Ep. 245: Madison Beer | Becoming Yourself with the World Watching
Ep. 245: Madison Beer | Becoming Yourself with the World Watching  
Podcast: And The Writer Is...with Ross Golan
Published On: Tue Mar 31 2026
Description: Today’s guest is one of the most quietly enduring artists in modern pop — a songwriter and performer who’s spent over a decade growing up in public, learning how to separate perception from identity.She was discovered online as a teenager and quickly thrust into an industry that had already decided who she was.But behind the headlines, she was doing the real work — writing, refining her sound, and slowly building a career on her own terms.This is a conversation about perception vs reality, creative control, and what it actually takes to become yourself in an industry that benefits from misunderstanding you.And The Writer Is… Madison Beer!What you'll learn:• What it actually feels like to grow up in the public eye• The gap between how artists are perceived vs who they really are• Why longevity in music requires emotional resilience• How Madison developed her sound and creative identity over time• The pressure of early success — and rebuilding from it• Why being misunderstood can either break you or sharpen youThis episode is brought to you by the NMPA — supporting songwriters and protecting the value of music.And by Splice — the world’s largest library of sounds and samples, built for creators.Chapters:0:00 Intro1:42 Madison’s favorite songs of hers3:00 Lyrics or melody first?4:30 Ross meeting Madison at 136:00 Madison’s childhood, early memories7:00 Going through parent’s divorce in early childhood9:45 Why singing the national anthem is hard10:00 Her family’s early encouragement11:00 Madison’s first song13:00 Starting her career at 1018:40 Getting discovered overnight from a Justin Bieber tweet.19:11 Contracts in music industry19:58 Meeting Justin Bieber21:46 Why getting dropped is a blessing24:00 Struggling with early music identity26:00 Why she felt she couldn’t fight back on creative control early on28:00 finding her power through social media31:55 Reclaiming creative control33:50 writing reckless35:28 Home with you36:25 the importance of your collaborators 39:12 the original demo to Reckless41:13 being easier to write dark songs than happy songs41:40 the challenge of writing her new album41:54 NMPA42:36 Splice43:26 Going back into the label system45:00 her first tour in lockdown46:50 Madison’s touring non negotiables52:00 the story of Home to another one53:41 Writing darker songs while in a happy relationship55:55 Setting boundaries for mental health56:55 “Showed Me” as an interpolation58:37 Her mental health struggles and path to healing1:01:54 How her album locket Freed her1:03:25 the unlikely story of bittersweet1:05:30 what writing a song with strangers is like1:09:00 loneliness and missing out on a normal childhood1:12:00 Dealing with constant criticism and how she manages it1:12:47 Surviving the lowest point of her life1:16:30 how she currently manages her mental healthHosted by Ross GolanProduced by Joe London and Jad SaadEdited by Jad SaadPost Production VFX by Pratik Karki Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.