Are solo artists technically just frontpersons of uncredited bands?

[ChrisMartinFan]

I don't really understand how solo artists work and this has been bothering me for a while now xD

To clarify, I'm talking about artists who claim to write their own songs, not ones who sing someone else's music. Off the top of my head, someone like Ed Sheeran or Taylor Swift, I'm pretty sure they play one or two instruments at the most. So they write the lyrics and the melody. But what about the other instruments in a song? You can't really write a drum section if you don't play drums or a guitar riff if you don't play guitar, can you? So someone else writes it then. But then how are they different from someone like Chris? Doesn't he do the same thing?

 

And I don't mean uncredited as in never mentioned, I know their names are probably included on the album. But uncredited as in the public has no idea about their contribution at all and as far as I know, they don't really profit from how big the song gets unlike the main artist?

 

And it's not like the other musicians 'guest feature' on just a tiny bit like Noel in Up and up, they actually help flesh out the whole song. How does this work exactly? Or are these other musicians fine with being unnoticed and it's all just based on whether the artist is comfortable enough being on stage alone or not? I'm so confused lol xD

 

Sorry if this is a stupid question :3 I'm a complete noob when it comes to all this xD

[flockofbirds222]

You're not the only one, I'm sometimes really confused about this as well.

That's also why I prefer bands to solo artists, instruments are a really important thing to me too and I don't like the fact that with solo artists it seems to be only about the voice and the rest of the band is kind of interchangeable and unimportant...

 

But it would be great if someone who knows a little more about this could give their opinion!

[gai]

I'm nousician, but think that's part of where the producers play a huge role with solo artists. But I'm interested in knowing more about this too.

[ChrisMartinFan]

You're not the only one, I'm sometimes really confused about this as well.

That's also why I prefer bands to solo artists, instruments are a really important thing to me too and I don't like the fact that with solo artists it seems to be only about the voice and the rest of the band is kind of interchangeable and unimportant...

 

But it would be great if someone who knows a little more about this could give their opinion!

Me too. It only really annoys me when the artist gets way too much undue credit.

Like we all know and acknowledge that Jonny's riff is the star of AoaL and the entire band is going to make an equal profit from it. But a lot of times I hear a song on the radio and it's got this brilliant rhythm section going on, which was clearly not written by the artist, and it's the main reason why the song is as good as it is but the artist gets all the praise and money and popularity. I dislike that concept very much.

BOO! :c

 

I'm nousician, but think that's part of where the producers play a huge role with solo artists. But I'm interested in knowing more about this too.

Mmm that's what I thought as well. They obviously take care of the mixing and all the 'computer generated' bits of a song and are responsible for bringing in the other musicians.

I'm just surprised at the sheer number of musicians who seem to be completely content to stay behind the scenes and let someone else reap the benefits of their work.

 

Or maybe it's like most songwriters where they supposedly lack the 'star' factor and forced to release their art through other artists. Which is really sad and really shows how incredibly money minded the industry is and the absolute lack of respect for musical talent :c

[I ran away]

Like we all know and acknowledge that Jonny's riff is the star of AoaL and the entire band is going to make an equal profit from it.

Don't wanna blow your image of Coldplay, but actually, it is 40-20-20-20 for Chris. He said so himself in a MX Era interview. :)

[coldplayisawesome]

to me, this is kind of like how a director and actors get most of the recognition for a film despite there being MANY other people who work on it as well. those people (and their jobs) are credited but often ignored by the general public.

so i think even with an actual band like Coldplay there are still so many other people who help them and technically get credit but not as much recognition

 

i'd be really interested in knowing what kind of contracts people working with solo artists have, like if they're only given a one-time payment and no royalties or what...

[ChrisMartinFan]

Don't wanna blow your image of Coldplay, but actually, it is 40-20-20-20 for Chris. He said so himself in a MX Era interview. :)

Mmm I thought it was 40-20-20-20 for just the publishing and 25-25-25-25 for everything else? From what I've read /heard the label gets almost all the profit from publishing and the artist rarely makes any money from it all. Their main income is through touring and merchandise sales. Not sure if that's true for Coldplay though.

But you're right, that was a wrong choice of words I used haha :3

 

to me, this is kind of like how a director and actors get most of the recognition for a film despite there being MANY other people who work on it as well. those people (and their jobs) are credited but often ignored by the general public.

so i think even with an actual band like Coldplay there are still so many other people who help them and technically get credit but not as much recognition

 

i'd be really interested in knowing what kind of contracts people working with solo artists have, like if they're only given a one-time payment and no royalties or what...

