The New York Times put out a list of the 30 best living songwriters. It’s a mess. Some of the names make sense: Babyface, Stephin Merritt. But you have famous producers like Jay-Z on the list. Actual songwriters like Randy Newman or Rufus Wainwright are left out.

I absolutely understand the politics behind wanting to include rap and hip-hop in the list. But those are really “tracks” more than songs. Songs can get covered and reinterpreted. The test of a songwriter is whether the material can be adapted and made new, and whether it stands the test of time. So having Young Thug but not John Mayer seems wrong.

The list leaves out pop hitmakers like Dan Wilson, who wrote hits for Adele, the Dixie Chicks, and countless others, and focuses on songwriters who perform their own work, which, again, is probably not the way to find the best songwriters.