And here's me thinking it was mainly the other way around...
(i.e. "K, dude, make that third verse the actual chorus. That's good, ok add my name onto the credit, and send it to my other pal for his advice....")
― Mark G, Thursday, 1 April 2021 13:12 (two years ago) link
Good to see songwriters taking a stand on this, I remember Popbitch covering the 'change a word, take a third' phenomenon years ago. A co-write means more money for the artist (writing residuals generally better and longer-term than performance) and allows them to be positioned as singer/songwriter for media purposes, regardless of how much input there is.
I suppose it is particularly punitive these days given that revenue from streaming and radio is all a writer gets now (physical and download sales being negligible compared to 10 years ago, and music tv channels on their last legs), so any credit-sharing means a chunk taken out of an already vanishingly small income.
― Twelves, Thursday, 1 April 2021 14:34 (two years ago) link
I assumed this SOP across the board in modern pop. The tacit threat to the creative team being "share credit, or we record a different song and you get nothing."
― nobody like my rap (One Eye Open), Thursday, 1 April 2021 14:41 (two years ago) link
it's become dramatically more prevalent even in just the last 5 years i think
― ufo, Thursday, 1 April 2021 14:46 (two years ago) link
Yeah, I've seen it framed as a "tax" for the privilege of getting to write the performer's song.
― peace, man, Thursday, 1 April 2021 14:49 (two years ago) link
On the other side of it, I heard an anecdote the other day about a producer who was working for a big name producer and had signed a terrible deal. Basically, if the non-famous producer did 100% of the production on a song for an artist, the big name producer got 15% of it. But if the big name producer changed anything at all (ie a hi-hat sound using the same midi), then the big name producer got 80%.
― change display name (Jordan), Thursday, 1 April 2021 14:50 (two years ago) link
Damn, that's ugly.
― peace, man, Thursday, 1 April 2021 15:05 (two years ago) link