Introduction
On October 18, 2024, Wizkid released his highly anticipated first single of the year, “Piece of My Heart,” featuring American singer and songwriter, Brent Faiyaz, off his forthcoming 6th studio album, “Morayo.” As expected, the said song is already dominating music charts worldwide, debuting on the Official UK charts, the Billboard Hot R&B Songs chart, the Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart, and the Billboard World Digital Song Sales chart, amongst others, and garnering over ten million (10,000,000) streams just within the space of a week after its release. It is indubitable that the song is indeed a “hit” in the African context.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, there is an aspect of the song that has sparked curiosity and debates all over the Nigerian social media space since its release. This is the fact that 19 songwriters were credited for the writing of the song. This has raised various concerns, including concerns as to the ownership of the song, concerns as to Wizkid’s songwriting credibility, and concerns as to whether this is the practice in the music industry.
In the succeeding paragraphs of this article, we will provide clarity and answers to the aforementioned concerns. In doing so, we will specifically explore the details and clarify the role of multiple songwriters and their copyright credits, as well as the concept of music ownership. We will also highlight the importance of collaboration in the production of a chart-topping song.
The need for songwriters in music production
Songwriting is a common practice in the music space. It is not a new phenomenon in the music industry, as it is as old as music itself. It has transcended generations, with songwriters like Stephen Forster, Connie Converse, Rodgers & Hart, Paul McCartney, and Max Martin (amongst others) being at the forefront of the conversations on songwriting globally. As a matter of fact, Stephen Forster is popular for his role as America’s first songwriter, and he is highly regarded to have paved the way for other songwriters to follow.
It is common for music performers to employ the services of songwriters when they intend to record and produce their songs. This is primarily because, while a music performer can be good at performing and recording songs, such performer may not be gifted with the talent of penning down songs or composing them to have the alluring effect required to garner the attention of the listeners. This is where songwriters come into the conversation in music production. Their primary duty is to create musical compositions and/or simply to write the lyrics of songs. A songwriter can be a beat maker (a person who produces or composes music or beats for a song) or a top-liner (a person who writes the song over a premade beat). Highlighting this part
of songwriting is pertinent because there appears to be this notion that only people that write the lyrics of songs are songwriters, when in fact, music producers and other composers involved in the production process are also considered songwriters.
As earlier noted, songwriting is a very common phenomenon in the music space. As a matter of fact, every recording artist employs the services of songwriters during music production. This is because, as already highlighted above, parties like music composers and beatmakers involved in the production and composition of a song are deemed songwriters. However, for the purpose of this article, our primary focus shall be on songwriters that are responsible for the formation and writing of the lyrics of the song, i.e., top-liners.
The use of songwriters and its impact on the credibility of recording artists
While it is indisputable that beat makers and composers are always needed in the art of music production, their songwriting counterparts are not always considered to be that required in the music production process. This is because most recording artists also consider themselves to be good songwriters, even if this notion of theirs is somewhat debatable. Also, there appears to be this notion among music listeners and fans that the employment of songwriters in music production implies the lack of actual musical talent and prowess on the part of the recording artist. As a result of this notion, some recording artists have become a bit too diffident to acknowledge their usage of songwriters. Some even take pride in the idea of being solely responsible for the music production process, which is, in fact, rarely possible. Artists like Burna Boy and the late 2pac Shakur have supposedly made boasts of being exclusively responsible for the songwriting entailed in their songs. As a matter of fact, Burna Boy once expressed his displeasure over his Nigerian counterpart, Ceeza Milli’s claim that he co-wrote Burna Boy’s monster hit song, “On the Low.” Burna Boy also proceeded on X (formerly known as Twitter) to warn Ceeza Milli to abstain from making such claims forthwith. This heightened the already established notion among Nigerian music listeners and fans that songwriting is in fact a musical taboo!
However, this notion is not only false but it is also a poignant one. This is because songwriters (in this case, top-liners) are highly important. The importance of their presence in the music space cannot be overemphasized. It is also not mandatory for a sole songwriter to be used in a music production process. In most cases, multiple songwriters are needed to assist with the songwriting process—especially in major releases like Wizkid’s “Piece of My Heart.” In point of fact, today’s music industry often embraces a collaborative approach to songwriting. While some artists prefer to write solo, others choose collaboration to enhance the song’s quality by tapping into different ideas, lyrical styles, and melodies. Hence, having a large team of songwriters doesn’t diminish the musical competence and prowess of an artist. On the contrary, it highlights a standard industry practice where various contributors bring unique elements to a song, resulting in a well-rounded song that appeals to a wider audience.
Ownership rights and interests in songwriting
Does Wizkid Own “Piece of My Heart?”
