Hitmaker Steve Mac has added yet another honour to his burgeoning collection – the title of Music Week Songwriter Of The Year 2018.
The BRIT Award-winning producer was the recipient of seven awards at October's ASCAP London Awards including Song Of The Year and Top Digital Song for Ed Sheeran’s Shape Of You (two billion Spotify streams and counting). Mac also won awards for Strip That Down, Liam Payne’s debut solo single featuring Quavo, What About Us by Pink and Rockabye by Clean Bandit featuring Sean Paul and Anne-Marie.
Speaking in the current issue of Music Week, Mac said that he valued commercial success over critical acclaim.
“Having respect from your peers and people loving your song in the business is important, but the idea that a lot of the public love it and go out and buy and stream it is much more important to me," he said. "That’s really come from working with Simon Cowell for as long as I did.
"I don’t think I’ve ever felt credible, I’ve never been a core producer, I’ve never been a credible producer. I was talking to Simon about this back in the day and he said, ‘Steve, there is only one kind of credibility and that’s a hit record. How do you become more credible? You have another hit record.’ He said if you start building up you’ll become credible. It really stuck with me.
"There’s nothing better than watching a song connect at a concert with 20,000 people. It’s incredible. That’s why I do it: I still love that feeling.”
Simon Cowell said, 'Steve, there is only one kind of credibility and that's a hit record
Steve Mac
Mac's hits this year have included Little Mix’s Woman Like Me, Anne-Marie’s 2002, Jess Glynne’s Thursday, Years & Years’ If You’re Over Me, plus Marshmello and Bastille’s Happier
Mike McCormack, UK MD of the Universal Music Publishing Group, said: “I’m running out of superlatives to describe how well Steve’s career has been going over the past couple of years,” he said. “Abnormal success has become normal for him, but it hasn’t dulled his work rate or ambition one iota, if anything he seems more driven than ever to surpass what he’s accomplished already.... and I’ve no doubt he will!”
For the full, exclusive interview with Steve Mac, see the new Christmas double issue of Music Week, available now, or click here. To subscribe and never miss a vital music biz story, click here.
