Davis advises singers not to write songs

BMG chief Clive Davis has hit out at singers who insist on writing their own songs.

The legendary music mogul claimed that artists who demand greater control over their material are almost always doomed to failure.

"The odds are always against you. You have got to go over the best material, and that should win out, not withstanding any track record," Davis, 75, explained. "I don't care how many number ones you have written in the past, have you written a new number one?"

Davis was involved in a high-profile dispute with Kelly Clarkson last year, when she decided to write all of the songs on her third album, My December.

Remaining defiant over the row, he insisted: "She was not signed as a singer/songwriter".