What is the job title of someone who comes up with lyrics and a beat, but not instrumentation?

Question

In a songwriting session, if I'm the one who came out with the lyrics and the beat of the song but didn't make the musical instrumental (can't play any musical instrument). What am I?

Answer 1

That is a very logical question. It is quite common for folks who are good at writing lyrics to partner with other folks who are good at creating melodies! Some folks strengths may lie in different areas and pooling those relative strengths can lead to much greater results than either partner working alone might hope to achieve. There is not a requirement that you are able to do both. In fact there are many very successful songwriting teams who employed this very strategy.

One of the most accomplished and well known such teams consisted of Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Hal David wrote the lyrics and Burt Bacharach composed (wrote) the music. Together they wrote tons of hit pop songs and may still be writing to this day.

As the writer of the lyrics, you are the lyricists. The person who adds the main melody would be the composer. Both are "writers" of the song (songwriters). You will often see published sheet music where the writing credits are listed as "Words (or Lyrics) by X, Music by Y".

Lyrics without a melody is nothing more than poetry or "spoken word" (which is often put to music). Even a monotone song if intended to be sung over a beat would have a "melody". If you write a poem, you own the rights to those words unless you convey those rights to someone else.

To make a "song" from your words - you must also have a melody (so you can "sing" the song). Once you match lyrics with a melody, you have a song (although you can have a song with no lyrics).

Once you have lyrics and a melody, a composer, or producer can become an "arranger" and add supporting instrumentation to bring the song to life. Creating an arrangement may be done by someone other than the person who "wrote" or composed the melody. The arrangement would entail the rhythm and the other supporting instrumentation and background vocals (if desired). The arranger would decide if the song needs a violin, a trumpet, a lead guitar, a banjo, a saxophone and so on. The arranger would also decide where and how those instruments play a part in the overall musical composition.

Often the individual musicians will be tasked with creating their own accompanying part (in terms of which notes they actually play) that fits in with the melody. For example, the lead guitar player (studio musician or session guitarist) may offer several options for lead guitar solos if the arranger decides such a solo is appropriate. The selection of which version of a lead solo makes the final cut may be the result of a collaborative discussion among several of the musical contributors - coupled with trial and error.

How much each party contributes to the end result will vary greatly in every situation. As the songs lyricist, you may want some input into the arrangement or melody because you have a strong connection with the emotions behind the lyrics. Ideally the melody and overall arrangement will contribute to and support the emotions you wanted to convey with the lyrics.

There are a number of different rights that arise out of the writing and production of a song. I am only familiar with how things work in the USA. If the song becomes a "hit" and is able to generate revenue - the song writers and composers and arrangers and producers may all be entitled to some remuneration.

The rights to remuneration from the production of a hit song fall into three general categories. There are "writers royalties" that go to the songs writer or co-writers. There are publishing royalties that go to the song's publisher. And there are mechanical royalties which arise out of sales of records (either digital recordings sold on line or physical mediums such as a CD).

Whenever several people collaborate on the writing of and production of a "song" - there should be a written agreement which outlines the percentage of all the different anticipated and potential royalties which may be payable as a result of the song realizing some degree of commercial success. If you are writing just for fun and have no desire to ever see any money from your efforts and have no intention of promoting your song in a manner that could result in financial rewards, then a written agreement may not be needed. But what happens if one of the other "co-writers" decides to promote it and the song gets sold to a major artist or label and becomes a huge commercial success?

So all listed "co-writers" may want to claim a portion of any rights to any future valuable consideration that may arise from the creation of the song.

Your "job" is to create compelling lyrics that convey meaning and emotion. Your "title" in that process can be either of "co-writer" or "lyricist". Regardless of what you choose to call yourself, as the writer of the lyrics, you are a vital, important and integral part of the "songwriting team".

EDIT: Since you are also dictating the groove and rhythm by creating the "beat" you could also be considered "co-arranger".

Have fun writing and good luck with your songs.

Answer 2

Disclaimer: this answer does not address the legal issues involved in songwriting/composing/preforming credits in terms of copyright. It only addresses the common language aspects of the question.

• If you literally just provided the words -- you'd be the "lyricist".

• If you also constructed the melody that goes with those words you'd be the "song-writer".

• If you came up with the words and someone else came up with the melody, the two of you "co-wrote the song".

Usually, the people who came up with the musical accompaniment might be considered arrangers (in that they developed an arrangement of the song), if they're called out at all. In pop music the key central core of a work is usually defined as just the "lyrics+melody", most other aspects of a song, the chord changes, backing rhythm etc. are considered aspects of a specific arrangement and not part of the core identity of the song. However, sometimes aspects of the musical accompaniment is deemed central enough to the work that the people who created them are designated as part of the songwriter team.

(Since the Pharrell/Thicke copyright suit, I've started to hear murmurings that using "lyrics+melody" as the core identity of a work is no longer applicable to much contemporary popular music, but I haven't heard of a generally accepted alternative.)

Answer 3

In hip-hop and contemporary pop that is based on tracks and beats, the person who creates the beats, by which I mean the person who composes the rhythms and sounds, physically samples the samples, programs the drum machine, plays the instruments, and records and mixes the performances, is called the DJ or the producer.

In forms of music other than hip-hop and contemporary pop, the person who writes the instrumental part of the song, including the chords and the melody, is called the composer.

In hip-hop and contemporary pop that is based on tracks and beats, the person who composes the melody and the lyrics and adds them onto the already-composed beats is called the topliner. (This is a relatively new use of this term, which can also mean other things in fields other than composing music.) Another term is topline writer.

If you only compose the lyrics, you are a lyricist.

So you are telling us that you are a bit of a DJ/producer and a bit of a lyricist, but not a topliner because you didn't write the melody.

But all this is interactive. Some songs have several composers/authors who share authorship and performed different roles.

The important thing is that when the copyright for the song is registered, and especially if you are under contract to a music publishing company, that the legal document for copyright registration lists your name as one of the co-writers of the song. Otherwise you cannot collect any royalty checks over the years when the song earns money by being performed, played on the radio, streamed online, or licensed for use in motion pictures and video games, etc.

We don't give legal advice here on this site, but understand that unless you get legal proof of your participation in composing the song, you may be losing all your rights to earn income from this song in the future.

How to register copyright for a song, and how to get a contract with and deal with a music publishing company, or the need to join a performing rights organization, are way outside the scope of what is permitted to discuss on this site.

Answer 4

I see some very very long answers above me. But the answer to your question: "What am i?"

You are lyricist / co-songwriter.

Answer 5

Oh lyricist/songwriter is not something that can be given to a broad spectrum of artists some like NF, he is a Lyricist and songwriter but then there's others that are just lyricist poetic writers. It becomes a rap when there's an audible accompanying The Lyricist writings that's why people beatbox prior to starting their poem which is then transformed into a rap, to get your attention and express a personal point of view of life experience whether you like it or not it's that person's personal experience it is not a song by the way it's far from it it has its own special category and way of moving someone or connecting with someone so it does not diminish it by not calling it a song because I think the other would be diminishing it, it's special and it should be treated that way. and when I use the word it I'm referring to rap!