Diane Warren on Paul McCartney
The Beatles were the ultimate songwriters. Some of those songs are almost 50 years old, and they have stood the test of time. I have a few favourites: Yesterday, because it's as great a song as could ever be written, and the fact it has been covered thousands of times attests to that; and I love, Here There and Everywhere, and Maybe I'm Amazed.
I have two older sisters who took me to see the Beatles when I was about seven. It was so galvanising; I got a little guitar and wanted to play their songs. I have met McCartney a couple of times. We were both up for an Academy award [in 2001] the year Randy Newman won, and I remember standing there, thinking: "Wow, if the little kid version of me knew that one day I would be a loser with Paul McCartney ..."
As a songwriter you need a gift for melody, and for saying something you've heard a million times in a different way. There are only so many notes and ideas, but you twist it and turn it and make it new, by the chords or melodies or a weird key change. In just a few years, the Beatles created this genius body of work, and those songs will never go away.
Diane Warren has written for Elton John, Barbra Streisand and Aretha Franklin; she has been Oscar-nominated six times.
Brian Higgins on Brandon Flowers
I have a lot of admiration and respect for Gary Barlow, Cathy Dennis and more recently Skylar Grey, who I think is an outstanding talent. But the person whose songs have been with me for most of the last decade is Brandon Flowers, lead singer and principal songwriter of the Killers.
The first time I became fully aware of his songwriting was when Somebody Told Me became a big hit in 2004. At the time my production company Xenomania was having a lot of success, and I remember I brought this song into one of our production meetings and played it to everyone, saying that we had been "beaten". In many ways it encapsulated everything we were trying to achieve: it was aggressive but catchy, very witty but also deep and believable.
Songwriting is highly competitive, and it is very difficult to listen to things without any cynicism. But Brandon's material is so good, powerful and moving that it destroys any attempt I might have made to criticise it. I listen as a fan.
Brian Higgins's Xenomania company has written for Girls Aloud, Kylie Minogue and New Order.
Amanda Ghost on Joni Mitchell
She is one of the greatest lyricists of the 20th century. I don't like it when people call songwriters poets because I don't think we are: poems and lyrics are incredibly different. Lyrics fall into a melody. When we read lyrics on a page they can be profound, but it's only when you put them with music that they take on another dimension.
Mitchell pioneered the female singer-songwriter perspective in modern pop music. Nobody really did introspection and personal confession like her. She is the standard that unfortunately I measure everyone against, and nobody really comes up to the bar. My favourite is A Case of You, and my favourite lines are: "You're in my blood like holy wine/ You taste so bitter and so sweet/ I could drink a case of you/ And I would still be on my feet." They've deeply changed me and the way I write. Before I heard Mitchell, I would never go to the point of being so confessional; she taught me to strip away the poetry and get to the heart and bones. When you do that, the public reacts because it is honest; that is why her work has endured.
Amanda Ghost has written for James Blunt, Beyoncé and Florence and the Machine.
Rob Fusari on Lady Gaga
I first heard her work when she came to my studio in New Jersey in March 2006. She performed two songs: Hollywood and Again and Again. I hadn't heard songwriting like this since the days of Freddie Mercury and David Bowie. It felt like Christmas morning, and the first time I had my heart broken, all tightly wrapped up in three minutes.
My favourite song of hers is Brown Eyes. In certain songs you feel the pain or the joy of the author, but we don't hear or see a lot of that today. It's the most creatively naked song and performance I've heard from Gaga to date. I believe she is one of those songwriters who can find the balance between personal experience and pop culture. She writes songs for the stage as opposed to the radio, which lends itself to a more theatrical approach.
Rob Fusari has written for Lady Gaga, Beyoncé and Britney Spears.
Nina Woodford on Kate Bush
I find her melodies beautiful and unexpected, and it's the same for her lyrics. The fact she released [her debut album] The Kick Inside when she was 19 is amazing in itself. Even the few things I haven't liked have always been thought-provoking and interesting; as a writer, she makes me feel free to dare to try different things.
There are very few women who write that kind of direct poetry. A lot of women get judged on other things. She hasn't been intimidated into feeling she has to be cute, or charming. There are loads of great female writers, but not many who weren't trying to be sexy or attractive or cool.
She has written two of my top 10 songs ever: Wuthering Heights and This Woman's Work. Her songs just paint the picture for me – I'm there.
Nina Woodford has written for Tom Jones, James Morrison and Leona Lewis.
