazine compared the top 100 singles of 2016 to the top 100 singles of a decade earler. What they found was that in 2016 the average number of writers on a hit single was 4.53 and a decade earlier it had only been 3.52. That is an enormous increase of around 30% in only one year. And back in the 60s and 70s the average number of writers on a hit single was probably less than 2.
Also, in 2016 there were only 4 of the top 100 songs that had one writer, as compared to 14 songs with one writer a decade earlier. And i'm sure the number of songs with one writer, during any single year in the 60s and 70s, was probably 2 or maybe even 3 times as many.
The article goes on to talk a little about 'writer camps'. The second link is to a thread on a forum in which people speculate about which female singers have writer camps, and you can see, by reading that thread, that many music fans do not think very highly of those writer camps. It's a case of too many cooks spoil the broth.
However that article fails to mention a very important cause of why there is such a significant increase in credited writers over the years: It is due to the fact that, in recent years, people who have not written a single note of melody and not a single word of the lyric have been getting songwriter credits as a result of their contribution to the musical arrangement. In other words, people who, in the past, would have only been credited as a musician or a producer are now receiving songwriting credits and, of course, songwriting royalties This is particularly true in hip-hop with the person who creates only the beat receiving a songwriter credit.
So why is this a bad trend? Well, first of all there is the old proverb: Too many cooks spoil the broth. The songwriter who first has that creative moment of comin up with a melody or lyric has had an artistic vision, and when other collaboraters try to develop that vision they often degrade what the original songwriter felt in the moment of the song's origin. This is analagous to what happens when a film studio decides to improve a script by bringing in a series of screenwriters until a screenplay has changed so much from the original first draft that it has lost the essence of what had mad it so interesting in the first place.
This is also a bad trend for us songwriters. I don't know about you folks, but i find it lowers the value of what a songwriting credit represents when people who have not written a single note of melody and not a single word of the lyric receive a songwriting credit. Also, let's say that some singer decides to record a song you wrote all by yourself and a producer or musician receives a songwriter credit. That means you will get less than 100% of the songwriter's royalties.
This is also a bad trend because when there are many songwriters, writing the songs on an album, instead of one or two, the album loses a sense of artistic vision.
For example, Burt Bacharach and Hal David would often write all the songs on a Dionne Warwick album. This gave Dionne's albums a unified vision. Nowadays with the numerous songwriters on a single album, you no longer get that sense of a unified vision.
Somehow, that Barry Manilow song, I Write The Songs would just not mean as much to people if the title had been We Write The Songs. Similarly, would Killing Me Softly With His Song have meant as much to people if it had been titled Killing Me Softly With Their Song? Or would Elton and Bernie Taupin's Your Song had the same poignancy if instead of the lyrics being 'My gift is my song and this one's for you', it had instead been 'Our gift is our song and this one's for you'? The personal touch is no longer communicated when you go from the one to the many.
Don't get me wrong, i am not putting down songwriting coolaboration in general. The musical world was very much enriched by those songs on the early Beatles albums that John and Paul co-wrote or the songs written by Jagger and Richards or Bernie Taupin and Elton John or Robert Hunter and The Grateful Dead.
I just think that this trend of having a greater number of songwriters writing each song is just one more factor in the decline in The Gentle Arte of Songwriting and Musicke that has occurred over the course of the last half century and it devalues the significance of what a songwriter actually does. And it is also a bad trend when a singer like Adele, who has collaborated on most of the songs she has sung, is referrred to as a singer-songwrier.
For the final part of this message i want to focus on the singers, who have not made any contributions to a song's melody or lyric who, nevertheless, receive a songwriting credit.
I have read that this practice of a singer receiving a totally undeserved songwriting credit dates back to the early 1900s. It has been well documented that Elvis Presley received songwriting credits on many of the songs he sang, despite his never having made any contributions to the songs' melodies or lyrics. Basically, either Elvis or his manager would blackmail a songwriter by saying something like 'Look, if you want to be the songwriter of an Elvis song, you are going to have to give Elvis a songwriting credit and give up half of your songwriting royalties.'
