06/03/2024
Adekunle Gold wrote "1 Milli" for Davido
Tekno wrote "IF" for Davido
Teni wrote "Like Dat" for Davido
"Blow my Mind" (featuring Chris Brown) was written by Wurld for Davido
"Gobe" was written by Password for Davido.
Runtown wrote "Aye" for Davido.
The list goes on.
Did it make Davido any less of an artist? No. Does it mean those artists are more talented than Davido? No, because good songwriting is not the only metric for judging a talent in a music artist.
If those artists released those songs on their own, they might not achieve the success Davido did with the songs, because good songwriting skills are not the only determinant of a hit song. Most, if not all, will keep reaping from the success of the song for life because they are added to the Split Sheet.
So what is a Split Sheet?
A split sheet is a document used in the music industry to outline and formalize the ownership and distribution of royalties for a song among its creators. It includes details such as the percentage of ownership each performing artist, composer (songwriter and producers) and other entities holds, their respective contributions to the song, and how royalties will be divided.
If there is no pre agreement, producers have around 5% in a musical recording by default. However, if a producer contributes to the song's lyrical content, their ownership percentage will increase which is subject to negotiation.
Moreover, if there are additional production elements such as live instrumentation (e.g., guitar, α»ja, saxophone) the producer will share his own default percentage with people involved.
Beyond songwriters and producers, split sheets may also list entities like record labels (holding master rights), executive producers, and talent managers, whose shares are determined by a standing clause in the artist contract or by pre agreement before recording begins.
If you're good with songwriting but don't have enough funds to record and market your music, source for a more relevant artists, agree to a split sheet deal with them, and that might be the beginning of your stardom.
If you have any questions relating to Split Sheets and songwriting, drop them in the comments. I'll be there to answer.
