Aussie Producer Finally Scores Songwriting Credit For Madonna Track After Four-year Mission

After four long years, Melbourne-based producer Joelistics (real name Joel Ma) has officially been credited by both his Australian and US publishers for a song he co-wrote with Madonna. 

Announcing the news on Facebook yesterday, Ma revealed that he will receive a 1.5% cut of the US pop star's song, Veni Vidi Vici, which appears on the deluxe edition of her 2015-released album, Rebel Heart.

The track was also co-written by fellow US heavyweights, Nas and Diplo.

Speaking to The Music on Monday, the TZU member said he wasn't sure if he would ever receive the credit, but was notified by his Australian publisher on Sunday that he had received the songwriting nod in the US.

For what it's worth, Ma jokes that he isn't even sure if the cut he has scored is worth the trouble.

"To be honest, at this level of songwriting and music production and with the artists that we're talking about, I have no experience," he says.

"Like, Nas, Madonna and Diplo, I have no fucking idea how much they cut in for this kind of stuff. But as far as just my experience in terms of songwriting in the past with artists in Australia, it's a criminally low amount."

Ma's part in Veni Vidi Vici was written a few years back with friend and collaborator Dustin McLean, which Ma describes as "rough af demos", which were then passed onto Queensland producer M-Phazes and eventually ended up in the US and in Madonna's camp's hands.

Ma tells The Music that he and McLean wrote the chords and melody for a middle eight in the song and admits he only listened to it once upon its release. And that was the only listen he needed. 

"To be honest, I listened to it once when it first came out and just went, 'This song sucks… I'm not into it,'" he recalls.

"And then I was like 'And we're not even gonna get credited', so it's one of those stories where people just go, 'Yeah, right. What fantasy world are you living in?'"

Ma considers the whole experience more of a fun story to share with mates than a real career goal. But at least he can say he has co-written a song for a global superstar, right?

"I can say that, but when you listen to it, I'm gonna feel a little cringey and embarrassed by the actual final product," he laughs.

"It is a happy ending except for art… it's got no use other than a good story!"

Incidentally, Rebel Heart went on to sell an estimated one million records; Madonna's lowest-selling LP to date.

Ma says that he isn't even sure how much exactly he will receive from his 1.5% cut, but he isn't expecting to be worth much. 

"In real world terms, I have no idea what this equates to," he admits.

"Some people have said, 'You're gonna see heaps of cash 'cause it's Madonna and it's Nas and it's Diplo', but the way the industry works today, it's very possible we'll see heaps of cash translate to tens of dollars.

"Like, we might see $20 or $30 from it. You might see a couple of hundred, but this is not a big pay day by any stretch or anyone’s measurement," he says, adding with a laugh, "It's a funny footnote in a career of funny footnotes."

Ma continues, "And to be completely honest, I genuinely get more excited by working with an artist like Birdz or Mojo Juju than this experience… collaboration is being in a room or having a talk about the ideas… I think at that level of music production it's a lot more about lots of people doing lots of little jobs and then it all contributing to, essentially, a shit song that hopefully sells heaps."

Ma is set to appear at Melbourne Festival next month for a string of dates alongside James Mangohig who form In Between 2 — a music and songwriting project which explores the soundtrack of their mixed heritage; click on theGuide for more details.

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