In the past, we mainly thought of pop girls as singers. Today, the Wikipedia page of pop girls usually says

Quote

singer and songwriter

 

Recently, pop girls have gotten credits for producing the songs on their albums. For example, Sabrina Carpenter is credited as a music producer on all of the songs on her album. Taylor and Ariana also produced all of the songs on their last albums.

 

 

However, their Wikipedia pages doesn't recognize them as music producers, as equals to people like Jack Antonoff. Do you think we should call pop girls music/record producers?

 

 

I mean if they help contribute to playing the instrumentals, music production, song arrangement, composition etc. why not?

Just now, KatyPrismSpirit said:

I mean if they help contribute to playing the instrumentals, music production, song arrangement, composition etc. why not?

This. 

I personally welcome them co-producing their songs since production is a huge part of music's artistry. maybe not everyone is a kate bush or a bjork, but they can learn and develop their craft.

I would only count a mainstream singer as a producer if they have a few solo produced songs in their discography.

 

Otherwise I assume they are adding to production credits for money and prestige (or just added a few small things and the actual producer did most of the hard work).

 

Mainstream singers having production credits is the equivalent of a backing singer being credited as a feature for doing just backing vocals 

Edited August 28, 2025Aug 28 by Saintlor

Just now, Saintlor said:

Otherwise I assume they are adding to production credits for money and prestige (or just added a few small things and the actual producer did most of the hard work).

Lbr, most do

7 minutes ago, Saintlor said:

I would only count a mainstream singer as a producer if they have a few solo produced songs in their discography.

Gaga has them and they are so diverse 

 

I mean if they did contribute to the production's composition then I don't see the problem. I don't think a lot of them are actual producers in the way they crafted the song's actual production, but if producers can get songwriting credit for the way they shaped the song, then those who help with composition should also get credit.

I think the songwriter part usually includes any sort of production work, just for simplicity, but it's always good to appreciate the working artists are doing 

I highly doubt most of them actually had any more technical contribution than pop girls 30 years ago when it was uncommon for popstars to have producer credits.

 

It simply is the current cool thing in marketing for a popstar to act like they're more involved (be it in production or composition) in the output their names are attached to.

If they're putting in the work, they deserve the credit. Period 

depends on the artist

 

some are genuinely doing the work

 

others are just cashing the check

 

you can fill in the blanks! 

i think the nature of production has changed now, there's an expectation that it means yr a beatmaker. i think people like taylor and ariana are probably more like the old definition, of someone who has a degree of overall control over how a song sounds and who can direct the proceedings, come up with ideas, etc. i don't see a problem with calling them producers in that sense, they're clearly calling a lot of the shots on their own work

They're not actually creating much of the music though. The songs are already made and the artists give their input of little changes to get a credit, so no, they shouldn't. 

No, but this doesn't only apply to popgirls, but also to popboys and popenbys as well

Well Yes!

41 minutes ago, smartalek22 said:

Well Yes!

i had to zoom in and look for 3 seconds to make sure its not gaga 

I think to consider someone a "producer" we typically look for production credits BESIDES their own music, no? Jack Antonoff would have been the "fun/Bleachers guy" if he hadn't started producing for other people.