There are a lot of things you learn from working with different labels, like, 'Oh, this song's five minutes long, they won't play that on the radio, it has to be three minutes 20 seconds.'"
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I certainly do think that once you've been in it and written a couple of songs and worked with other artists, you do get that opportunity to kind of grow slowly from nothing to something." Mars also sees his past as an apprenticeship of sorts: "It's knowing what works on the radio and having a new sound or a fresh sound that will work.
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"He has a team around him that's experienced and know the industry fairly well. That, coupled with his experience of how labels work, is part of what Miller believes sets Mars apart. By continuing to write and produce hits and eventually appearing as a featured artist on a number of them, Mars's name became well known within the industry. It's difficult to commit to finance for new artists," he says. It's a reality with which David Miller, vice-president of international marketing for Atlantic Records – Mars's label – is familiar. "After I sold the song, it kind of opened my eyes – like, man, I don't think these labels want to take a chance on a new artist, they'd rather go with what's working, so it's probably better for me to just start producing for acts they already have." I was very, very broke at the time, and as much as I didn't want to sell my song because I wanted to put my own album out, I kind of had no choice: it was either sell the song or move back home to Hawaii." It was a wake-up call for Mars. "A record label heard a song I'd written for myself, and they wanted to buy it from me for their artist. "I was fresh out of Hawaii, moved up here, sang a couple of songs to the right people and got signed at a very young age, without any recording experience, any songwriting experience." Mars was thrown a lifeline when, having met Philip Lawrence and Ari Levine and formed the Smeezingtons, he was approached by a label, but it wasn't Mars they were after. "When you're 18 years old, what the hell can you really talk about as far as being a songwriter?" he says. Signed by Universal Motown at the age of 18, he struggled to make an impact and was quickly dropped. Mars, however, had wanted to be a performer all along, and going behind the scenes was simply a way to wriggle back into an industry that had already rejected him. Though Timbaland and Mark Ronson have recently released "solo" albums, their roles have still been as producers, not as stars. These aren't just producers putting their names to albums loaded with guest stars, either. Labrinth went from writing hits for Tinie Tempah to being the only non-talent-show artist to be signed to Simon Cowell's Syco label. Of course, as an idea it predates Gaga – Motown was a hotbed of songwriters sharing tunes and establishing performing careers, and Carole King built her early career on co-writing hits for others, for example – but nowadays it's more of a conscious career choice, influenced by a changing record company structure, a post-Idol/X Factor need to highlight credibility, the promotional convenience of a readymade backstory and more than a dash of ego.Ĭhanging glasses. More recently, Keri Hilson (Britney's Gimme More) and Ester Dean (Rihanna's Rude Boy) have made names for themselves as writers and producers for hire, as well as carving themselves promising singing careers. As with so many current mainstream pop trends, Lady Gaga was there first, having started out penning tracks for Britney and the Pussycat Dolls, while Ne-Yo has successfully carved a solo career alongside writing and producing credits for the likes of Beyoncé and Whitney Houston. In fact, in an industry nervous about signing and funding new talent, it's increasingly common for labels to launch artists with a proven record for writing hits. Mars isn't alone in his move from backroom to shop window. He also co-wrote and produced Fuck You by Cee Lo Green, a song powerful enough to keep Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow's Shame from reaching the UK top spot the other week. As one-third of the production outfit the Smeezingtons, he was partly responsible for B.o.B's recent UK and US No 1 Nothin' On You and Travie McCoy's top three hit Billionaire, alongside numerous others.
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In fact, Just the Way You Are was only the latest big hit the 25-year-old Hawaiian had been involved in. W hen Bruno Mars's debut single hit the No 1 spot on both sides of the Atlantic last month, it might have appeared as if he was an overnight sensation.