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A simplified breakdown of song creation, song credits and how to read them by Admin L.
This thread is based on knowledge of how to read credits and my own close relative being a music producer.
A simplified breakdown of song creation, song credits and how to read them by Admin L.
This thread is based on knowledge of how to read credits and my own close relative being a music producer.
To start off - songwriting. Should you write lyrics for your part in a song, or be outsourced as a songwriter for lyrics in general, you will be awarded a songwriting credit.
The quantity does not matter, a sentence or even a couple words for a song will have you added to the list of songwriters.
The order in which they are listed usually gives you a hint on who’s had the most input. This is not fail-proof but usually, this system is followed.
The order in which they are listed usually gives you a hint on who’s had the most input. This is not fail-proof but usually, this system is followed.
Composition credits are given for the melodies. Usually, if you’ve written lyrics you’ve written the melody to go alongside them, and will have composed on the track.
But composers are also often outsourced. Composition credits still have you registered as a writer, even if you haven’t written any lyrics. On album credits you’ll see lots of names filed under writers - Here, the composers and lyricists are bunched together in this one category,
whether you composed on the track, wrote lyrics or did one or the other. There is no way of knowing whether the people listed wrote melodies alone for the track, or lyrics, or both unless they clarify this themselves.
As an example, when asked about his participation in Black Swan, Clyde Kelly clarified that he had written melodies for the track (meaning he had composed on the track), but that the meaning of the lyrics he sent in were not the same as the lyrics adapted.
Production is the cornerstone of a song. The instrumentation, the arrangement and the overall direction of a song is guided by the producer. Composition and writing in today's industry is built off of the production.
This is not to say that it can’t happen all at once or in reverse order, or even simultaneously, but usually, the production is what you build from.
Here is Yoongi’s demo track for Autumn leaves. This is a production alone, essentially the first building block of the song that later became Autumn Leaves. No melodies can be heard here, meaning no composition, this is just a produced track.
Here is Yoongi’s demo for Trivia: Seesaw. this is a track that's been composed on. The melodies are the biggest part of composing on a track.
We can hear junk lyrics that don’t really mean anything, this is common practise for producers, as it essentially serves as a guide for whoever the song is being given to (in this case himself) they’re just there to help him guide how the lyrics should be sung when written.
The same premise of order in credits is awarded to the production. I recall my relative sending over a largely finished beat to one of his coworkers at his label to look over, since they have it as a policy to check each others' work when possible.
This coworker changed the source on the drums and added a cymbal sound. When you check the credits for that song now you'll see it credited as (Relative, Coworker) even though he did the vast majority of the production on that track. Any alteration, edit or input is credited.
Just something to be aware of because Bighit seems to have that same company policy with the BTS members productions being checked over by their in-house producers, which I assume is why you'll very rarely see them credited as a producer on their own.
This is not to neglect the in-house producer's input at all, they do great work and are invaluable in helping facilitate the member's own work. It’s just important to keep in mind that -
the members should not be discredited when being the driving force of their production, writing, and composition work simply because there are multiple producers or writers. This is again, company policy both for productions and lyrics as stated by themselves.
Additionally: I see a lot of people using KOMCA to check production credits. KOMCA is not where you should search for this because they register lyrics and composition, not production.
This is why you'll see all three of the rappers mixtapes having every track registered under
their names even when they haven't produced on the track. Since they wrote the lyrics and rapped/sang, they are registered for the composition and songwriting of every track.
their names even when they haven't produced on the track. Since they wrote the lyrics and rapped/sang, they are registered for the composition and songwriting of every track.
All three members of the BTS rapline are credited for 100+ songs on KOMCA, this does not mean that they produced that many songs, this is a common misconception, these are their writing and composition credits.
Some examples of how to read credits on Wikipedia: Yoongi and Namjoon were composers and writers on Spring Day, as seen here, the producer to the left is listed as Pdogg. Jungkook was a composer and writer on Your Eyes Tell, Mared and UTA are visible to the left as producers.
Wikipedia actually is a good source if you're interested in production credits in particular, since they're just taken from the album booklet of credits and from NAVER which lists everything accurately.
Other sites tend to be confusing in regards to producers and composers, often omitting the producers entirely and simply writing out the composers and writers as is done on KOMCA.
The album booklets themselves also have credits written out. Producers listed as Produced by:
and writers/composers within the brackets. Here is an example from My Time.
and writers/composers within the brackets. Here is an example from My Time.
Finally, the composition, lyrics, and production are all integral parts of a song and every member's participation in all of these avenues of song creation are impressive and worthy of appreciation and praise.
What’s important, though, is being able to read and understand these credits so as to not spread misinformation.
I hope this has been a helpful thread.
I hope this has been a helpful thread.
