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Ok so i'm working on a song with a friend of mine and i wanna know if i'm being unreasonable

analogue

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So i wrote this song and because i can't play any instruments (I can play the piano a little but not to a high standard) i called my friend, who has been playing piano for 10 years to play the piano on the song i wrote. What i did was that i would sing to him what i wanted the music to sound like on piano and then he'd play what i sang.

Now my friend is saying that he should get a co-composing credit for the song i came up with because he played piano for me but i said that no he shouldn't get a composing credit because he didn't compose anything. He just played what i asked him to play. I did say that if he wanted to contribute something to the song and i liked it then yeah i would give him a co-composing credit but i just don't feel what my friend did should count as composing. My friend should get credit as piano player but he shouldn't get credit as composer

Then my friend went on to accuse me of having a massive ego and that i just wanted to take all the credit for myself.

So what's your thoughts on this? I'm a being unreasonable? Do you think my ego is out of control? Or do i make a good point?
 
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If he wanted anything, he should want co-composing credit (and even then he doesn't deserve it), he had nothing to do with the writing, he's in the wrong don't give him the writing credit.
 
What i ment so say was that i don't think my friend should get a co-composing credit. SOrry for the confusion

I edited my first post so that it makes more sense
 
Yeah i think what you're saying is valid. I don't know much about composing rights but from what I gather, your friend just played the melody that you asked him to play. So it's basically like a pianist playing someone's sheet music, except instead of writing down the notes for him, you sang them. I'm not sure if that makes a difference that you didn't write them on paper. Also if he altered the melody that you sang, like added in chords and stuff then I guess he could claim something. But it sounds like he hasn't changed anything that you sang to him so I don't think you're being unreasonable.
 
He shouldn't. ... Just cuz he played the piano for your song, it is still Your song that You composed. I've never met you, yet still can very much tell by your posts that you don't have a massive ego at all, if any.

And like Sharlene said above, unless he added a personal hook to your composition when playing it on the piano, then he's got no right whatsoever to be requesting for that credit.
 
I agree with everyone else. Why should your friend get a composing credit if he just played a song that you wrote? I don't think your ego is the problem here.

There are computer programs that will convert the notes that you sing into sheet music. If you used one of those programs, should the computer program get a co-composer credit? LOL!
 
diana79 said:
There are computer programs that will convert the notes that you sing into sheet music. If you used one of those programs, should the computer program get a co-composer credit? LOL!
Click to expand...

Really? Can you please tell me the name of these computer programs?

and how does it work? Do i just sing into a mic and then the computer program will translate my singing into sheet music?
 
analogue said:
Really? Can you please tell me the name of these computer programs?

and how does it work? Do i just sing into a mic and then the computer program will translate my singing into sheet music?
Click to expand...

I did a quick google search and found this one. I haven't tried it, so I don't know how well it works. It looks like there's a free trial, so you can make sure that it works well before you spend any money on it.

http://www.musicmasterworks.com/
 
I've no expert knowledge on this but based on personal opinion, maybe credit him as an arranger seeing as you sang the melody to him to translate for the piano?

If your friend added extra things to the piece then he should probably get co-composer credit. If they just played the melodies that you sang to him, then no, he shouldn't. I guess it depends on the complexity of what you sang- for example, if you sang just the main melody line to him and he played a piece with full harmony's and things he added in himself, it probably counts as co-composer.
 
If he added anything, he should get a co-composing credit. If he just transcribed your ideas, then he shouldn't.
 
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