Ugh I typed out this long 8 foot essay explaining why exactly I thought the thing you mentioned was a little different from the musicians issue, complete with examples and shit, and just as I pressed 'post' my WiFi died :bigcry:

-shakes fist at crappy Internet-

On second thoughts, maybe it was for the best xD no one wants to read that xD

 

Yeah. If they actually do get royalties, I would have much less of a problem with it since some musicians are genuinely really shy and want nothing to do with the spotlight *cough* Jonny *cough* :guitarist:

[brobbins]

I'm not sure how all the writing is handled for instruments the main songwriter doesn't play, but I do know something about the performance part. I know someone who's professional job is called a "session musician" and he plays guitar. He travels all around playing guitar for solo performers who don't have a full time band backing them up. Not usually on a tour, like for multiple shows, but for recording sessions or one-off performances. I believe he has an agent who places him on these jobs, and his role is to sight-read the music sheet and learn the songs quickly to play with the singer for a short time. I'm not sure how he's credited on recordings he's been on, or live performances. But he gets paid whatever the going rate is for the part he does, and I think that's it. He makes a good living, but nothing out of the ordinary. Middle class I'd say. That's what I am, and I know him through my son's Boy Scout Troop. He's one of the scout dads, and came to one of the meetings to explain his job and demonstrate playing on all the different guitars he has for the kids' merit badge in the fine arts. He could play riffs for just about any style of music, and took requests from the boys. At the end I tried to get him to play the opening riff to Yellow, but I ended up looking like a crazy mom who butted too much into the kids' meeting. LOL [emoji28]

[coldplayisawesome]

Ugh I typed out this long 8 foot essay explaining why exactly I thought the thing you mentioned was a little different from the musicians issue, complete with examples and shit, and just as I pressed 'post' my WiFi died :bigcry:

-shakes fist at crappy Internet-

On second thoughts, maybe it was for the best xD no one wants to read that xD

 

oh no!

wait but i would still like to hear your argument if you feel like typing it again :P

[gai]

Mmm I thought it was 40-20-20-20 for just the publishing and 25-25-25-25 for everything else?

Yep, that's what Chris said.

[ChrisMartinFan]

I'm not sure how all the writing is handled for instruments the main songwriter doesn't play, but I do know something about the performance part. I know someone who's professional job is called a "session musician" and he plays guitar. He travels all around playing guitar for solo performers who don't have a full time band backing them up. Not usually on a tour, like for multiple shows, but for recording sessions or one-off performances. I believe he has an agent who places him on these jobs, and his role is to sight-read the music sheet and learn the songs quickly to play with the singer for a short time. I'm not sure how he's credited on recordings he's been on, or live performances. But he gets paid whatever the going rate is for the part he does, and I think that's it. He makes a good living, but nothing out of the ordinary. Middle class I'd say. That's what I am, and I know him through my son's Boy Scout Troop. He's one of the scout dads, and came to one of the meetings to explain his job and demonstrate playing on all the different guitars he has for the kids' merit badge in the fine arts. He could play riffs for just about any style of music, and took requests from the boys. At the end I tried to get him to play the opening riff to Yellow, but I ended up looking like a crazy mom who butted too much into the kids' meeting. LOL [emoji28]

Ooooh that's really interesting information! Thanks for posting it :D

But in this case, the fixed pay seems to make sense because there's no intellectual property involved.

 

Hahaha I love that story! :laugh3:

Crazy mom?! More like the coolest mom ever :D

Like the best frontman in the world says

 

oh no!

wait but i would still like to hear your argument if you feel like typing it again :P

I will :D as soon my brain starts working again and I feel less lazy xD

[tov1988]

It works for artists how have the funds to pay session and touring musicians. They aren't seen as a band because the supporting musicians and collaborators are seen as interchangeable. The solo artist serves as the main face and voice.

 

If you were just a local, unsigned artist you probably wouldn't get away with having a band and getting all the attention for yourself lol.

[myl_oxyl_oto]

I know there are people that will play everything themselves in-studio and then go out on tour with session musicians, i.e. Rick Astley, Tom Chaplin, and Jeff Lynne's ELO.