1. Singer/Songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material. As
opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs the term singer-
songwriter describes a distinct form of artistic style. Singer/Songwriters often provide the sole
acommpaninent to an entire composition or song usually using a guitar or piano. The lyrics are often
related to a topical issue such as political, sometimes introspective, sensitive, romantic, and
confessional.
The concept of a Singer/Songwriter can actually be traced back to the bardic culture which has existed
in various forms throughout the world. After the invention of printing songs would be written and
performed by ballad sellers. Usually these would be versions of existing tunes and lyrics of which were
constantly evolving. This developed into the Singer/Songwriting traditions of folk culture.
The first popular recognition of the Singer/Songwriter in English speaking
North America and Great Britain occurred in the 1960s and early 1970s
when a series of blues, folk and country -influenced musicians rose to
prominence and popularity. These singer-songwriters included: Bob Dylan,
Dolly Parton and Neil Diamond.
Recording on the professional grade systems became affordable for
individuals in the late 1990s. This created opportunities for people to
independently record and sell their music. Such artists are known as
"indies" because they release their records on independent and often self-
owned record labels or no label at all. Additionally the Internet has
provided a means for indies to get their music heard by a wider audience.
During the 2000s Amy Winehouse, Adele, Katy Perry, Lana Del Rey, Ellie
goulding, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga and Shakira are amongst the newest
generation of singer-songwriters to emerge.
All of this information helps me to gain an insight into how Singer/Songwriters came about and whas
as this is very important to know what they did and do consist of now to make sure our music video
fits into this category perfectly. It also gives me a list of old and current Singers/Songwriters so that i
can look into these videos, compare them and pick out some common conventions so that our music
video is associated with this genre but so that we can then add a twist too it.