Presented by Sony Music Publishing
Songwriters-producers Edgar Barrera and Keityn, the forces behind some of Latin music’s biggest hits, talk about how they write and produce their chart-toppers and how they fight to protect songwriters’ rights.
Songwriters-producers Edgar Barrera and Keityn, the forces behind some of Latin music’s biggest hits, talk about how they write and produce their chart-toppers and how they fight to protect songwriters’ rights.
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MusicTranscript
00:00 Edgar said the financial part, I say have fun.
00:04 Never do it for numbers.
00:08 Obviously without neglecting the financial part,
00:11 because that's what we want to live from, right?
00:12 But have fun.
00:14 Wow, this is a power duo here.
00:17 Welcome.
00:19 Thank you.
00:20 Greetings to everyone out there.
00:21 Thank you.
00:22 Hello.
00:23 Well, in this panel,
00:25 this is one of the most iconic panels of Billboard.
00:27 And we've always had big, big, big names here.
00:30 It's the first time we have two,
00:32 but you two have so many songs together
00:34 that I said, well,
00:35 it seemed fun to have both points of view.
00:40 Now, Edgar, you were born on the border with Mexico.
00:45 Yes.
00:46 How did that influence your musical taste?
00:51 I was born in Macalé, Texas,
00:55 which is the border with Reynosa.
00:58 Land of the untouchables, right?
01:00 Land, around there, yes.
01:02 Land of Ramón Ayala, which is over there too.
01:06 Close by is Corpus Christi, which is Selena.
01:10 So, yes, I grew up in the middle of these two cultures,
01:14 in the middle of Mexico and the United States.
01:16 I was born in the United States,
01:17 but I grew up on the other side of the border,
01:20 which is very common to be born on one side
01:24 and cross the pond on the other.
01:27 So, it's truly bicultural.
01:29 Bicultural, yes.
01:30 So, my passion for music also comes from
01:35 the two cultures.
01:36 For example, in the United States,
01:37 I went to school in the morning,
01:39 and that's where I listened to rock, pop,
01:42 music in English.
01:43 And at home, in Mexico,
01:45 my grandparents, who were my neighbors,
01:47 we lived next door,
01:48 and with my grandfather,
01:50 we listened to a lot of Mexican music.
01:52 A lot, a lot, a lot.
01:53 So, that's where my passion for Mexican music comes from.
01:56 And, Katin, you are from Cali like me.
02:01 I love it.
02:02 One point, please.
02:03 One point.
02:06 Now, a very salsa-like city,
02:08 but your music is not so salsa-like, or is it?
02:11 How did that city come about in your music?
02:14 No, no, no.
02:14 I'm a fan of salsa.
02:16 Fan. I grew up with salsa, like I was in Cali.
02:19 My dad always taught me how to make music,
02:23 like salsa, Puerto Rican,
02:25 Cali, they're from Cali,
02:28 Grupo Niche, Aero Varela.
02:30 And I feel like my compositions have a bit of salsa.
02:34 Because it's very curious when
02:36 the songs come out
02:38 and they're made in salsa,
02:39 I like them in salsa.
02:41 It's very curious. I love it.
02:43 And how did you discover music?
02:45 Edgar, I know your dad is a musician.
02:47 Yes, my dad is a musician,
02:49 and since I was little,
02:51 I didn't play, I didn't have a Nintendo.
02:54 Well, I did have a Nintendo, but I didn't have fun playing it.
02:56 I played it more.
02:58 I left school, and I remember,
03:00 six or seven years old,
03:02 my memories are of playing the guitar,
03:04 learning,
03:06 making songs,
03:08 like, I listened to them, I tried to make them here.
03:11 And that kind of took me to another thing.
03:14 I started to have,
03:15 we made a group with my brother and a cousin of mine,
03:18 and there was no one to write the songs,
03:20 and I started to write the songs to sing them.
03:23 We practiced a lot, but we never played anywhere.
03:25 Because I was ten years old,
03:27 so imagine, I remember one time
03:29 we went to a bar,
03:31 and they let us play, but it was uncomfortable.
03:34 There's a video of me,
03:35 when I was 12 years old, playing in a bar,
03:37 full of drunk people,
03:38 and that was weird.
03:40 But it's part of growing up.
03:44 And you, Keitin?
03:46 Well, since I was very little,
03:48 my dad also sings.
03:50 My dad is still a singer.
03:52 What kind? Salsa?
03:54 Well, now he's more into the chest music,
03:56 like the chest music in Colombia.
04:00 But he lives in Spain.
04:02 But he was always a salsa singer.
04:05 He carries salsa in his blood,
04:06 and he sang salsa for a long time.
04:07 In fact, when the salsa singers go to Spain,
04:11 they invite him to choreograph for them.
04:15 So, yes, he has a lot of salsa.
04:18 Since I was very little, my dad instilled it in me.
04:21 He took me to his rehearsals and all that,
04:22 but I think it was as strong as the instillation,
04:26 that I didn't like it anymore.
04:27 There was a point where I didn't want music anymore in my life.
04:30 In fact, it wasn't my dream.
04:31 I never thought of finishing up making music.
04:35 At the age of 8 or 9,
04:38 I had a leg disease,
04:40 left leg.
04:40 I wanted to be a footballer,
04:42 but I had a disease
04:44 that prevented me from walking for a while.
