Should Digital Tracks Contain Credits for the Creators? Sign the Petition!

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August 27, 2012{ 4 Comments }

Screen shot 2012 08 27 at 9.22.25 AM Should Digital Tracks Contain Credits for the Creators? Sign the Petition!Once upon a time we had liner notes. We could flip through the album credits to see who created a beat, played a guitar solo, sang background vocals, etc.

Those discoveries could lead us down new listening paths. “Oh, I’m gonna check out some other stuff from them!”

But no longer. Now you download an MP3—it might as well have been created by one person (the artist whose name is on the file), because everyone else involved in the making of that music remains a mystery.

Do you think digital tracks should include the credits for the players, writers, producers, and engineers who created the music? [I'm gonna go ahead and guess that you're saying yes].

So do the people at the Grammys, and they’re launching a campaign called “Give Fans the Credit” that seeks to do just that.

Sign the petition HERE. 

Check out the press release HERE.

Has the lack of creative credit on MP3s shaped the current music industry? If credits are embedded in digital tracks, what effect will that have on music consumption? Let us know in the comments section below.

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  • http://twitter.com/RileyDupri Riley Dupri

    Absolutely. Its a shame many singers and performers receive all the credit for their great music, while anyone involved in the making of music, thats just as important, is neglectted. The primary artist is rarely the only one these days. Sometimes i’ll mention a great producer or supporting musician involved in a song of mine or someone else’s and people will get so perplexed. Its shocking that SO many people just dont grasp the concept of music’s creative process. The lack of complete album credits is partly to blame.

  • Richard

    I’d go one further and demand the return of booklets – or the digital equivalent of. iTunes LP sometimes goes part of the way but the overriding impression is of exactly that – LESS, not MORE information. How long will it be before artwork is no longer required too?

  • http://diymusician.cdbaby.com/author-chris-robley Christopher Robley

    Good point. Hopefully people leave credits in the notes section of YouTube and Vimeo.

  • Cee

    if not imbeded in the file, a text file with the info. should come with the download.