The Song’s Two Body Problem
It probably feels like we are going in circles, but this is one of those things we need to go over again. A song sounds like one thing. When it comes to ownership, however, it is really two things: the composition and the actual recording of that composition. I call it the “two body problem”. […] The post The Song’s Two Body Problem appeared first on The Namibian .
It probably feels like we are going in circles, but this is one of those things we need to go over again. A song sounds like one thing.
When it comes to ownership, however, it is really two things: the composition and the actual recording of that composition.
I call it the “two body problem”. It sounds complicated, but it really isn’t once you understand what the two bodies are.
It is Friday afternoon in Windhoek and somebody has just called a musician with the usual words: “Bro, I have a nice beat. Come to the studio tonight.”
By Saturday morning, there are six people in the room. One wrote the lyrics. Another came up with the melody. Somebody played guitar. The producer changed half the arrangement. The singer added a few lines. And the guy who paid for the studio is already telling everyone, “This is my song.”
Everybody is happy for now.
Then the song is released, starts being played and, somewhere down the line, money enters the conversation. From experience, that is normally when the smiles disappear and the WhatsApp messages become longer.
The problem is that musicians often talk about “the song” as if it is one thing. Legally, it isn’t.