04:47 A few years later, I stopped.
04:49 My mom gave me a guitar.
04:52 I started to get the taste of music again with the guitar.
04:56 I started with the first three notes that I learned.
04:59 It gave me the energy to start adding lyrics to what I played.
05:02 And that's how I fell in love with this.
05:06 When did you both realize that,
05:09 obviously, music was already part of you?
05:13 And when did you make the decision,
05:16 "I like this, but I like to be behind,
05:18 creating what others sing,
05:21 and not necessarily me"?
05:22 It's something that not many people
05:25 admit, right?
05:26 I think a lot of people enter music and say,
05:28 "I'm going to write my own songs,"
05:30 but I get the feeling that you guys,
05:31 from the beginning, said,
05:33 "We're going to create what comes out,
05:37 and let other people interpret it."
05:40 I've never liked...
05:44 You said, "No more" from the drunk.
05:46 No, and it's hard for me, for example,
05:48 to be on the other side of the glass.
05:50 It's hard for me.
05:51 It's hard for me to do interviews.
05:53 It's hard for me, like...
05:55 Even if you don't believe it, I really do.
05:57 But you're doing great today.
05:58 No, I'm fine, but I'm relaxed.
06:00 But it's hard for me.
06:02 I panic on stage, too.
06:04 I'm not...
06:05 I'm not very...
06:07 I feel like maybe I wouldn't have enjoyed it so much.
06:10 And then, when I arrived in Miami in 2012,
06:13 I think I arrived in 2011,
06:16 I got to work in a recording studio,
06:18 where I served coffee, picked up cables,
06:20 and that's when I realized
06:22 that there was another side to music,
06:24 that you could also live well,
06:26 and that you didn't have to know people,
06:27 and that you could go eat at the corner,
06:30 and go out in peace.
06:32 And I liked that more,
06:34 and I said, "No, it's this way."
06:35 I started to focus more on the composition,
06:37 on the production,
06:39 and...
06:41 And yes, I think I made the right decision,
06:42 because it's what I'm most passionate about.
06:45 And you, Keiten?
06:46 Well, I...
06:48 The truth is that...
06:50 To be an artist, you have to be very disciplined.
06:54 And that's something I don't have.
06:57 Really.
06:58 I was going to say, "Really?"
07:00 Because I...
07:01 Well, I know Edgar is like a military...
07:05 Yes, I am. I'm more disciplined.
07:06 I don't have to pull my ears out.
07:08 Yes, but the truth is, the worker here is him.
07:11 I give him...
07:13 In that sense, I give him everything.
07:14 He's a hard worker.
07:15 In fact, I've had to tell him to lower his voice.
07:18 And that's it.
07:20 Yes, yes.
07:21 But no, I don't lower my voice when I play.
07:22 Not long ago, we had a session with Mac.
07:25 You know who Mac is, right? The producer of Bad Bunny.
07:28 And Keiten says, "Bro, give it to him early."
07:32 And I write to Mac, "Bro, the session with Keiten is early tomorrow."
07:36 And Mac says, "Bro, I can get there as early as 11 in the morning.
07:39 I don't know, I have something in the morning."
07:41 And I say, "Keiten, bro, what if we start at 11?"
07:45 He says, "11? No, early, like 6, 5 in the afternoon."
07:49 And I say, "Early?"
07:50 But...
07:52 But you know me.
07:54 You know that for me, that's early.
07:56 No, but you start realizing that early for me...
07:59 Early is 7 in the morning.
08:00 Today I had to get up early.
08:03 Well, then, Keiten, thank you for getting there early.
08:06 Yes, that's...
08:07 I was the first one to get there, no kidding.
08:09 You have to make some sacrifices.
08:12 Yes.
08:13 One of the first songs where the...
08:19 I said who wrote this song,
08:22 and I think it's one of the first times I remember seeing the credits,
08:26 was "Hawaii" by Maluma.
08:27 Yes.
08:28 Joyce, can we play a little bit of "Hawaii"?
08:37 Thank you.
08:38 Well, thank you, because I didn't write it.
08:40 What was the role of each one of you here?
08:44 And there are other writers in this song.
08:46 So, tell us a little bit about that process.
08:49 Well, I...
08:51 Who does what? In this duo, who does what?
08:54 For me, that song, for example...
08:57 When I met Keiten, I met Keiten...
09:00 in the lobby of one of those...
09:02 We were doing the check-in for the hotel in one of the Latin Grammys.
09:05 And that's where I saw him.
09:07 I assure you that it wasn't a Latin Billboard.
09:09 Think again.
09:10 Think again.
09:12 Yes, yes, yes.
09:13 In a Billboard Awards.
09:15 No, I'm kidding.
09:16 We were doing the line,
09:20 and that's where I saw him, I greeted him.
09:22 I've already been told a lot about him.
09:23 That there was a kid in Colombia who wrote very well,
09:27 and that you had to hang out with him, and I don't know what.
09:29 And I think that's where you went to Hawaii, right?
09:32 You went to a camp that you didn't invite me to.
09:34 I don't know why they didn't want to invite me.
09:37 But, then...
09:39 That's where Hawaii is born, right?
09:42 Well, yes.
09:44 That was for Vegas, 2018.
09:48 After Vegas, you flew to Hawaii.
09:50 From there we went to Hawaii.
