JPF Home Page Forums General Messages Mentor Questions Forum Problems with Claim to Songwriter in a Band

I personally don't feel that way about you, Christine. I'm a parent of teens too.

For the band members reading this, just to reiterate the USUAL way of things, writing contributions are traditionally split evenly...but some agreement about this NEEDS to be clear from the get-go so that you can all sleep at night. Lennon and McCartney shook hands as teens to go 50/50, and it worked out pretty good!

I think most bands should search for ways to share and build on their own cohesive, close-knit sense of family. The ones who begin fiercely protecting "my" portion are going solo too early, in my opinion. It's sort of a choice between getting along most of the time or bitching at each other most of the time--that's where these things eventually lead. Work toward unity if you want success. Lyrics alone are a huge contribution to a song...lyrics AND melody seal the deal. Of course he should have equal songwriting credit...why wouldn't he? The original idea sometimes seems more important than later additions and rewrites, but when you decide to call it "Song A", the person who called it that is now also part of the creation process.

Good luck to you all, you are a cool band and Christine is obviously a caring and valuable resource/mentor for you all. Learn to be a group.