The ownership of music is connected to the intellectual property known as copyright. For a musical artist to be deemed the owner of a song, such artist must first be vested with the copyright in such song. It is instructive to note at this point that the copyright in a song is divided into two major components, i.e., the copyright in the musical work and the copyright in the sound recording. The musical work is the song’s core underlying composition, including the melody, lyrics, and chords—the elements that could be transcribed as sheet music. On the other hand, the sound recording is the recorded version of the song—the one we listen to, with the artists’ performances captured. Further, in the Nigerian context, Section 28 of the Copyright Act vests with the author of a copyrightable work the ownership of such copyright. Though the Act is silent on who the author of a musical work is, as defined by Section 108, the author of a sound recording is the person by whom the arrangement for the making of the sound recording was made. This implies that for the musical work, every contributor to the development of the musical work is deemed an author and an owner of the musical work. With respect to the sound recording, the person by whom the arrangement is made in most cases is either the artist or the record label of the artist (if the artist is signed to a record label) and in some other instances both the artist and the record label of the artist (subject to the terms of the recording deal between the parties). This further means that authorship and ownership of the copyright in the sound recording aspect of a song vest automatically with the artist or its record label.
As it pertains to Wizkid’s “Piece of My Heart,” both Wizkid and Brent Faiyaz (depending on the terms of their collaboration agreement) will be deemed as the authors and owners of the sound recording aspect of the song. As regards the musical work, as already mentioned above, the parties responsible for the development of the underlying composition, including the melody, lyrics, and chords, are automatically deemed the authors and consequent owners of the copyright in the musical work. Hence, it is clear that Wizkid can be deemed to be the owner of the song. However, his ownership right is not total, as he is still bound to share such right with other contributors, including the supposed 19 songwriters. The distribution of the said right is determined by the agreement entered into between all the parties involved in this context, and it is instructive to note that the agreement in question is known as a split sheet. A split sheet is used to specify the percentage of royalties each contributor receives. For instance, if one songwriter wrote the melody and another the lyrics, the split sheet would show each person’s entitlement. This helps maintain transparency, ensuring all contributors are credited and compensated for their work.
Crediting Songwriters
Unfortunately, not all artists and record labels give proper recognition to those who help create their music. We occasionally see songwriters calling out artists and their record labels for the failure to credit and compensate them for their contributions. This issue is particularly prevalent in the Nigerian music scene, where contracts and agreements are sometimes overlooked or not executed ab initio. Notwithstanding this unfortunate state of events, it is also imperative to note that at all times, and as required by existing copyright laws and principles, the contributors to a copyrightable work must be credited. This position of the law is premised on the moral right of every contributor to a copyrightable work.
As a matter of fact, and interestingly, copyright credits in music are sometimes not limited to the actual contributors involved in the production processes. It also extends to the contributors in the production of a copyrightable work that is used or incorporated into the production of another copyrightable work. It is possible for an author to draw inspiration from another copyrightable work and take steps to incorporate certain elements in such copyrightable work in his own work. This practice is called sampling and/or interpolation in music production. For context, music sampling is the process of taking a portion of an existing recording and incorporating it into a new piece of music. The sampled material can be or include a beat, melody, rhythm, vocals, or speech. The sample can be a short note or a longer section of music, such as a complete verse or chorus. Similarly, music interpolation is the process of using a melody or portion of a melody from a previously recorded song in a new composition but re-recording the melody instead of directly sampling it.
It is instructive to note that, as a copyright rule, when a new song samples or interpolates another song, the writers and producers of the sampled or interpolated song must also be credited per the new song. Interestingly, this is why 19 songwriters are credited in Wizkid’s “Piece of My Heart.” This is particularly because, though Wizkid made use of multiple songwriters, the said song contains a sample of Wu Tang Clan’s 1999 record “Can It Be All So Simple,” which itself samples Gladys Knight & The Pips’ cover of Barbra Streisand’s 1973 record “The Way We Were.” Hence, some of the writers credited on “Piece of My Heart” are songwriters from Wu-Tang Clan’s “Can It Be All So Simple,” which Wizkid sampled in “Piece of My Heart,” and Gladys Knight & The Pips’ cover of Barbra Streisand’s “The Way We Were,” which Wu-Tang Clan sampled in “Can It Be All So Simple.”
This copyright rule also appears to apply across boards. For example, the likes of Rodney Jerkins, Fred Jerkins, Harvey Mason Jr. (the Recording Academy’s CEO), La Shawn Daniels, and a host of others are credited on Burna Boy’s “Last Last.” This is solely because they are responsible for the songwriting and production of Toni Braxton’s “He wasn’t man enough,” which Burna Boy sampled in “Last Last.” Similarly, Tems and Seyi Sodimu are credited on one of the songs in Rod Wave’s latest album, titled “25.” This is because “25” contains a sample of Tems’ “Love Me Jeje” from her debut album, which also samples and interpolates Seyi Sodimu’s 1998 hit single, “Love Me Jeje.”
Conclusion
In the music industry, it is common to see numerous parties involved in the production of a song. Wizkid’s “Piece of My Heart” is a perfect example of how collaboration among songwriters, performers, and producers can create a remarkable song. Wizkid’s collaboration with multiple songwriters and the sampling of a previous record does not make him any less of an artist—it instead reflects a growing trend of collaboration, which is imperative in the music industry.