Question about songwritting credits

[analogue]

I wrote this song the other day and when it came to the music i hummed the tune that i wanted to my friend and then he played it on his guitar. Now he says that he should get full credit for the writting of the music because he played it on his guitar but i think it should be me who get's credit because i came up with the tune in the first place

So who should get credited for writting the music?

 

[giddyup87]

you.

your the composer, if he played it exactly the same way as your humming.

But if he slightly changed it in any way or added something he could be credited for arrangement.

That's why it's always best to record your ideas or write them down.

 

[Bob George]

^ yes, you should be credited as the composer. And I agree that if you are a serious songwriter it's always best to have dated recordings of the melodies you come up with. Or if you can write musical notation, write the melody down and date it. In case you need to prove you are the original composer in court or something.

 

[arXter]

if you think it's worth it, you can just pay 35 quid and get it copyrighted - simple, quick process. keep track of the evolution of your ideas as evidence and you should be fine...

 

[analogue]

Well i hum all of my ideas down into a tape recorder so i always keep track of what i've come up with and yes i do date them

 

[144000]

I wrote this song the other day and when it came to the music i hummed the tune that i wanted to my friend and then he played it on his guitar. Now he says that he should get full credit for the writting of the music because he played it on his guitar but i think it should be me who get's credit because i came up with the tune in the first place

So who should get credited for writting the music?

this is why i'm a big fan of technology.

if you buy the right equipment, it'll back your melody up, and you can copyright if from there too. these are the things that make me appreciate tpain.

lots of musicians tend to have big heads.

 

[Grand Master S]

I wrote this song the other day and when it came to the music i hummed the tune that i wanted to my friend and then he played it on his guitar. Now he says that he should get full credit for the writting of the music because he played it on his guitar but i think it should be me who get's credit because i came up with the tune in the first place

So who should get credited for writting the music?

What a douche friend lol. If he played it exactly the same, then you, but if he changed things up and added his own thing to it, I think co-credit with both of you would be the decent thing.

 

[analogue]

Well my friend as this thing in his head that to be able to compose a song you need to be able to actually play an instrument and he also thinks that you can't compose a song if you can't read and write music

I think it's stupid how my friend thinks that he should get full credit for composing the music i wrote just because he played the guitar for me. That's like me saying to him ''I wanna have 100% credit for the lyrics you wrote because i'm singing them

 

[144000]

Well my friend as this thing in his head that to be able to compose a song you need to be able to actually play an instrument and he also thinks that you can't compose a song if you can't read and write music

I think it's stupid how my friend thinks that he should get full credit for composing the music i wrote just because he played the guitar for me. That's like me saying to him ''I wanna have 100% credit for the lyrics you wrote because i'm singing them

exactly. ayo technology

next time, u might have to be willing to hire someone to play for you. that way, you will have bought any lick they come up with.

 

[FinalEyes]

Well my friend as this thing in his head that to be able to compose a song you need to be able to actually play an instrument and he also thinks that you can't compose a song if you can't read and write music

I think it's stupid how my friend thinks that he should get full credit for composing the music i wrote just because he played the guitar for me. That's like me saying to him ''I wanna have 100% credit for the lyrics you wrote because i'm singing them

That's ridiculous. I've written hundreds of songs and I don't know how to read or write music. A lot of popular musicians don't either.

I think you should get the credit for the song, though, since you came up with the melody. :yes:

 

[analogue]

Yeah and a perfect example of someone who can't read and write music but is a great song writter is Michael Jackson. He've written some of the greatest songs of all time and yet he can't read and write music

 

[DuranDuran]

Well my friend as this thing in his head that to be able to compose a song you need to be able to actually play an instrument and he also thinks that you can't compose a song if you can't read and write music

Many popular musicians don't know how to read music or know anything about music theory, they play by ear. None of the Beatles could read music, nor could James Brown. But they are considered to be great songwriters. John Lennon used to make jokes about music scholars writing about their songs because he didn't know what they were talking about, lol. James Brown also hummed or scatted what he wanted his band to play. It's like a secretary taking notation or someone translating one language to another.