09:52 I went with a group of friends.
09:56 I didn't know you, sorry.
09:58 That's why I didn't invite you.
10:01 We arrived in Hawaii, and we stayed a week in Hawaii.
10:06 The last day, I was taking a shower,
10:09 and that pre-chorus came out.
10:11 And I went out and asked the computer to lend me a partner.
10:15 I put the notes of the Hawaiian song.
10:18 Sing the pre-chorus.
10:20 Let me tell you, the picture you took with him,
10:23 saying that it was your heaven.
10:25 I don't remember how to say the song, but it's like that.
10:30 And we did something until the chorus.
10:33 I remember Bull helped me.
10:36 -Bull Nene. -Bull Nene.
10:38 He helped me.
10:41 We finished the song, and left it there.
10:43 I don't know who it was for.
10:44 I sent it to many artists.
10:48 Parenthesis, Keiting.
10:50 You are one of those who write and send the songs.
10:53 I mean, you market your songs.
10:55 You send them to different people.
10:58 You don't sit there and wait.
11:00 You send them to a lot of people to see what happens.
11:02 I listen to the song,
11:05 and I imagine who can be there.
11:09 The best option is not always the one I think they will be.
11:15 But I have the privilege of having the artists on WhatsApp.
11:22 Nowadays, I don't do it.
11:24 I don't like to send it,
11:26 because I prefer to be with the artist and listen to it.
11:29 But before, I did it a lot.
11:31 Many artists had that song.
11:34 So, one day I was with Maluma in Medellín.
11:38 We all want to know who else has that song.
11:40 No, no, no. A lot.
11:42 A lot, and big.
11:44 One day I was in Medellín with Maluma,
11:47 and Maluma told me, "We are working on the album."
11:51 And since I was in Medellín, I wrote to Juan Vargas,
11:53 who is Keiting's manager, and I said,
11:55 "Bro, we are working on Maluma's album,
11:58 and I would like to sit with Keiting to compose something."
12:01 And he said, "Bro, he's not here right now,
12:03 but there are some ideas we made, or songs,
12:07 and he sent me one of those, the song 'Hawaii'.
12:09 I play it to Maluma, and she says,
12:11 "I like it, but I don't like it.
12:13 There's something in the song I don't like."
12:15 And it was the verse that Maluma didn't like.
12:17 And he said, "Ask Keiting if you can help him
12:20 so we can make a new verse for the song."
12:25 And that's when I wrote to Juan Vargas.
12:30 Some of the people in the song told me
12:32 it was the worst decision I was making
12:34 to put Maluma in that song.
12:35 And I said, "No, I see Maluma in this song.
12:37 I see him, I see him."
12:39 They said, "No, you're screwing up Maluma's career.
12:42 Because it's more, it's very pop for Maluma."
12:44 And I said, "No, that's the song. That song is for Maluma."
12:47 And they sent it to me, and I got to Miami.
12:50 We sat down, Bull and I, Keiting was not here,
12:54 and we wrote the verse for the song.
12:56 We did it there.
12:57 Which part? Sing it.
12:59 How do you say the verse?
13:00 Sing it.
13:01 I sang it.
13:07 Ah.
13:08 Yes, it says...
13:10 Tell all your followers,
13:12 tell them that the ladies are better.
13:14 I don't think that you ignore me.
13:17 Ah, but they didn't applaud me.
13:20 We were seeing the favoritism.
13:22 It's not to put Edgar in the spotlight,
13:25 but because the process...
13:26 No, I didn't remember.
13:27 It's not that I didn't want to sing it.
13:28 I didn't remember the song.
13:30 And well, I wrote that part,
13:33 and I showed it to Maluma, and Maluma likes the song.
13:36 So, we recorded it a day before they closed the whole country,
13:42 because this was pre-COVID.
13:44 Oh my God.
13:45 This was pre-COVID.
13:46 I got COVID that day.
13:47 I think Maluma hit me.
13:48 I had COVID when the song came out.
13:50 You had COVID?
13:51 Yes.
13:52 Well, yes, I think he hit me today,
13:55 but we recorded it, we recorded it,
13:58 and I took it, and I remember that we finished producing it,
14:00 we finished working on it, and...
14:03 And nothing, the song is what it is now.
14:06 This was the first one you did together?
14:08 The first one we did, but not...
14:10 That came out together.
14:11 Yes, because we didn't sit down to work on it,
14:13 he and I, personally,
14:15 and that's when we said, "The song worked,"
14:17 and I said, "Damn, let's sit down to compose."
14:21 And now we get together almost every day.
14:23 Almost every day.
14:24 Okay, I have a list of songs there.
14:28 Let's talk about one that you composed together.
14:31 I'm trying to think which ones.
14:33 "El Jefe"?
14:37 "El Jefe," yes.
14:39 Or, "Te Quedo Grande."
14:42 "Te Cujé."
14:44 "Te Cujé" is from him. "Te Cujé" is his.
14:46 Ah, "Te Cujé" is yours?
14:48 The one we did together was "Mi Ex Tenía Razón," by Karol.
14:50 "Mi Ex Tenía Razón."
14:51 I put "Mi Ex Tenía Razón" there, I think I did, right?
14:54 Now, this song, obviously, is by Karol G.
15:05 Yes.
15:06 Did you write it specifically thinking of her,
15:09 or how did this process go?
