Who gets songwriting credit on a song and who doesn’t can sometimes lead to an uncomfortable conversation. But at the 2024 Billboard Latin Music Week, that topic took the spotlight in the riveting (and informative) Why Are There 50 Writers On My Song? panel on Monday (Oct. 14).
Moderated by Pierre Hachar, managing partner at The Hachar Law Group, panelists included regional Mexican singer-songwriter Eden Muñoz, renowned producer-songwriter Sergio George and Colombian hitmaker Keityn. At one point during the conversation, the group reflected on why, today, even managers can get a songwriting credit.
“I think it is clear that the composers deserve the credit,” said Keityn while discussing the subject. “The credits go to the one who deserves it and that is the actual composer.”
The conversation also touched on how nuanced the concept of songwriting credit can be, particularly when someone is in the studio who doesn’t technically write the song but contributes somehow to the idea or inspiration of the lyrics.
Below, find the best quotes from the panel:
Eden Muñoz: “The credit has to go to whoever participates in the writing process. When you’re in a studio, you know who is a composer and you know who is not. It’s something that you can almost feel. You can’t just be sitting around in the session and expect credit. It’s extremely important to set limits in the studio. It’s how I work today. I separate the songwriters and take them to a different table and they are the only ones in that room.”
Sergio George: “In my opinion, anyone who contributes to the process should have songwriting credit. I remember I was in a songwriting camp, there were like four to five people, and there was one person who gave some ideas of how the song could be. That person actually had nothing to do with my music, but got credit because if it wasn’t for her, the song would not have been made. That’s true of the arranger, because some arrangements are so emblematic and make the song. We should be fair all around.”
Keityn: “The 50 songwriters thing is not even about the artist, songwriter or producer, to be honest. Platforms like Spotify, when they do the breakdown of who gets credit on their platform, it is always based on the actual split, and they label them as songwriters. I don’t understand why everyone who is in the split [gets listed as] as a songwriter.”
Muñoz: “Today, we are in a business where managers [have the] sin of arrogance and want to be everywhere and get songwriting credit. I remember back in the day, the manager would sometimes even hide, but now it seems like they are glued to one another. Sometimes the manager acts more like the artist.”
The 2024 Billboard Latin Music Week coincides with the 2024 Billboard Latin Music Awards set to air at 9 p.m. ET on Sunday, Oct. 20, on Telemundo. It will simultaneously be available on Universo, Peacock and the Telemundo app, and in Latin America and the Caribbean through Telemundo Internacional.
