The songwriting landscape has changed today. How?  Singers are taking credit for songs they didn’t write. Why? So they can look more credible, and more importantly, earning song royalties.  Sure this has always happened, but a shift is happening and those days may be coming to end.

You probably haven’t heard of the name Emily Warren Schwartz, but you definitely heard her songs. She’s written with The Chainsmokers, Dua Lipa, Khalid, Sigrid, Melanie Martinez, and Shawn Mendes. She co-wrote the mega hit Dua Lipa’s “Don’t Start Now”.

The in demand songwriter is sick of being extorted and bullied she tells Rolling Stone.

In fact, a songwriters group known The Pact is now demanding artists stop taking credit for hits they didn’t write.

A popular singer was demanding a huge fraction of publishing in exchange for recording a song written by Warren, but that artist didn’t contributed to the writing process.

This led to a call of action via an open letter from members of the songwriting community including Justin Tranter, Victoria Monet, Ross Golan, Tayla Parx, Savan Kotecha, and Amy Allen.

“This body of songwriters will not give publishing or songwriting credit to anyone who did not create or change the lyric or melody or otherwise contribute to the composition without a reasonably equivalent/meaningful exchange for all the writers on the song,” said the letter.

As legendary songwriter Diane Warren once said “How can someone look in the mirror and know they didn’t do something and their name is on it for money for credit, it’s a lie.” Apparently, it’s pretty easy.

Watch out for Andy Gorel’s new musical project LA Parties. He released his debut and self titled single LA Parties that comes off his forthcoming four-track debut Romance EP.  Think All American Rejects meets Weezer with a sound update.

“It’s a song about looking at the ‘Instagram life’ – what we see on TV and social media – and discerning it as fake,” shares Gorel.

It looks like we moved past last summers 80’s trend and are now riding the 90’s wave. Give it a stream on KOAR’s Indie Invaders Playlist.

Watch out for Elena and the electro pop track Models Have Feelings. Fans of Billie Eilish and Swift will like this. The Canadian native attended Berklee College Of Music in Boston before moving to London.

Elena’s landed Spotify’s New Music Friday and Fresh Finds. Elena’s upcoming EP “Have U Ever Met a Model With Feelings?” comes out Summer 2021, while her concept-album, “Holy Tender Artist”, expected autumn of 2021. Give it a stream on KOAR’s Indie Invaders.

TikTok artist JAX released 90s Kids via Atlantic. JAX swung the bat several times before hitting a home run. She placed third on Idol and performed with Steven Tyler, and released several singles on Spotify shortly after. She never made a splash on Instagram but found her niche on Tiktok after posting comedic videos. After garnering millions of views from her parody videos, Atlantic Records jumped on board and signed her to a record deal. The track was written by JAX and Brooklyn based producer and songwriter Kevin Andreas. Give it a stream.

Check out Nobody Loves You by Sarah Phillips. You’ll like if you’re a fan of a sad indie pop. It’s great for sync too. She’s a singer-songwriter originally from Montréal but now residing  in Los Angeles. Influenced by Joni Mitchell, Phoebe Bridgers, and Damien Rice, the latest track is about “the death of someone very close to me” says Sarah. Her track Six Feet Under landed on Spotify’s “Life Sucks” Playlist garnering almost 2Million streams. The latest track Nobody Loves You landed on Spotify’s New Music Friday. Give it a stream on KOAR’s Indie Invaders.