Originally Posted By: eddie1261
Originally Posted By: etcjoe
Adding songwriters to steal writer fees


Steal? You think being paid for your composition work is stealing? I mean, you've heard of ASCAAP, right? That organization that exists to pay people for their writing when artists perform their music? That understood band that gets broken non stop? Sometimes even here? I'm sure everybody posting covers on here pays a fee to perform it, right? Wink wink wink.

How many days did YOU work at your job for free in 2020? When you DID work were you stealing money from your boss? How about the agents that book bands? Do they steal? And the promoters who arrange press and advertising? Stealing? Road managers who book hotels, make sure there are meals ordered, finding a dry cleaner with same day service, make sure laundry gets done... stealing? The venue security, vendors, stagehands, lighting people.... All stealing?

When you really get down to it, the artists have the easiest job on tour. Show up for a 3pm sound check, then come back at 8 to work their 2 hours of stage time. After which stage crew tears down, loads the stage gear....

I don't know anything about you so I have to ask so I do know. Have you ever actually done this stuff? Extensive (let's say extensive means 12 weeks or more) travel? Being away from everybody who matters to you? Living out of a suitcase in bad hotels (Because we don't all stay in top floor suites) for what seems like forever? It's a tough life for everybody involved. And any money earned by anybody in that chain is really earned. True that the writer only has to write the song once and the band has to play it many times, but without that writer, they have nothing to play. That writer needed to make a demo, so he likely hired studio players to do the demo before he even submitted it to a band. Stealing isn't even close to the right verb.

Personally I think the writer should make more per track than each performing player makes. If 6 pieces of a band each make a penny per track, the writer should make 12 pennies per track. Multiply by 8 tracks that writer gets onto a CD, and he makes just under a buck. Sell 100,000 units.... that's just under $100,000 for writing 6 of the songs. Which is very fair in my opinion.


I think you misunderstood my comment. Notes wrote about Motown. Part of the deal offered included the fact that the label will add people as songwriters, so the fees paid by ASCAP or BMI or whoever is paying the writers fees, gets split amongst these other people as well as the actual writer of the song. That is stealing. These people had nothing to do with writing the song in other words.

Elvis' music publishers used to do the same thing, if you want Elvis to sing your song, you are going to have to add this guy and this guy as co-writers and split the writer's fee. That is theft by any definition.

As a matter of fact it still goes on today in music publishing, which is a stupid word since nothing is being published but that is what it is called. The publisher gets a share and the writer gets a share. If you add a co-writer and do not specify a percentage then it is half and so on.

My wife asked if I had seen the dog bowl. I told her I didn't even know he could.