Members mistersully Posted May 5, 2015 Members Share Posted May 5, 2015 had a guy come in recently with an idea... it's basically a stomping blues thing with stomps and claps, and a vocal... i produced, arranged, engineered and mixed the track... all music is played by me... simple organ and piano behind the vocals... then the song goes into a heavy guitar slide riff/solo which i wrote, and then a huge instrumental section with some backing vocals... the instrumental section i wrote completely (and again,played all instruments)... it's a big organ solo over piano riffing with guitar simple question do i deserve a writing credit for the song? keep in mind, he wrote the lyrics and vocal melody for the song... we had a girl come in and do backing vocals... i directed her as to where to sing and what style to sing... i then obviously edited her vocals to suit the track thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 I can't say for certain, but from the way you're describing things, it sounds like you very well could be deserving of a partial writing credit. You certainly were the arranger, and it sounds like you made some significant contributions to the basic composition too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mistersully Posted May 5, 2015 Author Members Share Posted May 5, 2015 I can't say for certain, but from the way you're describing things, it sounds like you very well could be deserving of a partial writing credit. You certainly were the arranger, and it sounds like you made some significant contributions to the basic composition too. Thanks Phil Upon further reading, I think i'm going to ask for a 25% songwriting credit. What i'm doing at the moment is getting singer/songwriters with an idea, and fleshing out that idea into a fully produced song. I need to get all these potential issues sorted before i go any further. It can be a head trip though, as it's not all black and white. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted May 7, 2015 Share Posted May 7, 2015 It's kind of hard to work everything out in advance because until you do it and finish and tally up everyone's contributions, it's hard to know what percentages everyone should get or be entitled to... but you probably should have some sort of discussion and basic understanding about credit and partial ownership of the copyright before undertaking a co-writing project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mistersully Posted May 8, 2015 Author Members Share Posted May 8, 2015 that's what's a bit tricky with this situation. it didn't start out as a co-writing project... it just kind of morphed into one lesson learned though... i need to be right onto it with anyone i'm working with i'm usually pretty good at getting everything sorted up-front before i get into anything Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted May 8, 2015 Share Posted May 8, 2015 It can be hard to anticipate everything in advance - you probably had no idea you'd get into a co-write situation. I don't know about you, but it doesn't happen to me as a producer all that often. Occasionally it does - probably often enough that it should be mentioned in advance while negotiating the project. If not discussed earlier it's probably best to discuss it as soon as it comes up... "sure I can help you do that, but if I do, I'd expect a co-writing credit, and a percentage of the copyright..." While it's on my mind (this having nothing to do with your situation mistersully), one of the reasons it doesn't come up all that often for me is because I don't expect a writing credit for each and every tiny contribution. Just because I suggested a word change on a bridge or verse to help make the line's message clearer or to make the phrase easier to sing doesn't mean I have a right to expect a co-writing credit. I've seen other producers who think it does entitle them to that, and who act accordingly. Frankly, that bugs the heck out of me, and I think it gives producers a bad name. IMHO that kind of input isn't part of the songwriting, it's part of a producer's general duties and responsibilities. If you add an entire bridge to the song, or completely re-write the chorus and hook, that's another matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mistersully Posted May 8, 2015 Author Members Share Posted May 8, 2015 agree completely Phil... and i actually take that attitude quite fari'm doing an ep with this guy.. the next song i'll be writing and recording the bass parts, and all drums and percussion ... i'll have something to do with arrangement ... i'll possibly write vocal harmonies ... might end up doing some guitar parts/solos etc etc... i won't be expecting any writing credit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Folder Posted May 13, 2015 Members Share Posted May 13, 2015 I haven't heard the song but if you wrote all the music and he just wrote the words and melody I would demand fifty percent. That's usually the way it works in my neck of the woods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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