Who are the 30 greatest living American songwriters

Watch Exclusive Video Interviews With Taylor Swift, Jay-Z and More, Free on The New York Times

This week's immersive "30 Greatest Living American Songwriters" feature from The New York Times Magazine explores the craft of songwriting with the country's most influential songwriters. The feature includes long-form video interviews with Jay-Z, Taylor Swift and Lucinda Williams, as well as Nile Rodgers, Mariah Carey, Babyface and Nashville's Josh Osborne, Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally. Music fans can watch all of the videos for free, exclusively on The New York Times, and learn more about the craft behind some of their favorite songs.

Behind the Cover: The 30 Greatest Living American Songwriters Issue

In addition to in-depth conversations with songwriters, the issue also offers personal appreciation from fellow songwriters and musicians, including Erykah Badu on Stevie Wonder, Michelle Zauner on Stephin Merritt and Brittany Howard on Carole King, plus others spanning many genres and decades of music.

To make the list, we sent out ballots to hundreds of experts - musicians, critics, historians, D.J.s and industry executives - asking which songwriters they considered America's greatest. From the over 700 nominees we got back, six New York Times critics, including Wesley Morris,Jon Caramanica, Joe Coscarelli, Lindsay Zoladz, Jody Rosen and Danyel Smith curated and highly debated the list to get to the final 30. "If our critics' heated discourse over this list tells us anything, it's that picking the top American songwriters is personal, challenging and debatable," said Jake Silverstein, editor in chief, New York Times Magazine. "We're excited to hear from music fans and want to know who is on their list."

Collect the Magazine Covers Before They Hit Newsstands

Starting this Thursday, music fans in Austin, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Nashville and New York can pick up the magazine print issue before it hits newsstands on Sunday. Find copies near historic music locations with special connections to the songwriters - from Cornelia Street in Manhattan to other famous music venues in each city.

Austin:

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Los Angeles:

Nashville:

New York:

Cast Your Vote and Join the Conversation

Who do you think are the greatest living songwriters? Cast your vote in our reader ballot from now until May 6 and comment on the article to join the conversation. This week, you'll also find our critics in the comments, sharing more about the project and debating the list live.

All seven video interviews are available to watch for free, only on The Times. Find the videos at nytimes.com/30greatest and explore the full list at nytimes.com/songwriters.