I have a feeling that this sort of thing was not done as much in the 60s and 70s as a result of so many solo artists writing their own songs, and even bands writing their own songs.
But it looks like this sleazy practice began to become pervasive again after the end of the 90s when the music industry took a huge nose dive. Over the course of only a decade or so the American music business was only raking in around 1/3 of what it had previously taken in a decade before.
As a result of this, musical artists who had been making millions of dollars in artist royalties a decade before were now not selling enough records for the record companies to make a profit, and so those artists who were only selling a million or so albums were not getting a single penny in artist royalties.
However, with songwriter royalties, unlike artist royalties, you start receiving those songwriting royalties even if you only sell a small number of albums.
So, that is why singers were starting to blackmail songwriters into giving up half their royalties. The singers were motivated purely by financial greed.
But let us not entirely place the blame for this on the people who are getting undeserved songwriting credits. It is just as much the fault of the indiscriminating public which relentlessly buys poorly written songs as long as those songs have a good singer and a good beat. And the way things look don't expect the state of top 40 to get a whole lot better, it's bound to get a whole lot worse. On that cheerful note, i will take my leave.
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It's all about money. The public just isn't buying music like they used to. Nashville's only putting out a small percentage of the music they used to. Also, it seems there are more individuals creating music with all the technology available today, so many people can have a home studio. A lot of this music is offered for free on the internet. So there's a lot of people in and around the industry not making a lot of money, they way they used too. I believe a lot of Nashville co-writes is so that their writers get a piece of the action. I know a long time Nashville person who told me as an outside writer, doesn't matter how good you are you're not even going to be talked to unless you come down and team up with one of their own. You are correct in that I also feel it waters down the song. It's like two painters painting an oil painting on the same canvas. I feel the best teams are someone who's good at the lyrics and someone who's good at the music, like Elton John and Bernie Taupin. They may hire other technicians, but those people aren't the creative ones. It is true that a famous singer may take the song someplace it would have never gone and maybe that is worth a cut. Don Schlitz's song "The Gambler" never made it big until Kenny Rodgers sang it, although it was a great song. I do agree that too many of the same type, such as two lyrics writers together or two musicians together distorts the creativity in many cases.
Very well put, and I agree, too many ideas on a subject can lead to song that has a lot of statements with no outcome or verdict. I like music to be simple, real, have a beginning, middle and end,but, I am sorta old school.
Very well stated. I agree with Donna in that it is all about money. Fewer people are buying CDs. The younger generation thinks that music should be free. The older generations, the ones whom have the money to purchase music, doesn't like what is being produced today, just like it has been in the past. The difference is that my generation had money to buy albums. The kids today take their discretionary money and buy video games.
The home studio has also hurt the big music corporations. They are no longer needed to make a song or CD.
Last but not least I have heard much better music on this site than I have heard on commercial radio.
YMMV
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It's all about money. The public just isn't buying music like they used to. Nashville's only putting out a small percentage of the music they used to. Also, it seems there are more individuals creating music with all the technology available today, so many people can have a home studio. A lot of this music is offered for free on the internet. So there's a lot of people in and around the industry not making a lot of money, they way they used too. I believe a lot of Nashville co-writes is so that their writers get a piece of the action. I know a long time Nashville person who told me as an outside writer, doesn't matter how good you are you're not even going to be talked to unless you come down and team up with one of their own. You are correct in that I also feel it waters down the song. It's like two painters painting an oil painting on the same canvas. I feel the best teams are someone who's good at the lyrics and someone who's good at the music, like Elton John and Bernie Taupin. They may hire other technicians, but those people aren't the creative ones. It is true that a famous singer may take the song someplace it would have never gone and maybe that is worth a cut. Don Schlitz's song "The Gambler" never made it big until Kenny Rodgers sang it, although it was a great song. I do agree that too many of the same type, such as two lyrics writers together or two musicians together distorts the creativity in many cases.
