QUESTION: I write lyric and melody, but I don’t play an instrument. If I get someone to put the guitar or piano to my song, should they get songwriting credit?
This question came up during a recent songwriter workshop, and I thought it would be a good one to address here. Do you wonder about this, too? If someone puts the chords to your song, should they get songwriting credit?
Let’s dive in.
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The short answer is “no, probably not.” The longer answer is a little more nuanced.
A song is melody and lyric.
If you wrote both of those things, you wrote a complete song. Now, maybe you aren’t an instrumentalist, and you need someone to play the song for your recording. Maybe you don’t even know the chords, so they have to figure them out.
Figuring out the chords for your song is NOT co-writing the song.
The two of you can work out whatever deal you want, but in my experience in the music business, figuring out chords or playing on the recording does not equal a cowriting situation. It’s either a favor for a friend or a one-time paid job. It does not entitle the musician to own part of the song.
What about track-writers?
This is where it may get a little tricky. In the pop world, some producers will provide a musical track with no melody or lyric. It’s just drums, guitar, whatever. And that track person/producer will not add any melody or lyric to the song. They give their track to what is known as a “top-liner.” This top-liner writes the melody and lyric.
In this case, the producer and top-liner usually share songwriting credit. However, if the top-liner wrote the lyric and melody FIRST, and then gave it to a producer to build a track, they probably wouldn’t share songwriting credit. They’d probably just pay the producer for his or her work.
Bottom line: different genres have different norms, but what ultimately matters is what you and your (potential) cowriter decides is fair.
I hope that helps! If you’d like to ask a pro songwriter your own questions, I have a great opportunity for you. On Tuesday, October 16, I’m hosting a live, online Q&A session with hit songwriter, Chris Lindsey. He’s written for Blake Shelton (“Every Time I Hear That Song”), Lonestar (“Amazed”), Tim McGraw, Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood and more. He also hosts a great podcast for songwriters called “The Pitch List.”
Why don’t you join us for FREE? That’s right, this event is my gift to you. Normally, it’s only free for members of Frettie.com, but not this time. This time, ANYONE can join us. And Chris and I hope you will! CLICK HERE FOR ALL THE DETAILS.
God Bless and Enjoy the Journey,
Brent
Brent Baxter is a hit songwriter with cuts by Alan Jackson, Randy Travis, Lady Antebellum, Joe Nichols, Gord Bamford, Ruthie Collins, Ray Stevens and more. He’s written a top 5 hit in the US, a #1 in Canada, and a top 10 in Texas. His songs appear on 5 industry-certified gold & platinum albums & singles… so far. He also hosts a top-rated songwriting and music business podcast called, “The C.L.I.M.B.” which can be found on iTunes or your favorite podcast app.
