Super-producers cash in on Amerie, Beyonce & Kelly Clarkson!

by Nic Robertson on December 23rd, 2009 · posted in Music · 2 Comments

It has certainly been a year for celebrity controversy – from messy breakups and restraining orders to nude photo leaks and celebrity rehab admissions. However, it seems like the latest hype receiving coverage on the international music scene is that surrounding several big time producers – accused of selling the same beats to more than one artist!

Def Jam Records artist, Amerie recently released her fourth studio album, In Love & War. Amongst other big name collaborations, Bryan-Michael Cox (known for his award winning work with Usher, Mariah Carey, Mary J Blige, and others) hooked up with Amerie – producing the track “Red Eye”. Interestingly, this track is based upon the exact same instrumental piece as a track named “Patron”, recorded by artist Johnta Austin for his 2007 release Ocean Drive. As yet, there has been no official release from either the label, or Cox himself – so it is anyone’s guess who was in the driver’s seat for this one.

Another recent instance involving producer Ryan Tedder, and two household names - Beyonce and Kelly Clarkson, sparked widespread criticism and left the Grammy-nominated Tedder with some tough questions to answer. After accusations were directed at him by Clarkson about the uncanny resemblance between her song “Already Gone” and Beyonce’s hit single “Halo”, the OneRepublic frontman responded publicly, saying “They are two entirely different songs conceptually, melodically, [and] lyrically and I would never try to dupe an artist such as Kelly Clarkson or Beyoncé into recording over the same musical track, the idea is both hurtful [and] absurd”

Beyonce’s massively successful single “Halo” was released earlier this year and sold a whopping 140,000 copies in Australia. “Already Gone” was the third single released from Clarkson’s 2009 album, All I Ever Wanted and sold far less units – although still a very respectable 40,000 copies. Despite Clarkson’s concerns that her popularity would be damaged as a result, the track ended up being more successful than her last single “I Do Not Hook Up” (35,000 sales in Oz).

They say any publicity is good publicity, but for the sake of our much-loved pop stars (and their fans), let’s hope that Cox and Tedder aren’t quite out of ideas yet!