most famous contemporary composers

Britney didn't write anything...she's little more than a puppet. The true craftsmen are her team of Swedish songwriters - headed by Martin "Max Martin" Sandberg ; he was the compositional mastermind behind a slew of hits for Britney, *NSync, Backstreet Boys,...more recently Pink, Katy Perry, Kelly Clarkson....

Very few of those "artists" actually have anything to do with the actual compositional process.

:whistling:

I'd venture to say that the boys of Radiohead are at the top of the under-40 compositional pile - in ANY genre.

Thom Yorke/Jonny Greenwood certainly are famous.

Noel Gallagher (Oasis) is up there, too.

Stephan Jenkins wrote "Semi-Charmed Life". That counts for something.

...That's why I said the most famous composers are people who write popular music.

You know, people who write music that millions upon millions of people listen to every single day.

Not a single person like that has been mentioned yet. You guys don't seem to understand what the word famous means.

The people who write the music heard by millions upon millions are hardly famous.

I will personally GUARANTEE that a poll of 100 random kids, ages 12-18 will have NO IDEA who Max Martin is. I predict a 0% success rating when asked: "who wrote '...Baby One More Time'" .

Fame has nothing to do with success...

Exactly. I actually believe that if you asked random people on the street to name a famous composer (leaving away "contemporary" for now), names like Beethoven or Mozart would come up a lot more often than most composers of "popular" music (probably even more than John Lennon etc.) - even if the people who mention them never listen to classical music. It isn't at all about which music is the most popular/famous, but about certain cultural imprints concerning the term "composer" and the different focus in different styles of music between composers and performers.

Now, I'm sure that right now there aren't any "contemporary classical" composers that are as widely famous as Mozart (at least in Europe/North America), so I can't really say whether the most famous contemporary composers fall more into a "classical" section or more into "popular" music - but I'm sure you can't reduce that question to "the most famous composers are the ones whose music is listened to most".

The definition of composer IS simply someone who writes music.

That's why I said the most famous composers are people who write popular music.

You know, people who write music that millions upon millions of people listen to every single day.

Not a single person like that has been mentioned yet. You guys don't seem to understand what the word famous means.

Noel Gallagher's music has been listened to by millions upon millions. Oasis packed Wembley Stadium twice in a row.

Don't hate on solid contributors like myself.

I agree, having radio heads does make for good composers...or good computers.

I caught that.

But Jay Greenburg makes me jealous because he's already written more than I and has had more success. I wish I had started earlier, but I was unable to.:sadtears:

Not every performer plays another person's music.

There are plenty of famous performers playing original music.

Oh, definitely. Nobody here denied that. The only point that Robin and I made was that a certain music being listened to a lot doesn't automatically make its composer famous and that there are tons of composers of extremely popular music which still aren't famous. You may be perfectly right that the "most famous contemporary composer" comes from a "mainstream" direction - but it would be all so much easier to discuss reasonably if you just gave us some names instead of just accusing others that they don't know what they are talking about.

Fair enough. But as you said, Clapton and Dylan are too old and therefore are irrelevant to this thread - but again, I'm sure there are contemporary pop or rock composers who are rather famous.

My main issue is just that you seemed to presume a certain prejudice of the posters in this thread right from the start: That they would think of "popular music" as lesser music and of its composers as "not true" composers. And after that you only seemed to seek for confirmation of this presumption, while in reality, nobody here actually did voice such an opinion and some people in fact did bring up names that have nothing to do with the "classical" tradition. And the reason many people first thought of names that come from an extension of this "classical tradition" is just that this is the kind of music most members of this forum are most familiar with, and naturally people will give names of composers they are familiar with themselves here. That's a "bias", sure, but a very natural one, that has nothing to do with feelings of superiority or brushing aside other stuff. (That certainly exists too, also on this forum, but I don't see it in this thread.)

But enough with the ranting. I didn't actually want to attack you :P Just wanted to point out that I think many members of this forum might actually be more open minded than you may think.

Glenn Branca might count.

Not every performer plays another person's music.

There are plenty of famous performers playing original music.

Unless you thought Britney Spears was all there is to contemporary mainstream music?

*sigh*

Yes, I am aware of that...which is why I previously mentioned Thom Yorke et al of Radiohead. Also mentioned by others were Oasis amongst several other suitable offerings. Since we were discussing the 40-and-under generation, we're steering clear of the obvious Lennon, McCartney, Bjork, Hendrix, Clapton, Johnny Cash, Elvis, Mick Jagger, Springsteen, Tom Waits, and so on and so on....

Yes, there are some talented artists aout there doing their own music. But I posit that the vast majority of top-100 Pop/Rock singles are not written by the performer.

ANYWAY....

:whistling:

1.Koji Kondo is only 37 and for those who don't know him is the composer of Super Mario, Legend of Zelda...etc.

2.Yann Tiersen 39 almost acceptable :P

3.:sleeping:

All the other that I know are over 40 I think it's our time!!!:w00t::P

1.Koji Kondo is only 37 and for those who don't know him is the composer of Super Mario, Legend of Zelda...etc.

2.Yann Tiersen 39 almost acceptable :P

3.:sleeping:

All the other that I know are over 40 I think it's our time!!!:w00t::P

Kondo is 49.

Kondo is 49.

My mistake,

I saw this:Koji Kondo - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

But I didn't saw that he is a ''former Japanese football player'' :D

and that ''he has played for Japan national team''. :w00t:

I assume from years of experience of listening to elitist gibberish.

Sorry, was that directed at me?

I don't even understand what you mean, so...explain, please.

I think he was replying to my post.

I assume from years of experience of listening to elitist gibberish.

:O

:whistling:

:D

:thumbsup:

Yep, total negative energy flow in your direction, Robin. Damn you elitist.

I hope you give up on music and take up factory work until you die the sad and lonely death of the proletariat.

I'm going to take that as a compliment.

The russian elite rhythm master Andrey Rubtsov has recieved aclaim for his music around the world. Although he hasn't written more music because of his conducting training, I love what he has done from 2000 -2003. I have never heard anyone express music in such technical perfeccion.

"Elite rhythm master"… now, THAT's an awesome job description.

The russian elite rhythm master Andrey Rubtsov has recieved aclaim for his music around the world.

Not in my part of the world. ;)

Obviously...

But,,, it is Texas... So it REALLY doesn't count. Lol.

Obviously...

But,,, it is Texas... So it REALLY doesn't count. Lol.

Arizona doesn't count!!!!!