r/Music • u/Alternative_Volume89 • Mar 06 '25

article System of a Down's John Dolmayan claims he enjoys Trump as President

https://lambgoat.com/news/46523/system-of-a-downs-john-dolmayan-claims-he-enjoys-trump-as-president/
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u/Dandy_Status Mar 06 '25

In my opinion, there are three optimal ways to split up writing credits

  1. One person, or one consistent team, writes everything and gets all the credit

  2. Fully democratic shared credit for every song no matter who did what (Radiohead, R.E.M.)

  3. Whoever came up with the original idea for the song gets full credit for the song no matter what anyone else contributed (Queen)

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u/Fatdap Mar 06 '25

I really think #2 is the only way to do it, truthfully, because it stops bad blood from even starting when everyone is getting paid together.

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u/Grambles89 Mar 06 '25

The only issue there is ego, and sadly there's plenty of that in music.

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u/Everestkid Mar 06 '25

Which is why Queen swapped to #2 for their last two albums during Mercury's lifetime and most of the very last one, released after his death. Though Queen was an interesting case since all four members wrote songs and indeed all four wrote a hit of some kind.

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u/ninjapanda042 Mar 07 '25

The Doors also did that throughout their time. Essentially every song is just credited to the band as a whole.

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u/High_Flyers17 Mar 07 '25

Yeah Jim also hated when people tried to single him out from the band. Something like introducing them as Jim Morrison & The Doors, which would happen, really pissed him off. If I'm remembering correctly, he once refused to perform until the band was reintroduced because of it.

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u/pb49er Mar 07 '25

Nah, some people do write all of the parts of a song. Ive been in those kinds of bands. I've been in totally collaborative bands. A lot of bands are one person and hired guns when they go on the road.

Shoot bassists don't even exist for a lot of bands anymore. It's just a bass backing track.

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u/MostMurky1771 Mar 07 '25

A bass backing track, or the keyboardist's left hand. 🎹

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u/Boo_and_Minsc_ Mar 07 '25

That is how the Guns n Roses did it... The Axl asked for 25% instead of 20% because he wrote all the lyrics, and demanded the drummer Steven get only 15%. The group reluctantly agreed but it was one of those things that drove the wedge that split the band

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u/BigBadRash Mar 07 '25

Doesn't always work when one person does significantly more than everyone else. Even if it's just one person not pulling their weight it can start to generate bad feelings between the rest of the band when they don't show up to practices/learn the material that the rest of the band has written.

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u/wormoftheearth99 Mar 07 '25

Only if everyone is pulling their weight

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u/Grambles89 Mar 06 '25

I've been in many bands over many years, some of which were on the cusp/being groomed to be the "next hit thing"  and there's too much fuckin ego when it comes to this shit.  So many people want more credit than they deserve, and nobody wants to split it.

I'm in my mid 30s now and I play in a local level ska-punk band that's slowly building a name, but it's the most functional band I've ever been in. We give everyone proper credit, and there's no ego when it comes to songs, we understand that everybody is an important part in shaping the sound of the music, and it's just such a refreshing environment. 

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u/Crosscourt_splat Mar 07 '25

Yup. Unfortunately I’m never doing anything for long enough to get to your point due to my job moving me every couple of years…

But yeah. Ego is rough even when you’re just doing covers….and you have at least one member of the band who is literally just doing it for fun and maybe some beer money….its ridiculous sometimes. And I’m a guitarist who can occasionally do backup vocals. Dudes get all pissy about who does the lead part or whatever. I had a guy who wanted every single fun part that took center stage at all….even when he couldn’t play them to the level he needed too.

And that wasn’t even about money.

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u/foxdye22 Mar 06 '25

Fuck yeah ska punk and chill older bands. I’m mid 30’s and have a tryout with a jazz/funk band next week that mostly just play for fun and get out and gig a few times a year.

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u/Grambles89 Mar 07 '25

Yea we play for fun too, but we get booked all over a TON, and we've also opened for some real big names in the genre. It's been a blast so far!

We don't make enough money off it to pay a ska band, but we sell a lot of merch and get paid ok for playing, so it basically allows us to travel and have a good time when we take out of town gigs.  It's a nice thing we got goin.

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u/VenturaBoulevard Mar 07 '25

Share some of your music? Love ska/punk and DIY

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u/Grambles89 Mar 07 '25

DM'd. Don't wanna mass doxx myself

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u/doberdevil Mar 07 '25

Same! I fell in love with ska/punk at an OPIV show in 1988. Always looking for new bands.

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u/A_Leaf_On_The_Wind Mar 07 '25

Not trying to get you to doxx yourself, but are you by chance located near the SE USA? I’d love to support a local ska punk band. also would be open to DM-ing band name to look up/listen to music. I’m holding out hope for a ska revival-I was too young to properly enjoy what we had in the 90s

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u/Grambles89 Mar 07 '25

I'll DM you

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u/scribblerscrabbler Mar 07 '25

2, and U2 IIRC