excellent write Belladonna my experience in this, in the early 90's I took some songs to a studio and recorded them , just my guitar and vocal, made a tape, (you remember those things right) well I took it to Nashville, walked music row putting in the few record co.s publishing firms that would accept it. Went home and didn't expect much, well lo and behold, I got a call from Warner Bros. A&R rep. He had listened to the tape liked and told me to get plugging, that I had potential, he put in contact with another writer in Nashville. I got in touch with him and met him at the blue bird cafe, where he was doing the round mic sing one night. I enjoyed the sit in listening to him and the other writers singing. Long story short I was working a good job, and was not about to quit to go to Nashville to co write songs, probably making no money at it for a while. The writer told me this was the golden opportunity, no one got called like that, and he told me never to say that song writing was a hobby, it was a profession, well it was and still is a hobby, i make my money working and support my family working. So I did not move to Nashville, and you know what? I am glad i didn't, I love working from my home studio with my son doing music they way we want to do it, not being told how. Plus if music becomes work, it loses the beauty to me. Well I have went on enough about this. And so it was.
I agree it's mostly about money...but feel that has probably been said almost forever. It may never be more true than now though. But, we all know it is the music business. I don't blame them. Until I'm willing to put my money behind it; I won't tell them how it should be done. Once again, money talks.
I'm not totally sure how I feel about the number of song writing credits that are given out now. Producers also get a lot of writing credit; and personally I feel they deserve it. They are typically more in tune with what sells than the artist. Many times, the artist (if they are commercial) are relying on the producer to get them "that sound." Some of the repeating of melodic pieces at various points becomes essential. They didn't write it, but it wouldn't have been placed where it was without them either.
Personally, I don't care if it one "writer" or 100. Either I like the song or I don't. For me, it's about the song.
It's also fairly well known that there were MANY people instrumental in the hits of "back in the day" that weren't credited. To me, that is much worse.
Also, ghost writing is nothing new. I've done it to some extent and it can be lucrative. I'm not totally writing a song for an artist. I'm simply taking what they want to be song, and help that happen. They are still involved. It's their concept. It's not a song they would have written without me, or someone like me. I also wouldn't have written that song without them.
The analogy about "I Write the Songs"; isn't very accurate though. It misrepresents what the other people involved in a project do. They don't make it about them. The focus is ENTIRELY on the artist.
To say CD sales are down at this point, doesn't make much sense. It's not a preferred medium for music consumption right now. News flash, cassette sales are REALLY down. People must be buying less music? They are still consuming. I feel probably more than ever. The money and how it's paid has shifted greatly though.
This is always going to be a very lopsided discussion on a forum such as this. Most of us here are musicians, and/or song writers. If you ask a craft beer maker on a beer crafting forum what he thinks of the domestic brands, the conversation would be similar I would guess.
I thought the article presented was great. I love seeing things like this. Great discussion. Thank you to the OP for posting it!
Chad (Hope that makes it easier)
TEMPO TANTRUM: What a lead singer has when they can't stay in time.
This is another effect of the constantly changing music industry. Truth it, music as a whole hasn't changed its approach in terms of how many songwriters are on a song/album - it is just the mainstream music industry. Every single person involved now wants credit. Plus with the boom of the internet age, music is more accessible than ever and top 40 musicians make all their money in different ways - none of which include selling their actual albums. They are a product rather than a musician. It sucks, but it's the entertainment industry.
Thank you for the in depth explanation of your opinion - I am thrilled to hear other's opinions on this
I imagine I'm the oldest guy on this forum and I learned a long ago that time passes and things change. Janice and I will leave the house streaming a favorite Apple playlist, get in the car and continue streaming from where we left off. Love it. I've never engaged in downloading pirated songs, have always bought a license for our covers and don't mind at all paying Apple for the opportunity to listen to about anything we want to hear. Some folks don't like that...guess they'd rather the artists get nothing.
And from my perspective it appears that thousands of artists writing for themselves and producing their songs in high tech home studios are pushing a LOT of their music out to advertising, tv and film via the many placement libraries. Some have literally hundreds of placements. And they are high end placements not the "overhead music" stuff. Take whatcha got and go with it. I see lots of room for solo writers. Maybe not selling a million but what was the percentage of artists that ever came remotely close to that even "back in the day?"