15:11 We were in Los Angeles with her.
15:13 With her, in the studio.
15:15 We were with her in Los Angeles.
15:17 She had invited Ríos and me to that session,
15:20 and we were there.
15:21 Ríos, who is another composer,
15:23 a very good friend of ours, too.
15:25 And we were in the studio, and we were stuck in the chorus.
15:29 But, let's see, but Karol told you, "I want to make a song of..."
15:33 No?
15:34 Well, yes.
15:36 Yes, I don't know that subject, but...
15:38 She wanted to do something regional.
15:42 Yes, I remember when the 1% thing came out,
15:47 she wrote to me, "I want to do something like Selena."
15:50 "I want to do something with you like Selena."
15:52 But months passed,
15:54 and her schedule and our schedule,
15:57 we were in Los Angeles,
15:59 and we traveled to Los Angeles with her.
16:01 And we talked almost every day.
16:05 And that day she called me, "Kateyn, by FaceTime."
16:08 "Hey, what are you doing?"
16:09 I said, "We're doing a song here, but we're stuck in the chorus."
16:12 "Let's see, let's see, what does the chorus say, what do the verses say?"
16:14 "Is this all by phone?"
16:15 "By FaceTime, yes."
16:16 The chorus was by phone.
16:18 And we wrote the chorus by FaceTime, with Kateyn.
16:21 So...
16:22 I was right.
16:24 Okay, and what did Kateyn bring to the table specifically there?
16:28 You tell her.
16:29 What did Kateyn bring?
16:31 No, Kateyn brings empanadas and...
16:36 No, no, Kateyn, really.
16:38 We complement each other a lot, because when we work, we don't have ego.
16:41 There's no ego in the studio.
16:43 It's not like, "Oh, I'm... or you are..."
16:46 I think it's one of the things we work really well for,
16:50 and Kateyn contributes a lot to the songs.
16:54 He brought the concept.
16:56 For example, we were stuck and we wanted to write about it,
16:59 and Kateyn said the phrase, "My ex was right."
17:03 And that's when we said, "Man, there it is."
17:05 I said, "No, because we've been in the studio for a while,"
17:08 and we came up with an idea, another idea, and another idea,
17:11 and we didn't quite like it.
17:14 And then, all together, there was Carol, Kateyn, Rios, and me.
17:18 We were together there.
17:20 And...
17:22 Nothing, you know?
17:23 So, you both do voice and music.
17:26 Isn't it that someone focuses more on the lyrics and someone else on the music?
17:30 Well, I think that, musically, Edgar is more...
17:34 He's more of a producer, he has more melodies,
17:38 and we both focus on the composing part.
17:41 But Edgar is more musical than me.
17:43 There's a difference, something that has caught my attention about you,
17:47 is that you write for many men, but also for many women.
17:50 Notably, Carol, Yaritza and her essence, Shakira now.
17:57 Is the approach you take different when you're writing for a woman?
18:01 How do you do it?
18:03 Because, really, those songs by Carol sound like Carol, you know?
18:08 So, how do you get into the head?
18:12 Or is it because she's there too and she makes her contribution?
18:16 What is it?
18:18 Well, with Carol in particular,
18:21 she...
18:23 For example, Tusa.
18:25 When we did Tusa,
18:28 it's in third person, so a man and a woman can sing it.
18:32 And I try to focus a lot on that,
18:34 how you can sing as a man and as a woman.
18:37 So, that's why it works for me a lot with Carol.
18:40 I don't know, I feel that nowadays,
18:43 any person, man or woman, can sing.
18:46 Yes, I think that if you think, "This song is for a woman,"
18:49 you're wrong, because the woman...
18:52 The woman, speaking like that, is also empowerment.
18:57 There's no longer that cliché of,
19:01 "How can you say it's a woman?"
19:03 Why not?
19:05 If a man can say it, why can't a woman?
19:07 So, I think that when it comes to writing songs,
19:10 when we sit down and decide if it's for a man or a woman,
19:13 when it's him or her, or that man or that woman,
19:17 if it's in the chorus,
19:19 we often leave it for...
19:23 I don't know if it's for a woman,
19:25 we leave it for a man, or whatever.
19:27 We don't try to limit it.
19:29 We don't put a gender on it.
19:32 Exactly.
19:33 You've known Carol for a while now.
19:36 When you work with a new artist,
19:39 and I know that sometimes you don't know where the songs are going,
19:42 but sometimes you do know where they're going.
19:44 When it's a new artist,
19:46 do you like to spend time with them first, or is it not necessary?
19:49 No, I think that when we work with Frontera,
19:53 for example, who is a new artist...
19:56 I say "new" to you.
19:58 Ah, well,
20:00 we don't work with many artists, to be honest.
20:02 No, I'm kidding.
20:04 No, really.
20:05 I'm kidding.
20:07 When we work with a new artist,
20:09 I don't know,
20:12 I get confident with people very quickly,
20:15 and I'm always comfortable in the sessions.
20:21 I think that Katy...
20:25 I like to create an environment first.
20:28 I like to compose,
20:30 first, get to know each other,
20:32 create an environment,
20:34 patch it up,
20:36 right now it's about enjoying,
20:38 we don't think about success,
20:40 we patch it up, enjoy it.
20:42 We're here because we like the music,
20:44 we start talking,
20:46 "How are you? Do you like it?"
