Scrolling through the Billboard charts, you’ll see a lot of familiar names and faces and beats. But something that you don’t see? Behind the scenes. Who writes these songs? Who’s distributing them? Which artists are smart about the deals they make– and which are completely mindless about it?

This is my gym playlist– from my actual Spotify app on my phone– and I just decided to take a look behind the scenes at the artists who recorded the songs.

The best part about this playlist? Click on it. You can listen to the songs right now, in real time. Thanks, Spotify.

The List

Behind the Scenes

“Celestica,” Crystal Castles : Off their 2010 album, titled “Crystal Castles” (their first album was also self-titled, so the 2010 release goes by the abbreviation “(II)”), Celestica is the perfect soundtrack for data-miners and gym-goers alike.

“The One That Got Away,” Katy Perry : You all know the song, but did you know that it was inspired by Johnny and June Carter Cash? Also, it was written in true Katy Perry style. Rather than writing alone, Perry lined up some crazy accredited writers to help her: on this song, those folks are Max Martin and Dr. Luke. Max Martin has written or co-written the following titles:

“I Wanna Go,” Britney Spears : Max Martin gets around, and he co-wrote this song with his longtime producer-partner Shellback. Together they’ve written “So What“, “Raise Your Glass“, “Whataya Want from Me” and “Fuckin’ Perfect” by Pink, “If U Seek Amy“, “3” and “I Wanna Go” by Britney Spears, and “DJ Got Us Fallin’ in Love” by Usher. NBD.

“I Fink U Freeky,” Die Antwoord : One of the coolest bands on the planet, Die Antwoord famously gave the bird to Interscope Records, which boasts Lady Gaga‘s music to their name, with the good-bye note “So anyway… Interscope offered us a bunch of money again to release our new album TEN$ION. But this time, they also tried to get involved with our music, to try and make us sound like everyone else out there at the moment. So we said: ‘U know what, rather hang on to your money, buy yourself something nice…we gonna do our own thing. Bye bye.’” Well done.

“Prisstina,” Sleater-Kinney : Off my favorite Sleater-Kinney record of all time, One Beat, “Prisstina” tells the story of an overly bookish young woman who attends school in the Ivy League only to discover that life includes a little bit more than a Bunsen burner and her degree. Thanks for the inspiration, Carrie Brownstein. And thanks for Portlandia.

“Bangarang,” Skrillex : All of the Skrillex songs sound exactly the same to me– like a Transformers movie that you can work out to. According to every gym playlist made in the last year, this is great workout music. Other than that I have no justification for including this song. Skrillex has had an awesome ascent to fame in the past two years, though– much like the clime of Esperanza Spalding at last year’s Grammy’s.

“Good Girl,” Carrie Underwood : Co-written by Ashley Gorley, writer of “All-American Girl,” Trace Adkins’ “You’re Gonna Miss This,” the Brad Paisley/Keith Urban duet “Start A Band,” Darius Rucker’s “It Won’t Be Like This For Long,” and Brad Paisley’s “Then” and “American Saturday Night.” Ashley (who’s a dude) also had a Top 5 hit with Jason Aldean’s “Laughed Until We Cried.” It’s a small world, people.

“Crimewave,” Crystal Castles : From the Canadian experimental band Crystal Castles and American noise rock band Health from Crystal Castles’ self-titled debut album. Sound familiar? That’s because it was used in Gossip Girl No.1.

“Talk That Talk,” Rihanna : Whatever. This song is just good for a cool-down at the gym. Don’t deny it.

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