Hey, thanks OP....interesting discussion.
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Many years ago, I was a TAXI member and attended the road rally in LA. Back then, in 09 I think.... they were talking in ALL the writing seminars that hit songs are collaborative efforts rather than solo efforts unless you happen to be a songwriter with a mighty fine track record and a string of hits already.
Even then... the artists often demand writing credit even if they haven't written a single word or note. The number of CD projects being released are dwindling and therefore the number of slots available as well. It's a coveted thing to get a shot at the CD so..... the artist knows this and tells the writer.... I want a cut of the songwriting credit....and money. The writer has a choice.... 100% of nothing or a lesser percentage of a possible hit song on the radio, at least getting a percentage of the sales.
All that aside.... a collab is often a much better song than one that is a solo writer's effort. And with the bar being so freaking high in all genres these days, it's almost a given that you're not going to place a pop song that's a solo write unless you are the artist and you have CLOUT.
That's how I see it, which is why I write for fun, the stuff I post here, and place the rest into music libraries for film and TV...... and even that's getting tighter.
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There are some really interesting points of view being discussed here. Music is an ever evolving creature, and the expectations placed on it and how they want it made in the industry is fascinating in its own way. There are still lots of artists out there who write their own stuff and have success with it, there are also lots of artists who have multiple writers or people who seek out content that would 'suit the image' of their artist, then pay the writer a fee and give them very quiet credit somewhere. Collabs seem to be growing with increasing popularity. Maroon 5 actually released an album recently that's almost entirely (if not wholly) collaborations with just other artists. It must be a really cool experience to work with other artists like that in the industry.
The article you shared was fascinating, and a great conversational piece. Thanks for sharing!
Last edited by Ember - PG Music; 03/08/1808:59 AM.
There are some really interesting points of view being discussed here. Music is an ever evolving creature, and the expectations placed on it and how they want it made in the industry is fascinating in its own way. There are still lots of artist out there who right their own stuff and have success with it, there are also lots of artists who have multiple writers or people who seek out content that would 'suit the image' of their artist, then pay the writer a fee and give them very quiet credit somewhere. Collabs seem to be growing with increasing popularity. Maroon 5 actually released an album recently that's almost entirely (if not wholly) collaborations with just other artists. It must be a really cool experience to work with other artists like that in the industry.
The article you shared was fascinating, and a great conversational piece. Thanks for sharing!
Agreed! Look at the charts! I was considering changing my name to "Featuring!"
Chad (Hope that makes it easier)
TEMPO TANTRUM: What a lead singer has when they can't stay in time.
You seem to have forgotten The Gibb Brothers - who wrote more hits than any of those songwriters you mentioned, apart from The Beatles. Completely ignored again. I guess you're a disgruntled rock fan who hates disco lol.
You seem to have forgotten The Gibb Brothers - who wrote more hits than any of those songwriters you mentioned, apart from The Beatles. Completely ignored again. I guess you're a disgruntled rock fan who hates disco lol.
An unexpected revival of a 7+ year old dormant post? Anyway, welcome, I presume.
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The OP must be Barry. He is the only surviving brother from the Gibb family, which was made famous by the band the Bee Gees. And guess where he is currently living?
The marketing/songwriting factories there are now begin with a storyboard and they all chime in. If the singer approves it and perhaps changes a couple of words, gets credit, too. It's George Orwell's 1984 come to life, where song factories pumped out superficial idiotic songs for the public that became hits. The Grammy awards have mediocre songs and look like a horrible comical burlesque/s0ft p0rn show. When I saw the Grammys, I wanted to see artists perform their songs with dignity, not to see women dressed like cockatoos and shirtless men in boxer shorts gyrating and showing off their physiques. It is no longer music's biggest night. It is now marketing's biggest night.
Seven years on and nostalgia for an age that never was is riding high. I remember the Grammy's when Kenny Rogers and God Bothers took over. Awful music everywhere. When the Brill Building ruled collab/committee song writing was in vogue. Nostalgia is, after all, a very hick rose coloured pair of hindsight spectacles. If only self awareness was a mandatory part of nostalgia based curmudgeonly observation.
