With hits like Sabrina Carpenter's "Espresso," Teddy Swims' "Lose Control," Gracie Abrams' "That's So True," and One Direction's "Drag Me Down" and "Best Song Ever," Julian Bunetta has become one of the most successful and influential producers and songwriters of our time—a status that has landed him on several lists. Variety Hitmakers and was honored Wednesday by the National Music Publishers Association, which presented him with the Non-Performing Songwriter Icon Award at its annual membership meeting at Lincoln Center in New York.
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True to his craft, Bunetta, who comes from a musical family managed by his brother, delivered an unforgettable speech about the life of a songwriter who may work with the stars and have multiple Grammy Awards, but rarely finds himself in the spotlight.
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He certainly got the recognition he deserved that day: Amber Mark performed a heartfelt rendition of "Lose Control" in Bunetta's honor, accompanied by two guitarists: Jaco Caraco and Bunetta's longtime friend and collaborator (and former roommate) John Ryan, who graciously and gratefully called him a big brother.
Bunetta began his speech with a laugh: "I'm going to keep my sunglasses on because all my favorite producers do," and then asked the audience to participate: every time he pointed to the room—which was filled with songwriters, performers, and the most senior executives in the publishing world—we were asked to say, "SONGWRITING IS EASY." The audience, perfectly aware of the irony of this statement, happily sang along.
The full text of the speech is given below:
«"Songwriting is easy. It's just notes and lyrics. It's a skill that can be learned, like any other craft. Songwriters know this. The more you write, the better you get—it's that simple.".
(All) "Songwriting is easy!"«
«"Rejection is hard.".
It's hard to watch songs that have been created for years go unheard.
It's hard to watch songs come out that you think are the best you've ever written and then have absolutely no success.
Admitting to yourself that a song isn't good enough isn't easy.
Lying awake at night wondering if your songs will ever make it big is tough.
(All) "Songwriting is easy!"«
«"Trusting your intuition is difficult.".
Telling the truth is difficult.
Defending your idea at the risk of disturbing the peace in the room is not easy.
Asking people to stay and rewrite something when everyone wants to go home is difficult.
Getting people back into the room to continue working on something is a challenge.
Finding time is difficult.
(All) "Songwriting is easy!"«
«"Putting all your eggs in one basket is difficult.".
Losing a project is hard.
Rejection is hard.
Staying on track is not easy.
Perseverance is hard.
But if one day you woke up and discovered that you had parents just like me...
And if you had a brother and a manager like me...
And if you had a co-author like me...
And if you had a wife like me...
And if you had daughters like me...
And if you had publishing partners like me...
And if you had mentors like me...
And if you had lawyers like me...
And if you had comrades like me...
If you had a big family like me...
If you woke up one day and had all of this, I guarantee you would also say that…»
(All) "Songwriting is easy!"«