20:48 But then, it's an addition,
20:50 the rest is an addition.
20:52 I think the first thing is to create an environment.
20:54 So, for example, I like to deal with the artist first.
20:58 For example, in the sessions,
21:00 he plays FIFA more,
21:02 while he's playing FIFA,
21:04 I'm working on the movie.
21:06 Really? You play FIFA to...
21:08 Too much, too much.
21:10 I exaggerated, right?
21:12 To clear your mind.
21:14 It's just that we're part of the leisure.
21:17 Do you understand me?
21:19 Leisure is part of the business.
21:21 The business is to deny yourself the leisure.
21:25 It's the opposite.
21:27 Do you understand me?
21:29 Yes, yes. Are we writing all these sentences?
21:32 So, we're creative.
21:36 I think leisure is an important part of that.
21:40 To be relaxed, to enjoy, patch it up,
21:44 and that's where creativity comes from.
21:46 Not thinking about numbers,
21:48 not thinking about, "I need another number one."
21:50 No, no, no. It's about creativity, whatever comes out.
21:53 I think that when you work to be number one,
21:56 you don't get number one.
21:58 Really, it's happened to me when the artist calls me and says,
22:00 "I want it to be number one on Billboard," or whatever.
22:04 And normally, when the artist calls you for that,
22:07 it doesn't turn out to be number one.
22:09 And the song you least expected to work,
22:12 is the one that turns out to be.
22:14 It happened to us with "Según Quién," by Maluma and Kenny Leon.
22:17 I always had faith in "Según Quién."
22:19 I had faith in "Según Quién" too.
22:21 I have faith in it, obviously, but it surprised us all.
22:24 For example, all the success that the song is having today,
22:27 it's like, you know, the day we wrote that song,
22:31 we were all...
22:33 - How did we do it? - Yes, we were in a pool,
22:37 in Turks and Caicos, Maluma invited us to Turks.
22:40 And there are photos, and there's Katy and Maluma
22:44 inside the pool, and I'm outside in the pool with the guitar,
22:47 and we're composing, and there's Lexus and Kasta,
22:49 who also worked on the production of the song.
22:51 They were inside, doing the track.
22:54 We were giving them the keys, and they were moving forward,
22:57 so they wouldn't waste time.
22:59 And while the three of us were in the pool,
23:01 we wrote the song in about 20 minutes.
23:03 Yes, in nothing.
23:05 Of course, I'll tell you, if Maluma invites me to Turks and Caicos,
23:09 to the pool, I think I'll write a hit too.
23:13 Yes, yes.
23:14 No, but it's also like, we try to do that fast,
23:17 so that later we can go out and party and all that.
23:21 - To the leisure. - Yes, to the leisure.
23:23 Well, now a serious question about leisure,
23:26 since we're talking about what happens when you're writing.
23:29 You've written songs with a few people, and with a lot of people.
23:34 And sometimes these songs come out with eight credits, five credits.
23:38 How do you figure out those splits?
23:40 Because yesterday there was a conversation about splits here,
23:42 with people saying that splits have to be decided in the studio.
23:47 I've also heard a lot of people say,
23:49 "The splits are decided in the studio,
23:51 then I get the splits, and there are ten more people
23:54 who weren't in the studio and I never saw them.
23:56 What's going on?"
23:58 Or, "What's going on? How do you like to handle that situation?"
24:01 - You talk. - You talk.
24:03 I was told to ask what I wanted.
24:05 Yes, well, look.
24:07 It's just that there are songs that...
24:12 that yes, for example, I have songs where I'm 100%,
24:18 which are 100% of the songs that are out there,
24:21 that I write them myself, which are 100%.
24:24 There are songs where more people get involved,
24:27 where... you know, sometimes that happens,
24:29 that there are a lot of people in a split.
24:31 Why a lot of people? Because sometimes the songs are made in a camp.
24:34 And the mistake we make in the camps is that we already leave them...
24:38 In fact, we don't do it that often,
24:40 and when we do it, we do it very closed.
24:42 Very closed, because...
24:44 Maybe sometimes you invite 15 people to a camp,
24:47 and there are three rooms, right?
24:49 A room with five, five, and five people, let's say.
24:52 So, the person who's here, went to the other room,
24:55 and maybe said a phrase that stayed in the song,
24:58 or said something like that, so when it's time to say,
25:01 "Ah, if the song is the simple one,"
25:03 it turns out that the person who said, "Ah, I said this phrase,"
25:06 "Ah, I said this thing," so...
25:08 Well, in the end, in my case, I try to...
25:12 I try to share what...
25:14 I don't have a problem, for example, and...
25:17 And Keiting knows it, that there are never problems like...
25:20 If a person does this thing, but the percentages are defined
25:24 by the work that one does.
25:26 For example, there are songs where, I don't know,
25:28 maybe we both have 40% of the song,
25:32 40-40, and the other five is done by that person,
25:37 3%, there are splits between us,
25:39 until there's a person who has 1% of the song.
25:42 But I think the question is very important,
25:45 especially for you two, because...
25:47 What maybe not everyone knows is that when the business
25:50 was physical records, the producer and the composer
25:54 had a physical percentage of that record that was given to them.
25:58 So they had a guaranteed money.
26:01 With streams, it's another equation, you earn a lot less.