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Remember when there used to be numerous solo hit songwriters like Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Carly Simon, Carole King, Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, Sting, Paul McCartney etc.?
This singer/songwriter trend was kicked off when singers found it more profitable to write their own songs than to share rights with songwriters.
This is just a similar market-driven trend.
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And remember when there usually would be no more than 2 songwriters on a hit single which would be written by such teams as Leiber and Stoller, Goffin and King, Bacharach and David, Lennon and McCartney and Jagger and Richards?
The majority of these were teamed up as musician/lyricist teams, assigned by companies to sit in a room and write songs together.
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So why is this a bad trend? Well, first of all there is the old proverb: Too many cooks spoil the broth. The songwriter who first has that creative moment of comin up with a melody or lyric has had an artistic vision, and when other collaboraters try to develop that vision they often degrade what the original songwriter felt in the moment of the song's origin.
But this has never been about artistic vision, it's been about writing songs that will be popular with the public.
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This is also a bad trend for us songwriters. I don't know about you folks, but i find it lowers the value of what a songwriting credit represents when people who have not written a single note of melody and not a single word of the lyric receive a songwriting credit.
You're not going to get much disagreement about that.
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This is also a bad trend because when there are many songwriters, writing the songs on an album, instead of one or two, the album loses a sense of artistic vision.
There are some thematic albums, but they are few and far between.
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For example, Burt Bacharach and Hal David would often write all the songs on a Dionne Warwick album. This gave Dionne's albums a unified vision.
If you compared the songs on a Dionne Warwick album, you'd be hard-pressed to find a "unified vision" there.
And Dionne Warwick was an exception. Barcharach and David hired her to record demos for them, and eventually hired her to sing their songs on albums that they released. Dionne Warwick was acting on behalf of them, not the other way around.
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Somehow, that Barry Manilow song, I Write The Songs would just not mean as much to people if the title had been We Write The Songs.
Well, a couple of points.
First, the song was written by Bruce Johnston of the Beach Boys, not Barry Manilow.
And second, the singer in "I Write The Songs" isn't some songwriter - it's literally music personified:
I've been alive forever And I wrote the very first song I put the words and the melody together I am music, and I write the songs
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Similarly, would Killing Me Softly With His Song have meant as much to people if it had been titled Killing Me Softly With Their Song?
Well, the title of the song is "Killing Me Softly", and it's not about songwriting - it's about the experience of hearing your own experience in someone else's song.
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Or would Elton and Bernie Taupin's Your Song had the same poignancy if instead of the lyrics being 'My gift is my song and this one's for you', it had instead been 'Our gift is our song and this one's for you'? The personal touch is no longer communicated when you go from the one to the many.
Writers don't write about the experience of songwriting, they write songs.
And song that sell are still one-on-one stories, even if fourteen people are credited on the song.
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I just think that this trend of having a greater number of songwriters writing each song is just one more factor in the decline in The Gentle Arte of Songwriting and Musicke that has occurred over the course of the last half century and it devalues the significance of what a songwriter actually does.
Just like when the focus moved from singers being the interpreters of songs, and we moved to the singer/songwriter paradigm?
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And it is also a bad trend when a singer like Adele, who has collaborated on most of the songs she has sung, is referrred to as a singer-songwrier.[quote] By that logic, and song that McCartney and Lennon collaborated with would not be written by a "songwriter"?
[quote]I have a feeling that this sort of thing was not done as much in the 60s and 70s as a result of so many solo artists writing their own songs, and even bands writing their own songs.
In the 60's and 70's, plenty of singers never wrote any of their own music, and no one gave it a second thought.
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But it looks like this sleazy practice began to become pervasive again after the end of the 90s when the music industry took a huge nose dive. Over the course of only a decade or so the American music business was only raking in around 1/3 of what it had previously taken in a decade before.
You're ignoring a vast number of other factors, such as digital music, which had a huge impact on the music business.
