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Hit songwriters ask pop stars to stop taking credit for songs they didn't write

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Hit songwriters ask pop stars to stop taking credit for songs they didn't write

#181

Post by emodendroket »

pumaontheprowl wrote: post #155
triceratops wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why don't actors just make a movie without a script? They're just words on paper. Why doesn't an orchestra just start jamming, with no score or sheet music? It's just notes on paper. Why don't construction workers show up on a jobsite and start hammering without waiting for plans? It's just lines on paper. Why don't...you get the idea.

That's not an equivalent analogy. It's the exact opposite in fact. The equivalent analogies would be: Why don't screenwriters just film their own movies? Why don't composers just form their own orchestras? Why don't architects just build their own skyscrapers? The screenwriter example should make it obvious why these song-writers' complaints are baseless. A movie filmed by amateur videographers with no editing experi…

This story is about them attempting to do exactly what you suggest.

Re: Hit songwriters ask pop stars to stop taking credit for songs they didn't write

#182

Post by TheOtherHobbes »

gamblor956 wrote: post #132
iams wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> putting their names as writers for songs of poor black artists, so they (the producers) can get royalties Why do you need to be a writer to get royalties. Would the producers not be able to ask for a royalty regardless?

Record producers are not entitled to royalties unless they have songwriting, composer, or performance credits on a song. Essentially, they're the guys who bring everyone together and make sure a song comes out at the end. Many record producers do participate in the songwriting or composition process and are credited for that work (for example, Jay-Z), but the vast majority don't (for example, Glen Wallachs, co-founde…

Some producers do get "points" just for production, even if they don't get a full writer credit.

Production can mean anything and everything from project management, sound design, co-writing, arranging to hands-on instrumental parts - to turning up once a week and saying "Sounds great. Carry on."

The split depends on the producer/artist agreement.

Session musicians don't usually get points even though they may literally write their parts. In publishing terms a song is melody+lyrics, and everything else is work-for-hire arrangement.

This often gets renegotiated because it's clearly nonsense. But that's the starting point.

Re: Hit songwriters ask pop stars to stop taking credit for songs they didn't write

#183

Post by TheOtherHobbes »

juskrey wrote: post #166

Songwriting is akin to salary: writer gets paid every time, non depending if the song was a complete failure, while all the risk, organization and marketing is on the pop star. So I guess the answer is no.

Actually they don't. There may or may not be a publishing advance, and a lot of songs do the rounds on spec.

Re: Hit songwriters ask pop stars to stop taking credit for songs they didn't write

#185

Post by emodendroket »

mmatoscom wrote: post #184
emodendroket wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No idea how that answers my question.

I mean shitty singers fucking rich

If “shitty singers fucking rich” it sounds like maybe songwriters do deserve a lot of the credit for hits!

Re: Hit songwriters ask pop stars to stop taking credit for songs they didn't write

#186

Post by kube-system »

nano-erud wrote: post #160

What surprises me the most is that that shitty "music" you hear nowadays is written by someone. I thought it was made by a computer or something. But if I think about it... it is logical, surely a computer makes better music.

Art is indisputably subjective.

Re: Hit songwriters ask pop stars to stop taking credit for songs they didn't write

#187

Post by ryantgtg »

rgifford wrote: post #175

A friend of mine decided to pursue music production around the same time I started in software engineering. We're both 20 somethings. We swap war stories now and then. I get to hear about how he's working with his mentor to do vocal production on a track getting pitched for Maroon 5, The Chainsmokers, etc. Sometimes the tracks take -- the artist likes them and decides to move forward. Usually they don't and it's a lo…

Anecdote: My dad was in the music industry in the 80s, and he knew song writers. He joked about how funny it was to hear, for example, a (male) friend singing a demo of “Like A Virgin.”

Re: Hit songwriters ask pop stars to stop taking credit for songs they didn't write

#188

Post by BitwiseFool »

rgifford wrote: post #175

A friend of mine decided to pursue music production around the same time I started in software engineering. We're both 20 somethings. We swap war stories now and then. I get to hear about how he's working with his mentor to do vocal production on a track getting pitched for Maroon 5, The Chainsmokers, etc. Sometimes the tracks take -- the artist likes them and decides to move forward. Usually they don't and it's a lo…

Fascinating, can you share which song(s) he "made it" with?

Re: Hit songwriters ask pop stars to stop taking credit for songs they didn't write

#189

Post by Johnny555 »

rgifford wrote: post #175

A friend of mine decided to pursue music production around the same time I started in software engineering. We're both 20 somethings. We swap war stories now and then. I get to hear about how he's working with his mentor to do vocal production on a track getting pitched for Maroon 5, The Chainsmokers, etc. Sometimes the tracks take -- the artist likes them and decides to move forward. Usually they don't and it's a lo…

He moved to WA to dodge CA income tax

If he waited for the big check before he made that move, CA will find him - it's not where you live when you got the check, it's where you live when you earned it.

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