Sharing songwriting credits, article by Mark Marshall - 01/27/17 01:20 PM
Came across this on facebook, pretty good article on sharing songwriting credits IMHO:
Where credit is due
Where credit is due
Re: Sharing songwriting credits, article by Mark Marshall - 01/28/17 10:10 AM
All good points.
Re: Sharing songwriting credits, article by Mark Marshall - 01/28/17 10:36 AM
Interesting article. The author points out how this affected Robbie Robertson and The Band. For some reason, the article led me to think pretty much the same thing occurred between Lennon and McCartney toward George Harrison, Ringo Starr and George Martin.
A particular instance that came to mind would be a situation where they are working in the studio and George Martin asks Ringo to develop a certain vibe on the drum pattern leaving the creation of the pattern up to Ringo. Ringo does it, and it is a crucial element to the song but neither receive any credit. Probably happened many times but in the case of the Beatles, that appears to have been the accepted agreement between themselves.
Charlie
A particular instance that came to mind would be a situation where they are working in the studio and George Martin asks Ringo to develop a certain vibe on the drum pattern leaving the creation of the pattern up to Ringo. Ringo does it, and it is a crucial element to the song but neither receive any credit. Probably happened many times but in the case of the Beatles, that appears to have been the accepted agreement between themselves.
Charlie
Re: Sharing songwriting credits, article by Mark Marshall - 01/28/17 11:24 AM
Interesting you mentioned Ringo, that brought to mind a documentary I saw on netflix a while back about Ginger Baker, drummer from Cream and Blind Faith.
He was saying that he never got any royalties for any of the songs Cream did even though the parts he developed were important to the song, and one example he gave was the intro to "White Room".
If you recall that song, the drum part on the intro is very distinctive, a 5/4 pattern. Apparently that was his idea, originally it was going to be 4/4 all the way through. Can't imagine that song without that drum part.
But I guess right at the beginning it was decided the songwriting royalties would be split between Jack Bruce, who wrote most of the music, and Pete Brown, who wrote most of the lyrics.
He was saying that he never got any royalties for any of the songs Cream did even though the parts he developed were important to the song, and one example he gave was the intro to "White Room".
If you recall that song, the drum part on the intro is very distinctive, a 5/4 pattern. Apparently that was his idea, originally it was going to be 4/4 all the way through. Can't imagine that song without that drum part.
But I guess right at the beginning it was decided the songwriting royalties would be split between Jack Bruce, who wrote most of the music, and Pete Brown, who wrote most of the lyrics.
Re: Sharing songwriting credits, article by Mark Marshall - 01/29/17 01:42 PM
I think I read somewhere that all U2 songs are credited to all
the band members. I think that was a great selfless decision
that they made long ago.
the band members. I think that was a great selfless decision
that they made long ago.
Re: Sharing songwriting credits, article by Mark Marshall - 01/29/17 01:59 PM
Good insurance. Just ask Brian Jones! 
Re: Sharing songwriting credits, article by Mark Marshall - 02/04/17 05:32 PM
I've seen this article before and it is a good general rules of engagement.
Something though to remember in our new (ahem) digital age.
In yea olden days...when tape recording and large studios were the only means, it was a little easier to navigate these issues and egos. Because one would (or band would) have to spend hours often doing retakes. So it usually was obvious when contributors were spending 14 hours or even days at a time in the studio going over things, working out details, doing more than one take so the engineer could pick and choose what and where he wanted.
Also, there was strong "Union Representation" so a Union Pro Session Man was making serious $$ for just being there. If it was a long (and contracted) session hey he's leaving with a couple of grand in his pocket so no fussing.
But in today's digital age where everyone has a DAW, and specialty stuff like Addictive Drums, or Izotope most of us are more in the realm of "Creator" than "Just" a session person. (not absolute but for the most part.)
Example being...I often send out tracks I'm working on to a friend of mine in Miami who plays bass. I'm not a real good keyboard player and don't play or own a bass guitar. I use one DAW his preference is another. So often times, not only will my friend play a bass track, but he might edit for tonal quality his bass track in his DAW. His edits may or may not translate well into my DAW. Most of the time though his ideas are better (lol!) so in that role, he's more of a contributor/collaborator than just an online session guy. Plus he and I are friends and have played in bands in the past so there's that part of the equation.
Also remember that again due to the digital "sharing" age we live in...a lot of former "Session Players" are in fact moving into the "World of Audio Production." Survival of the Fittest. There's just not as much of a demand in the traditional sense of it for strictly session players. BIAB and Real Band are perfect examples of this. Although I may use a generated guitar sound from a well known/established session musician, the sound pallet generated by BIAB is going to be based on how I've arranged the chords, solos and so on. See my point?
Just food for thought. Have a great weekend all!!
Something though to remember in our new (ahem) digital age.
In yea olden days...when tape recording and large studios were the only means, it was a little easier to navigate these issues and egos. Because one would (or band would) have to spend hours often doing retakes. So it usually was obvious when contributors were spending 14 hours or even days at a time in the studio going over things, working out details, doing more than one take so the engineer could pick and choose what and where he wanted.
Also, there was strong "Union Representation" so a Union Pro Session Man was making serious $$ for just being there. If it was a long (and contracted) session hey he's leaving with a couple of grand in his pocket so no fussing.
But in today's digital age where everyone has a DAW, and specialty stuff like Addictive Drums, or Izotope most of us are more in the realm of "Creator" than "Just" a session person. (not absolute but for the most part.)
Example being...I often send out tracks I'm working on to a friend of mine in Miami who plays bass. I'm not a real good keyboard player and don't play or own a bass guitar. I use one DAW his preference is another. So often times, not only will my friend play a bass track, but he might edit for tonal quality his bass track in his DAW. His edits may or may not translate well into my DAW. Most of the time though his ideas are better (lol!) so in that role, he's more of a contributor/collaborator than just an online session guy. Plus he and I are friends and have played in bands in the past so there's that part of the equation.
Also remember that again due to the digital "sharing" age we live in...a lot of former "Session Players" are in fact moving into the "World of Audio Production." Survival of the Fittest. There's just not as much of a demand in the traditional sense of it for strictly session players. BIAB and Real Band are perfect examples of this. Although I may use a generated guitar sound from a well known/established session musician, the sound pallet generated by BIAB is going to be based on how I've arranged the chords, solos and so on. See my point?
Just food for thought. Have a great weekend all!!
Re: Sharing songwriting credits, article by Mark Marshall - 02/04/17 05:42 PM
Yeah: "Watch out for Mr. Baker." Very interesting film. Poor guys seems to have a lot of issues today. Somehow though I have to wonder since he's traveling all over the world, has dozens of horses, and so on. Where's the money for rent and mortgage coming from?
Although I think of Ginger Baker as probably one of the top ten drummers ever...perhaps a lot of his financial issues had more to do with his Addiction/personality issues. He was not easy to work with right from the start. Both Clapton and Baker really didn't want much to do with him after Blind Faith.
Although I think of Ginger Baker as probably one of the top ten drummers ever...perhaps a lot of his financial issues had more to do with his Addiction/personality issues. He was not easy to work with right from the start. Both Clapton and Baker really didn't want much to do with him after Blind Faith.