I've always found the practices surrounding song-writing credits as they relate to guitar solos and riffs to be a bit baffling. Every once in a while there are these subjects that get analyzed from a legal perspective and somewhere between the subject's domain (music, in this case) and the legal domain, something seems to get lost. I've had similar feelings regarding some of the legalities surrounding software licensing.
So, for example, you [reader] and I could start a band. We call it the Beagles, since we plan to cover a lot of Beatles and Eagles songs (of course!). But, we're also going to write some stuff of our own. To begin our songwriting effort, I present a verse and chorus based on incredibly basic chord progressions (something like G - C - D). The bass plays the roots of the chords, the drummer uses cliche beats, I scribble down some lyrics about being taken advantage of by unscrupulous women and voila, we have our first single which we call Cardio Kleptomania.
Sadly, it's a bit lacking, so we extend the verse chord progression two thirds through the song and ask you to record a guitar solo, which you do enthusiastically (you're an awesome bandmate).
In true Justin Bieber, Never-Say-Never fashion, our first song skyrockets to the top of itunes and overnight we get 40,000,000 twitter followers (move over Lady Gaga), crashing twitter in the process. A bit to my dismay, as we start to hear feedback about the song and come to realize that its strength is neither my I-IV-V chord progression (who'd a thunk?) nor the picture painted by the lyrics describing my history of dysfunctional relationships (from my youth, of course...), but rather, everybody
loooooves the guitar solo.
Yes, Guitar World publishes an emergency issue just to declare your solo the best ever written. Rolling Stone Magazine puts us on the cover (I buy five copies ... for my mother). In a rare act of bipartisanship, Congress passes a resolution (now that's an accomplishment...) declaring the day on which Cardio Kleptomania was released as "National Guitar Solo Day." In episodes somewhat reminiscent of
Ewan McGregor's near exit from the world of acting, Eddie Van Halen, Jimmy Page, Joe Walsh, Don Felder and a whole host of other notable guitarists declare that they are no longer going to play guitar, each explaining him or herself with the same rhetorical question: "What's the point?"
And here's the kicker...
You don't even have any writing credits on the song!
Of course, you could have writing credit if band agreed to it. But much of the conventional wisdom on the subject is that just adding a guitar solo is not sufficient enough of a contribution to be credited. I can understand a fill here and there, but a guitar solo? Really?!
Anyway, here is an interesting
article on the subject.