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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

#91

Post by goto11 »

BurningFrog wrote: post #84

The music business has been massively "democratized" last few decades. Now anyone can record high quality music at home. Anyone can self publish their music for the world to enjoy. Both were unthinkable a few decades ago. But there are still a few gatekeepers, and gatekeepers will usually charge for opening their gate. Why wouldn't they? A megastar can choose to record any of dozens of equally good songs. Whoever the…

Performer do get a share.

The question is if performers should get songwriting royalties for songs they didn't write.

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

#92

Post by croutonwagon »

dfxm12 wrote: post #13

They added that composers were often subjected to "bully tactics and threats" by artists and executives who wanted to take a share of the songwriting royalties. Ultimately, I wonder where the money ends up between the artist and the executive. This article (not the pact's message) seems to be unfairly framing this as writers vs artists, but the real bad guy could be some suit at UMI or EMG... It sucks for the writers…

Labels have been cooking the books and running dirty schemes since forever. Hell even Pink Floyd wrote a song about it.

I would not be shocked in the slightest if a few artists are increasingly also starting to throw their weight around and that is gaining some traction and becoming more of a norm as well. Thats also not new, ranging from the inane (no brown m&m's back stage) to stuff like this.

I think a lot of people would be shocked to learn that

1. Many artists dont write their own songs

2. Many bands dont perform in their own studio albums and often use hired guns/session musicians

3. A lot of 1&2 are actually a relatively small number of people with a pretty prodigious output.

People like Max Martin, Ryan Tedder, Sia Furler, Dr. Luke, Bonnie McKee in the current sphere/conversation.

But even going back to Elvis...Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller are the actual writers for Hound Dog, Jailhouse Rock etc. And theres some for other Genre's, Motown had their own with Lamont Dozier and Brian and Eddie Holland. Otis Blackwell, Prince Nelson Rogers etc etc.

This revelation happened for me when i started getting into playing music. Over the years I have gained appreciation for those that dont really need to deal with 1 and 2, but that takes a very special type of talent and dedication.

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

#93

Post by ganoushoreilly »

iams wrote: post #82
hristov wrote: post #12

This unfortunately has been a long used tactic in the music world. In the old times it was sharpie producers putting their names as writers for songs of poor black artists, so they (the producers) can get royalties in addition to their usual fees. Now it is the singers taking advantage of the songwriters and composers. It is all evil but it kind of shows who has the negotiation leverage. Todays pop music scene is all…

> 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?

It's broken down of there is X royalties then A, B, C, D each have percentages. In this Case Say producers are A, they're getting a cut that's established, but now they're taking a percentage of D. So in this instance they're expanding their ownership through pressure of taking a cut from someone else.

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

#94

Post by ganoushoreilly »

croutonwagon wrote: post #92
dfxm12 wrote: post #13

They added that composers were often subjected to "bully tactics and threats" by artists and executives who wanted to take a share of the songwriting royalties. Ultimately, I wonder where the money ends up between the artist and the executive. This article (not the pact's message) seems to be unfairly framing this as writers vs artists, but the real bad guy could be some suit at UMI or EMG... It sucks for the writers…

Labels have been cooking the books and running dirty schemes since forever. Hell even Pink Floyd wrote a song about it. I would not be shocked in the slightest if a few artists are increasingly also starting to throw their weight around and that is gaining some traction and becoming more of a norm as well. Thats also not new, ranging from the inane (no brown m&m's back stage) to stuff like this. I think a lot of peop…

The m&m's story might be misrepresented here. The true story is that they had extremely complicated rigging for their stage show. By putting the M&M's into the contract (a canary of sorts) they were able to ensure that it was read. Otherwise they knew immediately there could be problems.

https://www.insider.com/van-halen-brown-m-ms-contract-2016-9

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

#95

Post by oytis »

analog31 wrote: post #77
S_A_P wrote: post #54

It seems as though this is not a well understood issue from reading the comments here. This isn’t artists doing interviews and saying “I wrote this”. The problem is that the artists are bullying their way into getting points for the song writing credits (publishing royalties) when they had little(change a word in the lyrics) or no input into the song. I fully support artists getting as much of the live performance/me…

Indeed, and it goes back before Elvis. Screwing popular songwriters of their royalties has been a fixture of the music business since time immoral. From what I've read, Jelly Roll Morton's publisher added his own lyrics to Morton's instrumental tunes, to get a cut of the royalties. And it goes back before the recording industry. Before the phonograph, the "music business" was sheet music, there were "stars," and shee…

> since time immoral

I like this typo.

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

#96

Post by aethertron »

msrenee wrote: post #59

Maybe I'm just pissy from being subjected to 60 hours a week of top 40 radio for the last month at work, but I don't think any of them deserves a dime. In fact, I think they owe me something for pain and suffering. I swear I'm not a music snob. 6 months ago when I heard this batch of songs the first time, I thought some of them were pretty catchy. Although I don't know that anyone will argue this was a great year for…

Sorry to hear this is inflicted on you. What industry sector?

(I used to work in an office doing web development with music on all day. Didn't mind it then. Now I work at home in silence.)

https://pipedown.org.uk/ this is a worthy campaign.

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

#97

Post by Pet_Ant »

jahnu wrote: post #74
zikzak wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have no dog in this fight and am not even really a fan but always thought Gaga was a legit artist. Do have any proof she's not?

Performers who don't write or produce their own material are still artists and are as legitimate as any others!

I'd say they are performers not artists. The girl running Photoshop is an artist, the HP LaserJet that prints it out isn't. We don't consider choir members to be artists, but if it's just one voice we assume they are?

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

#98

Post by Sileni »

andygcook wrote: post #42

As someone who grew up with the advent of the world wide web and got my start coding on Geocities, I very much appreciate the choice to add a scrolling marquee and visit counter towards the bottom of the site.

Geocities, Angelfire, and Maxpages. GIFs everywhere. Backgrounds tiled with GIFs. If it didn't sparkle in some way that distracted from the content of the page, you weren't doing it right.

What a time to be alive.

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

#99

Post by peapicker »

herbertl wrote: post #27
Simulacra wrote: post #2

Wow I had no idea this was taking place. It reminds me a little of the fight hollywood screenwriters have fought to get equal billing and recognition. I always assumed that the writer got the most money!

You may like this piece! https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/03/26/the-song-machi...

This is an excerpt from Seabrook's book, which is pretty good, I've read it.

https://www.amazon.com/Song-Machine-Inside-Hit-Factory/dp/03...

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