Musical ghostwriting also occurs in popular music. When a record company wants to market an inexperienced young singer as a singer-songwriter, or help a veteran bandleader coping with writer's block (or a lack of motivation to finish the next album), an experienced songwriter may be discreetly brought in to help. In other cases, a ghostwriter writes lyrics and a melody in the style of the credited musician, with little or no input from the credited musician. A ghostwriter providing this type of service may be thanked, without reference to the service provided, in the album credits, or they may be a true 'ghost', with no acknowledgement in the album. Theodore Feldman is an example of a true "'ghost' (ghostwriter). He participates in both "anonymously" writing and engineering for The Island Def Jam Motown Music Group and Atlantic Records. His credit is continuously brought in and out of mention due to his professional title, and his age (as pertaining to his personalized legal binding agreements). Beginning in 2011-present, his associated acts are: Chris Brown & T-Pain, Andy Grammar, Cody Simpson, Jason Mraz, and Justin Bieber sequentially. Legal disputes have arisen when musical ghostwriters have tried to claim royalties, when an allegedly ghostwritten song becomes a money-making hit. Canadian singer Sarah McLachlan had a lengthy legal dispute with a musician, Darryl Neudorf, who claimed that he had made a significant and uncredited ghostwriting contribution to the songwriting on her debut album Touch in the late 1980s.
Chuck D of Public Enemy has offered a more positive view of ghostwriting in hip-hop.In hip-hop music, the increasing use of ghostwriters by high-profile hip-hop stars has led to controversy. Critics view the increasing use of hip-hop ghostwriters as the "perversion of hip-hop by commerce." This is because of the limiting definition of "rapping" as "...about you expressing yourself through your own words, not someone else’s."[25] Chuck D of Public Enemy thinks this point of view is mistaken because "...not everyone is equipped to be a lyricist and not everyone is equipped to be a vocalist."[26] He points out that creating a rap song may require multiple talents. Currently in hip-hop, the credit given to ghostwriters varies: "silent pens might sign confidentiality clauses, appear obliquely in the liner notes, or discuss their participation freely." In some cases, liner notes credit individuals for "vocal arrangement", which may be a euphemism for ghostwriting. In the late 2000s (decade), hip-hop ghostwriting services like Rap Rebirth,[citation needed] have appeared online, which provide recording artists who wish to purchase ghostwritten rhymes a greater degree of anonymity.
Ghostwriting is exceedingly common in electronic dance music with top-tier acts like Armin van Buuren having all work co-produced by Rank 1's Benno de Goeij. Tiesto does the same with Dennis Waakop-Reijers, who co-produces all Tiesto-credited work. He doesn't make his own work.