this was asked by my friend .ehem. 

at first i answered yes. but after a little "googling" , most of their songs are mady by other people .silence.

a bit disappointed .shy. 

but after an extensive research .hardwork.. i made a spreadsheet and list all of their songs, lyrician (??), music, arranger names

and the result:
1. Scandal ----> +/- 26%

other significant contributors are:
2. Keita Kawaguchi +/- 10,4 %
3. Yuichi Tajika  +/- 6,6%

feel so much relieved that scandal came on top of the list .uhuh. .uhuh.

SCANDAL made almost all their lyrics since day 1 but did not compose too many songs... until now! They worked with many people from the industry / their label for the music, that's just how it goes in Japan or for some specific bands like SCANDAL.

Recently, since a year or so, they started to "do their own music" yes. And the latest album HELLO WORLD shows this perfectly!

There is a list elsewhere on this forum of all the songs written by Scandal prior to Hello World. It's a short list, about 10 or so songs (out of more than 100). Most of those songs were single B-sides. On Hello World, the band fully wrote 10 of the 13 songs, IIRC. So it's more like 20 out of 110 at this point. Still not quite 26%.

This is well known to their longtime fans. They didn't even know how to play when they started out, so they needed a lot of help. Over time they've become more proficient as players and songwriters. Sony also has taken the opportunity to promote them with big name songwriters and producers in the past, which they've done less of on Hello World.

But they were always involved or made their lyrics which is pretty cool even back then when they started. In a way obviously it's "easier" to put down some words than writing the music but still it's something great since the start.

That's true!
Moreover, I don't know if you noticed but before, the songs composed by the girls were always B-sides and songs put in an album. And the last year for the first time, DEPARTURE which has been written and composed by Mami was the A-side of the single Departure. I think that means they're going to compose more of their songs.

Having songwriters for music groups is actually pretty common in Japan. Heck, it's not uncommon here in the USA.

I have a friend who has been a DJ in the USA since 1968; he's been in the music industry for going on 50 years, and even has a songwriting credit for a popular disco song from back in the 1970's. He's always said that a lot of bands never get to be successful because they insist on writing their own music when they have no idea how to do it, despite being talented musicians. Writing songs is a skill, just like playing an instrument, and it takes time to learn how to do it well. Relatively few people are good at it right off the bat.

spacecadet wrote:There is a list elsewhere on this forum of all the songs written by Scandal prior to Hello World. It's a short list, about 10 or so songs (out of more than 100). Most of those songs were single B-sides. On Hello World, the band fully wrote 10 of the 13 songs, IIRC. So it's more like 20 out of 110 at this point. Still not quite 26%.

This is well known to their longtime fans. They didn't even know how to play when they started out, so they needed a lot of help. Over time they've become more proficient as players and songwriters. Sony also has taken the opportunity to promote them with big name songwriters and producers in the past, which they've done less of on Hello World.

my spreadsheet, VV



HELLO WORLD is the best album in my opininion, bar none .clap.
hope they will just keep better in the next album .smile.

Boltcacad wrote:my spreadsheet, VV

Ah, I was talking about songs they'd fully written - lyrics & music. If you include just lyrics, the percentage of songs they've been involved in creating in some way is actually pretty high. But personally I only think of a song as really their own if they do both the music and lyrics. It's still a Scandal song even if they only play it, but I don't think of it as necessarily reflecting their own personalities.

"Arrangement" is a pretty nebulous credit. I'm never sure how much weight to attach to that. That's not a credit that usually exists in the west; I imagine it's what a producer here usually does, which can really depend a lot on the band. Some bands come into the studio with just a single little riff or a melody they can hum and end up getting credit for writing the whole song, when the producer really did most of the work. But sometimes the producer just helps out with the details of the performance and the sound of the mix, while the band does everything else themselves. I don't know which really applies to Scandal.

The aforementioned list/thread:

https://www.scandal-heaven.com/t10545-songwriting-credits

spacecadet wrote:"Arrangement" is a pretty nebulous credit. I'm never sure how much weight to attach to that. That's not a credit that usually exists in the west; I imagine it's what a producer here usually does, which can really depend a lot on the band. 

Arranging is actually pretty darn significant, and can have a huge impact on the final product.

Compare the Michael Buble version of Feeling Good:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Edwsf-8F3sI

to the original Cy Grant version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UW4fE2x1hxk

It's not just the difference in vocal performance; the fundamental ambiance of the band is totally different.

saldiven wrote:

spacecadet wrote:"Arrangement" is a pretty nebulous credit. I'm never sure how much weight to attach to that. That's not a credit that usually exists in the west; I imagine it's what a producer here usually does, which can really depend a lot on the band. 

Arranging is actually pretty darn significant, and can have a huge impact on the final product.

Compare the Michael Buble version of Feeling Good:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Edwsf-8F3sI

to the original Cy Grant version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UW4fE2x1hxk

It's not just the difference in vocal performance; the fundamental ambiance of the band is totally different.

yes, that's why i also count the arranger, because a song can be totally different when arranged by different person .uhuh.