And the music business has always been sleazy and unsavory.
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As a result of this, musical artists who had been making millions of dollars in artist royalties a decade before were now not selling enough records for the record companies to make a profit, and so those artists who were only selling a million or so albums were not getting a single penny in artist royalties.
What is this "record" thing you speak of? That's not how the music business works anymore.
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So, that is why singers were starting to blackmail songwriters into giving up half their royalties. The singers were motivated purely by financial greed.
Besides being an overly broad statement, it ignores that it was the managers and record companies who were doing this, not the individual artists. I recall reading Barry Manilow complaining how tightly Clive Davis controlled what songs he could and couldn't put on his own albums. I suspect that other artists had little say-so on many aspects of their albums.
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It is just as much the fault of the indiscriminating public which relentlessly buys poorly written songs as long as those songs have a good singer and a good beat.
Isn't this was selling to the public has always been?
Songwriting teams have created some of my very favorite songs: Rogers & Hart, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Kander & Ebb, Lerner & Loew, Bock & Harnick, Lennon & McCartney, Carole King and Gerry Goffin, Jagger and Richards, Bernie Taupin and Elton John, Bacharach & David, Leiber & Stoller, Ashford & Simpson, Holland/Dozier/Holland, and hundreds more. Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim on "West Side Story" weren't too bad either.
Many of the biggest hits of today are written exactly this way. Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas, Taylor Swift and a lot of different collaborators (but usually only one on a song). Adele co-writes with a few trusted collaborators. Ed Sheeran and Lana del Rey are also pretty famous for collaborating with many artists. I don't see how Billie Eilish and her brother and Adele and her collaborators are any different from Lennon & McCartney, in terms of the technical process of songwriting. The difference is how people of different generations respond to the results.
Nowadays the majority of songs begin with a producer or producers. They create the original track, which doesn't have any lyrics. It's just a pop arrangement. Then you can bring in "topliners" who improvise over it. If the topliners don't deliver, they just bring in more topliners. The lyrics are just raw material and are edited into something that sounds like a song. Then they bring in a singer/star, who makes their contribution and possibly records it.
More common are songs written in rooms by many people at the same time. Usually at least three people--a producer with a DAW, a songwriter, and a singer/star. They work for a day and at the end of the day there's a song. There are also camps that songwriters are paid to go to and write with others. If there are three songwriters in a room with two producers, and then laterr it goes to the star, you can see how there can be a lot of credited songwriters.
This system is rooted in the Nashville Room. A lot of people gathered in a room to write a song. The result was credited to whoever was in the room, regardless of how big or small their contribution was.
I read an article about Amy Rose Allen, who co-wrote "Espresso" and other hits with Sabrina Carpenter. She also collaborated with Dua Lipa, Harry Styles, Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, Halsey, Shawn Mendes, etc. And she said something like, "Okay I had this huge hit, but before that, I wrote hundreds of songs that didn't go anywhere."
This is the way the modern music business works. It's not just the US. A lot of K-pop and other world hits are written by Max Martin and other Swedes. But I am old enough to remember what the 60s was actually like, and we had song factories from the likes of Don Kershner. Yes, it was the time of the Beatles, but also The Archies and The Monkees. And The Wrecking Crew and the Motown house band played on most of the songs. And some of these "products" were amazing, just as a lot of the pop factory songs of today are equally amazing.
Personally I find Taylor Swift's "Cruel Summer" and the K-Pop Demon Hunters' "Golden" to be irresistible. Just like "Louie Louie" and "Wipe-Out," and the oeuvre of Paul Revere & the Raiders, when I played them in bands as a teenager.
But are these pop hits as meaningful to me as songs by Mitski, who writes all her songs? No, her work touches me in a deeper way. But I had to find her work and listen to it. But that's the way it was when I was a teenager too. Tim Buckley's albums never charted, but I loved them. The first Velvet Underground album went nowhere. There's a lot of good stuff out there if you are willing to look and take the time to seek it out. A ton more songs than I have time to listen to--because I have my own songs to write. : )
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With Band-in-a-Box® 2026, we've released 202 incredible new RealTracks (in sets 468-488) in a variety of genres—featuring your most requested styles!
