Roughly a year ago, a team at The New York Times Magazine set about tackling a nearly impossible task: creating a list of the greatest living American songwriters. But how to take the tens of thousands of songwriters working in this country and narrow them down to a digestible list? The answer involved thousands of voting ballots, hundreds of music industry insiders and a series of closed-door meetings among a small group of music experts. The result, The Times’s list of the 30 greatest living American songwriters, was published this week.
Today, Michael Barbaro talks with Sasha Weiss, a deputy editor of The Times Magazine, who oversaw the project, as well as Joe Coscarelli and Jody Rosen, two members of the cadre of critics assigned with compiling the final list. They discuss the list-making process, what defines a great songwriter and why Billy Joel didn’t make the final cut.
We also hear from some of the songwriters featured on the list, including Taylor Swift, Nile Rodgers and the songwriting team of Brandy Clark, Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne.
 
On Today's Episode:
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/sasha-weiss" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sasha Weiss</a> is a deputy editor of The New York Times Magazine.
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/joe-coscarelli" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Joe Coscarelli</a> is a culture reporter for The Times. He is a co-host of “Popcast,” a producer of the “Song of the Week” video series and the author of “Rap Capital: An Atlanta Story.”
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/jody-rosen" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jody Rosen</a> is a contributing writer for the magazine and the author of “Two Wheels Good: The History and Mystery of the Bicycle.”
 
Background Reading:
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/magazine/greatest-american-songwriters-alive.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The 30 Greatest Living American Songwriters</a>
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/04/27/magazine/greatest-american-songwriters-vote.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Cast Your Vote for the Greatest Living American Songwriters</a>
 
Photo credit: Stefan Ruiz for The New York Times
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