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Originally Posted by sarramkrop
It is kind of odd, but then again there have always been record companies that employ musicians/DJ's to produce that kind of stuff to sell it to clubs, advertising companies etc. Lou Reed himself started out getting paid to write disposable songs for cheap mass-market compilations on the Pickwick label. Apparently people like Jackson Browne and others all started out by going into these corporate places to write disposable songs in a few minutes for some money in exchange.
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I'm fascinated by that tradition. Anonymous hit writers and shapers. The 'Brill Building Sound', etc. Relatively unsung heroes of pop: Laura Nyro, Carole King, Claus Ogerman, et al. That ability to write great pop to order has been denigrated over the years, with artists too eager to write their own material regardless of whether they're actually any good at it. Being a great guitarist/singer/whatever doesn't necessarily equip you to write something as marvelous as 'Up on the Roof' or a raft of other written to order gems.