Do hired gun musicians get a songwriting credit for a one-time session?

Question

if we hired a guitarist (hired gun) and he/she laid down an original melody to compliment a song what we already have drums and vocals on, would the guitarist be entitled to a songwriting credit? or does a hired gun only usually charge a one-time fee for his/her contribution and not expect future royalties?

Answer 1

Session musicians typically do not get songwriting credit, they get paid per session and that's it. Sting is another story, if you're a big enough name you could demand songwriting credit, but I doubt he got credit for songwriting. Even without the writing credit, he still could ask for royalties, but that's only if the band is willing.



Basically, what you do is tell the guitarist what you'll pay, and s/he can refuse or accept, if they want songwriting credit (which they probably won't) and you don't think they deserve it go find another guitarist, if they accept your terms and sign a contract, they can't come back later and demand writing credit.

Answer 2

For my answer, I'll be using country session guitarist Brent Mason for an example...he's supposedly played guitar on over 1,000 songs in his career so far.





Anyway, Brent Mason often plays guitar for some big name artists such as Alan Jackson and George Strait. I'd be willing to bet that Mason comes up with most of his own guitar parts--solos, intros, etc. However, I have yet to see him be given credit for writing a song...and I have a lot of albums that he's played on! However, he always gets credit for playing guitar on the songs.



Also, I have no idea if a session guitarist would get royalties at all. My guess would be a one-time fee though.

Answer 3

I believe they do. Sting went to one session with Dire Straits. He wrote and sang the line "I want my Mtv".And of course he got paid for it.