Jazz, Funk & World (Sets 468-475):
Our new jazz, funk & blues RealTracks include a groovin’ collection of RealTracks and RealDrums! These include more requested “soul jazz” RealTracks featuring artists Neil Swainson (bass), Charles Treadway (organ), Brent Mason (guitar), and Wes Little (drums). There are new “smooth jazz” styles (4), which include a RealTracks first: muted trumpet, as well as slick new smooth jazz brushes options for drums. Blues lovers will be thrilled—there are more “classic acoustic blues” styles, including guitar (5), bass (4), and drums (10) with blues master Colin Linden, featuring understated and tasty background acoustic soloing, plus brushes drums and acoustic bass. There are also new electric blues RealTracks, including electric blues with PG favorite Johnny Hiland (3) and soulful electric slide guitar from Colin Linden (4). If you love funk & gospel, there are great new options this year, including gospel organ (3) from Charles Treadway, as well as new funk, tango, and rock ’n’ roll drums (3) and bass (1). And for big, bold arrangements, we have uptempo soul horns (4) featuring a three-part hip horn section with options for a full mix or stems of each individual horn — plus an accompanying rhythm section (4) of drums, bass, guitar, and electric piano!
Rock & Pop (Sets 476–482):
Our new rock & pop RealTracks bring a powerful mix of requested favorites, fresh genres, and modern chart-inspired styles! We have more of our popular “Producer Layered Acoustic Guitars (15)” featuring Band-in-a-Box favorite Brent Mason. We’ve continued our much-requested disco styles (10), and added new Celtic guitar (5) with a more basic, accessible approach than our previous Drop-D or DADGAD offerings. There are also highly requested yacht rock styles (17), inspired by the smooth, polished soft-rock sound of the late ’70s and early ’80s — laid-back grooves, silky electric pianos, warm textures, elegant harmonic movement, and pristine production aesthetics. Fans of heavier styles will love our new glam metal (13), capturing the flashy, high-energy sound of ’80s arena-ready guitar rock. We also have a set of rootsy modern-folk rock (18), with a warm, organic sound combining contemporary folk textures and driving acoustic strumming. And we’ve added lots of new modern pop styles (16) — the kinds of sounds you’re hearing on the radio today, featuring exciting new drums, synths, and cutting-edge RealTracks arrangements.
Country, & Americana (Sets 483–488):
Our new country & Americana RealTracks deliver a rich collection of acoustic, electric, and roots-inspired styles! We have new country pop (9) with legendary guitarist Brent Mason. There is also a potpourri (14) of bouzouki, guitars, banjo, and more, perfect for adding texture and character to contemporary acoustic arrangements. We’ve added funky country guitar (5) with PG favorite Brent Mason, along with classic pedal steel styles (5) featuring steel great Doug Jernigan. There are more country songwriter styles (8) that provide intimate, rootsy foundations for storytelling and modern Americana writing. Finally, we have “background soloing” acoustic guitar (12) with Brent Mason — simpler, but still very tasty acoustic lines designed to sit beautifully behind vocals or act as a subtle standalone solo part.
And, if you are looking for more, the 2026 49-PAK (for $49) includes an impressive collection of 20 bonus RealTracks, featuring exciting and inspiring additions to add to your RealTracks library. You'll get new country-rhythm guitar styles from PG Music favorites Johnny Hiland and Brent Mason, along with modern-pop grooves that capture today’s radio-ready sound! There are also new indie-folk styles with guitar, bass, 6-string bass used as a high-chording instrument, acoustic guitar, and banjo. Plus, dedicated "cymbal fills" RealDrums provide an added layer that work very well with low-key folky styles with other percussion.
The 2026 49-PAK is loaded with other great new add-ons as well. Learn more about the 2026 49-PAK!
2026 Free Bonus PAK & 49-PAK for Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac®!
With your version 2026 for Mac Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, Audiophile Edition or PlusPAK purchase, we'll include a Bonus PAK full of great new Add-ons for FREE! Or upgrade to the 2026 49-PAK for only $49 to receive even more NEW Add-ons including 20 additional RealTracks!
