Last year, we set ourselves a daunting task: We wanted to make a list of the 30 greatest living American songwriters. The Times had recently published two “canon” projects, on the 100 Best Books and the 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century, and we wanted to do something similar. America’s popular music is one of its greatest art forms, and we wanted to make a canon of the contemporary masters of this craft, the artists who create the melodies and write the lyrics that fill our lives with the untranslatable joy of a perfect song. First, we set our parameters: The list would be living American songwriters. It would not be a greatest-of-all-time list; nor would it range around the globe. We wanted to focus on contemporary practitioners working in the ever-evolving tradition of the great American songbook. We started by asking a few hundred experts (music industry insiders, historians, journalists, singers and more) who should be on this list. That produced a roster of around 700 names. Then, we brought together a panel of Times critics to debate and discuss. The goal was to boil that roster of 700 down to 30 names. This was a grueling task. Sometimes it seemed impossible. The ordeal lasted many days, and the arguments were intense and bruising, but when it was all over we emerged with a fascinating list that reflects the kaleidoscopic variety and incredible vibrancy of American music. Today, the whole project is finally published. We took photographs of the songwriters, and interviewed some of them to gain deeper insight into their process. You can watch Taylor Swift and Lucinda Williams talk about finding the essence of a song or Jay-Z and Mariah Carey talk about crafting a hit. You can read through our list, discovering new music and remembering old favorites. And you can do exactly what we did to make this list: argue! Tell us who you think we left off by submitting names in our reader poll; or jump into the comments where you’ll find some of the critics who made the list engaging with readers. You can even check out the original names submitted by some of those experts in the first round. There’s even more than that to explore. Check it all out here. And keep an eye out for the print edition, which arrives this weekend and has three different, randomly distributed covers. Stay in touch: Like this email? Forward it to a friend and help us grow. Loved a story? Hated it? Write us a letter at magazine@nytimes.com. Did a friend forward this to you? Sign up here to get the magazine newsletter.
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