pezar wrote:
Does Aerosmith own the rights to Dream On? People outside the US are frequently unaware that singers in the US have to sign over the rights to every song they write and/or sing to their music "label", the company that distributes the song. After the song's popularity has waned, record companies will sell the songs to another company.
I'm not so sure that's true. A record company (label) might own an arrangement (in this case, "Dream On", by Aerosmith), but they don't often own the WORDS, to a song. Writers KEEP that property, to make money for THEMSELVES----there are MILLIONS of song writers, who write songs, but never sing them; conversely, there are singers who don't write their songs.
It might even be THREE different properties: Arrangement, artist, words----and, maybe a FOURTH: music! (Sometimes, whomever writes the words, will also write the music, so they only get ONE fee, maybe.) A whole lotta people get paid, for just ONE record----that's why, on the Grammys, there's the category "Best Song" (words), and "Best Record" (arrangement).
I've heard Dolly Parton say, many times, that after writing / singing "I Will Always Love You", many people sang the song----she said that Whitney Houston sang it, the decade after Dolly wrote / sang it, and Dolly was hoping that someone would make it a hit, the NEXT decade, as well, cuz every time they did, it fattened her bank account. So, Dolly's arrangement might be owned by somebody else, and therefore, someone would have to pay whomever owns that RECORD----but, rest-assured, NOBODY BUT DOLLY owns those words, and she is a shrewd, intelligent, extremely successful business woman.
Kelly Pickler, for instance, though she's not NEAR the bankable star, that Dolly is, owns her own publishing company, as well, cuz she writes all of her stuff.
Another perfect example is "Happy Birthday" going to Public Domain, recently----a MILLION-and-one people have sung that song, and every time they did, they had to pay the WRITER (or, whomever owned the words----in this case, the person's estate, I think).
Some years ago, some company (can't remember which one) digitized a song of Dolly's (IIRC, it was "9 to 5"), and put it in a commercial----it was pulled immediately----I would bet, almost anything, that they hadn't payed for the rights, cuz they figured no one would make-out what song it was, cuz it was digitized (I knew what it was, IMMEDIATELY, and someone must've, also)!
Years later, whoever owns a song will license its use to a corporation to use in advertising a product. This has led to some embarrassing situations. A while back the owner of the Elvis hit song Viva Las Vegas allowed Pfizer Pharmaceuticals to use the song to advertise Viagra. So there were actors singing "Viva Viagra" on TV commercials. Elvis's heirs had no recourse, since they didn't own the song. Fan outrage led to Pfizer greatly scaling back use of the song.
Again, the arrangement (artist), and the WORDS, are different things / different properties. Pfizer had to pay the WRITER, for the use of that song----they had other people SING it. If they had wanted to use the arrangement (meaning, Elvis), they would've had to pay whomever owns it (the record). (Lisa Marie said she sold ALOT of those rights----that's why people are able to use more of his stuff, now [she said she would NEVER sell Graceland, though]). In-any-case, IIRC, Elvis didn't write that song.
In regard to the OP: Donald Trump has an ARMY of lawyers, so you can BET he payed for the rights, for that record----and, if Aerosmith doesn't like it, they can cry a RIVER, and it won't matter!
_________________
White female; age 59; diagnosed Aspie.
I use caps for emphasis----I'm NOT angry or shouting. I use caps like others use italics, underline, or bold.
"What we know is a drop; what we don't know, is an ocean." (Sir Isaac Newton)
12 Oct 2015, 6:18 pm
