Ben Margulies

Ben Margulies is a songwriter and record producer. He is best known for co-writing Mariah Carey's debut album.

Margulies began his musical career as a session drummer for the New York New Wave trio Comateens, and joined their 1983 European tour to promote their Pictures on a String album. That same year, he also made an appearance in their music video "Get Off My Case".

Margulies met Carey while she was an unsigned artist and putting together a demo tape. Mariah's brother Morgan, through a mutual friend, referred Margulies to work on the demo sessions. Together they wrote approximately twenty songs, five of which were compiled into a demo tape that was shopped to record companies. On the strength of this tape, Carey was signed to Sony in 1988.

Carey's 1990 debut album, the self-titled Mariah Carey, was a smash hit. Seven of its ten songs, and three of its four number one hits, were Carey-Margulies compositions.

The following year, Carey’s and Margulies’ relationship ended over a financial dispute. Prior to recording their demo, Carey had signed a contract that entitled Margulies to half the proceeds she made from any recordings involving his material, in addition to songwriting royalties. According to one of Carey's biographers,

Sony’s lawyers stepped in, and after a long and often bitter court battle that dragged on for over a year, both sides reportedly agreed that Ben would receive ten percent of Mariah’s earnings over the next ten years. Mariah would look back on the falling out with Ben as a painful learning experience. “Be careful what you sign,” she said in a Q Magazine interview. “I heard that a thousand times. But when you’re struggling, you still do it. I blindly signed.” In the aftermath of the court battle, Ben would discuss the situation diplomatically, putting the lion’s share of the blame on the record label and saying that he hoped Mariah and he could work together again in the future. The reality is that a five-year friendship and creative partnership that had produced some wonderful music had been destroyed. The two never worked together again, and, in fact, had no contact whatsoever.