Hi,
I'm writing the credits for my songs and I have a few questions.
Situation #1: I wrote a vocal melody/lyrics over a song that already exists. Then I brought it to someone who made a completely new instrumental that still fitted with my melody. So he wrote the music, and I wrote the lyrics and vocal melody. Therefore, we're both songwriters. My question here is, who is the producer, or are we both producers? The way I see it, I'm the producer, because I overlook everything, try to achieve my "vision", reach out specifically to the people I think will be the best suited for the song, etc. Basically, while I don't compose the music per say, I will decide the structure, the vibe, the effects, the mixing, the mastering… I may compose a little keyboard or drum part here or there, but what I mostly do is the lyrics/vocal melody. You can say I'm the mastermind behind how the song will sound, even though I don't compose the instrumental.
Situation #2: Let's say I bought a hip-hop beat from someone. I put the beatmaker as a songwriter. But there is a guitar sample in the beat. Should the original guitar player be credited as a songwriter? Would he also be considered as an engineer on my song since he recorded the guitar himself before it got sampled for my song? And would the beatmaker be considered a producer?
Situation #3: Let's say I worked with several people on a song. The drummer, bassist, guitarist and keyboardist each recorded their part themselves. Therefore, in the engineering credits, should I list all these people? What if someone recorded a small keyboard part for the song - still an engineer for the song?
Looking forward to your insight.
I'm writing the credits for my songs and I have a few questions.
Situation #1: I wrote a vocal melody/lyrics over a song that already exists. Then I brought it to someone who made a completely new instrumental that still fitted with my melody. So he wrote the music, and I wrote the lyrics and vocal melody. Therefore, we're both songwriters. My question here is, who is the producer, or are we both producers? The way I see it, I'm the producer, because I overlook everything, try to achieve my "vision", reach out specifically to the people I think will be the best suited for the song, etc. Basically, while I don't compose the music per say, I will decide the structure, the vibe, the effects, the mixing, the mastering… I may compose a little keyboard or drum part here or there, but what I mostly do is the lyrics/vocal melody. You can say I'm the mastermind behind how the song will sound, even though I don't compose the instrumental.
Situation #2: Let's say I bought a hip-hop beat from someone. I put the beatmaker as a songwriter. But there is a guitar sample in the beat. Should the original guitar player be credited as a songwriter? Would he also be considered as an engineer on my song since he recorded the guitar himself before it got sampled for my song? And would the beatmaker be considered a producer?
Situation #3: Let's say I worked with several people on a song. The drummer, bassist, guitarist and keyboardist each recorded their part themselves. Therefore, in the engineering credits, should I list all these people? What if someone recorded a small keyboard part for the song - still an engineer for the song?
Looking forward to your insight.