26:05 So it's really important to know how that money is going to be divided,
26:09 because it's not...
26:11 How much were the physical records?
26:13 Was it 18%? 8%?
26:15 I'm looking at the publishers.
26:17 Ah!
26:19 For each song.
26:22 Exactly, but in streaming it's something else,
26:25 and you are not interpreters.
26:27 So you are not having the money that comes from the sound exchange.
26:31 It's just the money from the composition and production.
26:35 It's very important to align those splits.
26:38 Yes, and sometimes with the splits,
26:41 maybe you see people who...
26:43 Maybe, I don't know, lately you've seen managers
26:47 who are in a split, and that, and...
26:50 Sometimes you understand that it's part of the business, right?
26:54 And I've had the chance to be in songs where maybe
26:58 a manager, but the manager doesn't get involved with my split percentage.
27:02 And that's why sometimes it doesn't affect my business,
27:06 but what it does affect is maybe visually,
27:10 in the credit, that a person who didn't write the song appears.
27:14 But we, KT and I, for example,
27:17 we are putting a stop to that,
27:20 and stopping a little bit,
27:23 we don't have any problem,
27:25 maybe the creative people who are in the split,
27:29 yes, I mean, they are in the part of the publish,
27:33 because I think that's why the business of the composer
27:36 and the business of the publisher was invented.
27:38 So I feel that if there is an artist's manager,
27:41 or whatever, who normally appears in the split,
27:45 I always suggest that they take from the publishing,
27:49 so they don't get involved in the percentage.
27:52 Yes, but sometimes, for example, the manager says to me,
27:55 "Bro, why are you getting angry?"
27:57 Because I have had fights where I'm screaming on the phone
28:01 because of that kind of thing.
28:03 I can't imagine Edgar Barrera screaming, but well.
28:06 No, no, no, no, you don't want to see me.
28:09 Especially when I'm defending our rights,
28:12 that we are the composers,
28:14 which is the only part where we win, you know?
28:18 But there are also quite fair people.
28:23 There are managers who have understood the split,
28:26 and that's where I applaud many managers,
28:28 because we have found,
28:30 and that's something I talk a lot with Jorge,
28:32 who is here, and our publishers,
28:34 that we want to find a way in which the manager
28:36 continues to have his business with the composer who handles it,
28:39 or with the artist who handles it,
28:41 but that it doesn't affect us visually
28:43 to the credit of the song,
28:45 which in the end is our legacy,
28:47 it's a legacy we are making.
28:49 Of course, if you don't want to share your composition credit
28:52 with, I don't know, with...
28:54 With the manager.
28:56 With the executive assistant.
28:58 I feel that the rights of the composer
29:03 are being affected right now.
29:06 It's being affected,
29:08 like, who writes the song,
29:11 and the manager of the artist appears,
29:13 the manager of the producer, the manager of the composer,
29:15 the one who invested,
29:17 there are a few people there,
29:19 so I think that, when it comes to the truth,
29:22 the creatives are like...
29:24 but, if you understand me, it's like, ready.
29:26 I mean, it's good that they are in business,
29:29 but we have to find a way to put them
29:32 in a part where it's like,
29:34 managers, or investors, whatever,
29:38 but that it's respected who wrote the song,
29:41 not who produced it.
29:43 I feel that that's very important,
29:45 and I think that right now, Edgar is on the same page
29:48 as me, of giving value to that.
29:51 Yes, we are already putting a stop to that.
29:54 For example, at least in our songs,
29:56 we are already asking those who really wrote the song
30:00 to appear in the credits, those who wrote the song,
30:03 and with the help, as I told you,
30:05 of our editors who are here,
30:07 we managed to find a form called
30:09 "Letters of Directions",
30:11 which I recommend to the composers to do it.
30:13 For example, there are letters of directions
30:15 that you give as a gift, and the manager of that composer,
30:18 obviously it's the manager's business,
30:20 that he takes his percentage,
30:22 that you give as a gift, instead of paying the composer
30:25 the 100% of what he gets,
30:27 that the 15%, or the 20, or the 30,
30:29 or whatever is in the manager's business,
30:31 goes to the manager.
30:33 And it's already working for us,
30:35 and we are setting the example
30:37 so that many composers do the same.
30:40 Well, I hope you took note.
30:42 It's like when you write a book,
30:45 I'm the author,
30:47 but there's a percentage that goes to my agent,
30:50 but he doesn't come out as the co-author of the book.
30:53 Exactly.
30:54 And it's quite uncomfortable, really.
30:56 I've seen, for example, some managers
30:59 who take a turn and say,
31:02 "In my path as a composer, I've composed this, this, this,"
31:05 and you say, "This guy doesn't compose anything."
31:08 But a manager, I don't understand.
31:10 I swear, it's quite uncomfortable to see that.
31:13 Very uncomfortable.
31:14 Not to mention that there may be managers who compose.
31:17 No, I don't know any.
31:19 Me neither.
31:20 Well, I'd like to hear one last song.
31:29 I'm going to choose it.
31:32 "Fragile."
31:33 "Fragile."
31:35 Joyce, can we hear a little bit of "Fragile"?
31:38 I know we were saying that you don't write specifically
31:49 thinking of someone specific,
31:51 but this song is hard for me to work,
31:53 to think that you didn't say,
31:55 "This is for Yaritza's voice."