These PAKs are loaded with additional add-ons to supercharge your Band-in-a-Box®!
This Free Bonus PAK includes:
The 2026 RealCombos Booster PAK:
-For Pro customers, this includes 27 new RealTracks and 23 new RealStyles.
-For MegaPAK customers, this includes 25 new RealTracks and 23 new RealStyles.
-For UltraPAK customers, this includes 12 new RealStyles.
MIDI Styles Set 92: Look Ma! More MIDI 15: Latin Jazz
MIDI SuperTracks Set 46: Piano & Organ
Instrumental Studies Set 24: Groovin' Blues Soloing
Artist Performance Set 19: Songs with Vocals 9
Playable RealTracks Set 5
RealDrums Stems Set 9: Cool Brushes
SynthMaster Sounds Set 1 (with audio demos)
iOS Android Band-in-a-Box® App
Looking for more great add-ons, then upgrade to the 2026 49-PAK for just $49 and you'll get:
20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums with 20 RealStyle.
FLAC Files (lossless audio files) for the 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums
MIDI Styles Set 93: Look Ma! More MIDI 16: SynthMaster
MIDI SuperTracks Set 47: More SynthMaster
Instrumental Studies 25 - Soul Jazz Guitar Soloing
Artist Performance Set 20: Songs with Vocals 10
RealDrums Stems Set 10: Groovin' Sticks
SynthMaster Sounds & Styles Set 2 (sounds & styles with audio demos)
XPro & Xtra Styles PAK Sets On Sale Now - Until May 15, 2026!
All of our XPro Styles PAKs and Xtra Styles PAKs are on sale until May 15th, 2026!
It's the perfect time to expand your Band-in-a-Box® style library with XPro and Xtra Styles PAKs. These additional styles for Band-in-a-Box® offer a wide range of genres designed to fit seamlessly into your projects. Each style is professionally arranged and mixed, helping enhance your songs while saving you time.
What are XPro Styles and Xtra Styles PAKs?
XPro Styles PAKs are styles that work with any version (Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition) of Band-in-a-Box® 2025 (or higher). XPro Styles PAKS 1-10 includes 1,000 styles!
Xtra Styles PAKs are styles that work with the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box® 2025 (or higher). Xtra Styles PAKs 1-21 includes 3,700 styles (and 35 MIDI styles)!
The XPro & Xtra Styles PAKs are not included in any Band-in-a-Box® package.
The XPro Styles PAKs 1-10 are available for only $29 ea (reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the XPro Styles PAK Bundle for only $149 (reg. $299)! Listen to demos and order now! For Mac or for Windows.
The Xtra Styles PAKs 1-21 are available for only $29 ea (reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the Xtra Styles PAK Bundle for only $199 (reg. $349)! Listen to demos and order now! For Mac or for Windows.
Note: XPro Styles PAKs require Band-in-a-Box® 2025 or higher and are compatible with ANY package, including the Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, and Audiophile Edition.
The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 19 requires the 2025 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version as they require the RealTracks included in the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
Supercharge your Band-in-a-Box today with XPro Styles PAKs and Xtra Styles PAK Sets!
With the release of Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac, we’re rolling out a collection of brand-new videos on our YouTube channel. We’ll keep this forum post updated so you can easily find all the latest videos in one convenient spot.
Whether you're exploring new features, checking out the latest RealTracks or Style PAKs, this is your go-to guide for Band-in-a-Box® 2026.
One of our representatives will be happy to help you over the phone. Our hours of operation are from
6:00AM to 6:00PM PST (GMT -8) Monday thru Friday, and 8:00AM to 4:00PM PST Saturday. We are closed Sunday. You can also send us your questions via email.
One of our representatives will be happy to help you on our Live Chat or by email. Our hours of operation are from
6:00AM to 6:00PM PST (GMT -8) Monday thru Friday; 8:00AM to 4:00PM PST (GMT -8) Saturday; Closed Sunday.
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