SIXX:A.M. Singer JAMES MICHAEL Exposes 'A Very Dark Side' Of Songwriting: It Brings Out 'The Worst In People'

SIXX:A.M. singer James Michael has shared a new video on his YouTube channel in which he addresses what he calls “predatory songwriting”, a practice where certain songwriters might ask for credit on songs that they had little to do with or where sometimes the producer of a song will try to give himself/herself a songwriting credit on a song that he/she didn’t write in order to receive more royalties.

Michael said in part (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “People always talk about how powerful songs are and how they can change lives or save lives, or how they can connect us. And I believe all of that’s true, but what you don’t hear about is there’s a dark side to songwriting — a very dark side. And the best songs quite often bring out the worst in people. And I’m gonna explain that.

“You see, the reality is this. It’s not just music. This happens in all kinds of work. Maybe you’ve built something at your job or you had an idea, and the moment it starts to get traction, someone steps in and wants a piece of it,” he continued. “It could be your boss taking credit, or a co-worker who just tries to repackage your work as if it’s theirs, and it happens everywhere. Wherever there’s value, there’s someone right there waiting to claim it, because when something shows potential, when it feels like it’s gonna work, the energy in the room shifts. People stop focusing on the craft and they start focusing on the opportunity. And songwriting, it’s no different. In fact, it might be worse. I don’t know. Because when a song lands, when it really hits you in the chest, it doesn’t just sound good, it feels like money. And that’s when things get kind of messed up.

“Now, I’ve gotta tell you, I’ve been in those rooms and watched it happen so many times,” James added. “You bring in a song idea, something that you worked on really hard, and suddenly everyone wants to be a part of it. And I’m not talking about the people that were there from the beginning — you know, the ones that you may have written this song with. I’m talking about the people who kind of drift in pretty much after it’s done — the ones who say, ‘Let’s just change this one word, or this one melody,’ and they’re so obviously angling for a writing credit. Now, the first few times that I had this happen to me, I thought to myself, ‘Well, maybe this is just how the game is played.’ But then it happens over and over and over, and I started realizing, this isn’t collaboration; this is a conquest. This is this person’s strategy. And the fact is the music industry doesn’t reward truth; it rewards ownership. Whoever controls the publishing controls the paycheck. So it doesn’t matter who created it; it just matters who delivered it. And I’ve gotta tell you, man, that messes with your head. Because songwriting isn’t just a product; it’s very personal. These are your thoughts and your stories, and suddenly they’re kind of being sliced up and sold like they belong to everyone else in the room. And the better the song is, the worse the behavior gets. People change, man. And you start realizing that success doesn’t just attract praise, it attracts predators.

“Now what I’ve just described is something that I became all too familiar with, and that is what I refer to as predatory songwriting,” Michael said. “It’s just where somebody sees the potential in something and they just do everything they can to basically weasel their way in and own a part of that idea or a part of that song. And so if you are starting to write songs and you’re wanting to get into the songwriting business, you really have to be cautious about this. You have to learn how to identify those predators.

“I remember one time I had written a song for one of the ‘American Idol’ contestants who had done very well in that show and was getting ready to release their first album,” James added. “And I don’t wanna mention names, but a very well-known artist. And I’d written a great song for them. And the record label and the management company loved it and were very excited about it. Now, there was a big-name producer [who] was producing this album. And one day I got a call from the producer’s assistant saying, ‘Hey, the producer wants a writing credit on this song.’ And I said, ‘Oh. Well, okay, what did they change?’ And the person that I was talking to kind of sat there for a second and they were, like, ‘Uh, I’m not sure. I’ll get back to you.’ So they got back to me a couple hours later and said, ‘No. They didn’t really change anything. They like the song the way that it is, but since they’re producing it, they want a writing credit on this song.’ And I was just floored by that. I thought, ‘Well, how do you justify asking for a writing credit if you didn’t write something on the song?’ If you’re the producer, you’re getting paid to produce the song. If you have an idea for the song, then by all means, I’m open to you adding your idea to the song, if it makes it better, and then, of course I would share writing credit with you, but that was not the case in this particular situation. This was just a big-name producer wanting a writing credit because he knew that’s where the money was. And I just said no. And you know what happened? The song went on the album, I got the writing credit and everything turned out okay. But the point is this producer was trying to bully me into giving him a credit. He knew that I needed that songwriting cut more than he did, and so he used his power to try to persuade me to cave, to basically give in to him. And I didn’t.”

You can hear Michael‘s full comments in the YouTube video below.

James has worked as a record producer, songwriter, and/or engineer and mixer with many rock and pop recording artists, including Kelly Clarkson, Alanis Morissette, Meat Loaf, MÖTLEY CRÜE, HAMMERFALL, SCORPIONS, Hilary Duff, THE RASMUS, PAPA ROACH, TRAPT, AMERICAN BANG, SALIVA, THE EXIES, Deana Carter, Sammy Hagar, Lillix, Sarah Kelly, HALESTORM, JACK’S MANNEQUIN, BRIDES OF DESTRUCTION, Marion Raven and Victoria Justice.

To date, SIXX:A.M. — whose name is a combination of all of the members’ last names (Nikki Sixx, D.J. Ashba, James Michael) — has had three U.S. Billboard top 20 albums and a string of hit singles, with its full catalog consisting of five studio albums — “The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack” (2007),“This Is Gonna Hurt” (2011),“Modern Vintage” (2014),“Prayers For The Damned” and “Prayers For The Blessed” (2016) — and three EPs, “X-Mas In Hell” (2008); “Live Is Beautiful” (2008) and “7” (2011).

SIXX:A.M.‘s “Hits” compilation album came out in 2021 via Better Noise Music. The album was a retrospective celebration of SIXX:A.M.‘s biggest hits and fan-favorite songs that also included five previously unheard tracks and mixes, marking the band’s first official album with new material since 2016.