31:57 No.
31:58 No?
31:59 No, no, no.
32:00 Okay.
32:01 Yes.
32:02 It's a song that was around for a long time,
32:04 like a year.
32:05 In fact, at first it was a song for Nodal.
32:09 It was a song for Cristian Nodal.
32:11 Ah, I also hear it.
32:12 In Feet.
32:13 Yes.
32:14 We were looking for a Feet.
32:15 Yes, we were looking for a Feet.
32:17 We, as composers, sometimes imagine Feets.
32:19 I wanted to do, because I had already discussed with Nodal,
32:23 Nodal wanted to do a song with, I don't know,
32:25 what did we say?
32:26 Yes, obviously.
32:27 Or with Carol, for example.
32:28 Nodal and Carol wanted to do a song together.
32:30 Okay.
32:31 They haven't done it, right?
32:32 No, they haven't.
32:33 But two years ago.
32:34 So, this was like...
32:35 Is it already recorded?
32:36 No, no, no, no.
32:37 No, we imagine things, sometimes as composers we also do a work of A and R,
32:44 like, "Ah, how would it sound like this and that?"
32:47 Let's do a song.
32:48 Ah, I know Nodal, you know Carol.
32:50 Ah, let's try to do the possible.
32:52 And that song was like for that.
32:55 And I remember that I showed it to Nodal, but Nodal didn't see it.
32:58 And the song was on WhatsApp, saved for like a year and a half,
33:02 and Nodal never recorded it.
33:03 Nodal said yes, yes, but he never finished recording it.
33:07 And one day I had a session with Yaritza,
33:09 and sometimes, Yaritza arrived at 11 in the morning,
33:14 it was 10 in the morning,
33:15 and I didn't know who was going to record with Yaritza.
33:18 And I started looking for a WhatsApp like songs to see what we worked on,
33:22 and I wrote to Katie and she said, "Bro, the song 'Fragile'."
33:26 I said, "Ah, bro, the song 'Fragile'."
33:29 "Yes, yes, yes, and if we do it in cumbia, we do it like that."
33:32 Because I also wanted to do a song with Frontera, with Yaritza,
33:35 because they were already coming.
33:36 What was the original rhythm?
33:38 No, it was like...
33:39 It's like "Vallenato."
33:40 It's like "Vallenato," yes.
33:41 "Vallenato."
33:42 Okay.
33:43 Yes, it was like "Vallenato."
33:44 And that day Yaritza arrived at the house,
33:47 and we finished writing the song, and I called Katie,
33:50 and I said, "Bro, listen to this, it sounds incredible."
33:52 And when Frontera put it together,
33:55 Juanito, the accordionist, was getting married the next day,
33:59 and I had him, we were at a party.
34:01 I'm crazy like that, so you understand.
34:03 Juanito was getting married tomorrow.
34:06 We were at a party with his whole family in Monterrey,
34:09 at a farm, and his whole family was there,
34:13 so it was like the pre-wedding,
34:17 dinner, barbecue, tacos,
34:19 and I said, "Juanito, we have to record the accordion,"
34:21 and I put him in a room, and I set up the studio room,
34:24 and Juanito was recording the accordion right there,
34:27 because they had to go the next day,
34:30 and he left two weeks after Emil's honeymoon,
34:34 he got married the next day,
34:36 and we finished the song later.
34:38 But the song was recorded there in the room?
34:41 Yes, we recorded it there, at the farm,
34:45 and the next day Juanito got married, and...
34:47 Yes, I'm crazy.
34:51 Look, the conversation is great.
34:53 I'm going to start,
34:54 I'm going to let them ask at least two questions,
34:57 especially the composers in the room.
35:00 One here and one there.
35:03 That hand that raised first.
35:07 That one.
35:08 And then this hand that raised here.
35:12 Hello, how are you?
35:15 My name is Guillermo.
35:16 Nice to meet you, Edgar.
35:18 I greeted you yesterday.
35:19 I'm from Harlingen, Texas, 956.
35:22 Yeah.
35:23 Is there more people here?
35:25 That's crazy.
35:26 The truth is that the work you've done,
35:32 and the footprint you've left, is great.
35:35 And it's an honor to listen to you and see your process.
35:39 And I wanted to know,
35:41 is there a style that you're thinking of right now,
35:44 to say, "This doesn't exist right now,
35:47 and I want to see something like this in the mainstream"?
35:52 Good question.
35:55 Right now, for example, we're going to do a song,
36:00 Katy and I, called "Los Astros",
36:02 which is on Becky's new album.
36:04 It's like a bolero.
36:08 But that's like a bossa nova, right?
36:10 It's like a bossa nova.
36:11 Katy and I, when we work,
36:13 we try to do different things.
36:15 For example, with Shakira, we did a song called "El Jefe".
36:18 We did more songs with her, which will be out soon.
36:22 They're also different, right?
36:24 We like to propose.
36:27 I feel like, what's coming? I don't know what's coming.
36:30 I think no one knows.
36:31 We make music that is born,
36:32 that we feel when we're writing it,
36:34 that it feels good.
36:35 If it feels good, we keep going.
36:38 But I don't know. What do you think?
36:40 The question was for you.
36:44 Well, let's see, the next question is for Katy.
36:47 Don't get off.
36:51 Hi, how are you, Katy? I'm Dreilu.
36:53 I'm an artist from Ecuador, Guayaquil.
36:56 I'm a big fan of your writing,
36:58 both of you and Edgar, since 2018.
37:00 I got into this world of the Latin world.
37:03 I started in English, but...
37:04 Well, I had a question.
37:06 I write a lot as storytelling.
37:08 I love...
37:09 I wrote telling my story, my life,
37:11 everything that happened since I was young, since I was 12.
37:13 And, well, my question is,
37:15 I always have a concept, a story,
37:17 when I write.
37:18 I love storytelling, but...
37:19 There are moments when, I don't know, I get stuck.
37:22 And at first I wrote feeling,
37:24 when I just felt it.
37:25 I was sad, I was happy.
37:27 And there comes a moment when I said,
37:28 "No, I have to write every day."
37:29 When I first came to work in Medellín,
37:31 that happened to me.
37:32 Everyone wrote three songs a day.
37:33 I said, "I have to level up."
37:35 And from there, well,
37:36 I said, "How do I write if I don't feel it?"
37:38 And obviously, it's like an exercise.
37:39 I started doing it every day, every day.
37:41 But obviously, my question is,
37:43 because I make music every day,
37:45 how do you find that theme
37:47 that's so unique, that you're there?
37:49 Because sometimes I'm like,
37:50 "Okay, I don't want to talk about the typical party theme,
37:52 the typical 'I like you' theme,
37:54 or the typical 'I miss you' theme."
37:56 You know?
37:57 What do you do to find that theme?
37:59 I don't know, like my ex used to say,
38:01 "You were right."
38:02 But you turn the theme around.
38:05 You know what I mean?
38:06 Like, "You were right that I'm better without you."
38:08 You know what I mean?
38:09 I don't know.
38:10 Thank you.
38:11 Very good question.
38:13 A round of applause.
38:14 You see how he's trying not to answer?
38:19 Bro, no.
38:20 I love that you thought about that.
38:22 Because that's what we need now,
38:24 today's composers,
38:25 like, proposing new things.
38:27 Not everything has to be,
38:28 "Oh, I stole it from the disco, Trin."
38:31 I love it.
38:32 I love that you thought like that.
38:33 My advice is that if you feel blocked,
38:35 don't force it.
38:36 Don't force it.
38:37 Go somewhere else.
38:39 Go to another mood.
38:40 Don't force the muse.
38:42 For example, my ex was right.
38:45 I had a choir that I had kept for a long time
38:49 that said, "You were right."
38:51 Like, you said no one was going to get there.
38:53 I mean, I had a choir like that,
38:55 but I didn't have it melodic.
38:56 I just had the idea kept.
38:58 And when they called me on camera
39:01 and showed me the theme,
39:03 and said something about my ex in the intro,
39:05 and I said,
39:07 "What if we take that part of the ex in the intro
39:10 and put it in the chorus?"
39:11 And rather say,
39:12 "My ex was right about what I had before."
39:14 That's how we fit that song, for example.
39:18 It's very helpful for me, personally.
39:22 It's very helpful for me to see Twitter
39:24 because people express themselves a lot on Twitter.
39:27 They express themselves a lot,
39:28 and you realize that people want to listen.
39:32 I think Twitter has helped me a lot with ideas.
39:36 Like, "This is a good idea. I'll keep it."
39:38 And I'll make a song about it.
39:40 It's like listening or reading people's experiences.
39:44 But I love it. I love that they don't want to describe everything.
39:47 And working as a team, too.
39:49 I feel that sometimes working as a team,
39:51 the ideas that one has,
39:54 the other improves them.
39:55 The ideas that one has, the other improves them.
39:56 So I feel that what works for me a lot
39:59 is always working as a team.
40:01 Feedback.
40:03 To finish, what advice do you give to people
40:06 who are thinking about composing,
40:07 aside from the one you just gave, which is great?
40:10 Is this pure hobby or pure inspiration?
40:15 More a hobby than inspiration?
40:18 On my side, the advice is that...
40:21 Yes, do it.
40:23 I mean, to composers who write out of passion,
40:28 never let themselves be carried away
40:33 by their songs,
40:35 that they want to steal or take away from them.
40:37 Always defend your rights
40:40 and also take care of the business side.
40:43 Because at the end of the day,
40:45 it's the business of music.
40:48 We all live from this,
40:50 and we have to always take care of our catalog,
40:55 which is what we're going to leave to our children.
40:59 It's like taking care of the intellectual property
41:03 of the songs and the composer.
41:06 Take care of that.
41:09 And you, Katy?
41:11 Edgar already said the financial part.
41:15 I say that they should have fun.
41:17 Never do it by numbers.
41:20 Obviously, without neglecting the financial part,
41:23 because that's what we want to live from.
41:25 But have fun.
41:27 Don't think, "I hope I hit it."
41:30 Have fun when you write,
41:32 and the rest comes later.
41:34 But do learn a lot.
41:36 Learn a lot about how to handle this
41:38 so you don't fall into things like I have or Edgar.
41:42 Yes.
41:43 Well, thank you very much.
41:45 Edgar, good luck at the Latin Grammys
41:49 and good luck at the Billboard.
41:51 And the Billboards too, which are...
41:54 Which are more important.
41:56 Yes. I hope we win something at the Billboard Awards.
42:00 [BLANK_AUDIO]