No the subject of this thread is not spam… even though it’s misleading.

 

I know there was a discussion on this forum a long time ago which I can’t find or remember the name of, where it was discussed about the various ways songs are tagged and shared credits are given on songs, but I couldn’t remember the reasons why so many variations exist and why they are all different.

 

So can someone explain/define the differences between these examples of shared credits below;

Disclosure x RAYE – Waterfall

 

Becky Hill & Galantis – Run

 

Avicii vs. Nicky Romero – I Could Be The One

 

Jax Jones feat. MNEK – Where Did You Go?

 

Swedish House Mafia with The Weeknd – Moth To A Flame

 

Jax Jones & Martin Solveig pts. Europa – All Day & Night

 

There’s also times when credits appear to be duplicated when two artists create a project (e.g. Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak & Silk Sonic / Silk City, Mark Ronson & Diplo).

 

I just feel like it changes so often depending on the artists and it always confuses me what the difference is between the various separating symbols. :mellow:

I miss single credits tbh.

I read an interview a while ago with someone who works at a record label about the differences in credits, particularly the difference between & and feat. I assume feat. is generally the go-to for a typical collaboration, where one artist is the "lead" and the song is for their album campaign, while the other artist is guesting on their song. The lines have blurred in the age of streaming, where an & credit allows for more visibility on Spotify. For example, take Aitch & Ashanti's Baby. Because of the co-lead credit, Baby appears as Ashanti's "latest release" at the top of her Spotify as well as on Aitch's. Meanwhile, Luude and Colin Hay's Down Under does not have the same visibility on the latter's Spotify as Colin Hay is only a featured artist. It's generally more of a thing when the guest artist is a big name in themselves - Ashanti would naturally create more interest (and a wider, surely more international audience) for Aitch's song, whereas Colin Hay's Spotify probably won't make much of a difference either way. Other recent examples could be Dave & Stormzy's Clash and The Kid LAROI & Justin Bieber's STAY - both songs appear on albums or projects by the former artists, but the latter artists are big names too and the & credit means the song will have appeared more prominently on their Spotify pages too (likewise for Apple). This isn't a blanket rule but I assume it's something the labels negotiate into contracts when the collaboration is coming about.

 

It's a similar case for the Silk Sonic tracks with Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak being credited separately with their group name - it's just a visibility and exposure thing I expect. As for the x, vs, pts credits, I assume that's just a stylisation thing that artists will choose to use if they want to. Ultimately I don't think it matters too much but I'll generally go by what the credit is on Apple Music / iTunes (and this is what I use for the chart show thread).

I think with 95% of collaborations like these it's clear who the lead artist is and I consider the others as the features.

 

There are the odd exceptions such as Señorita from Shawn and Camila where the joint lead makes sense imo.

I used to always think x and vs. was the same sort of thing where each artist is jostling for more song prominence, but when it comes to vocalists, like RAYE in the example I mentioned, why isn’t she just a feat. if the song is part of Disclosure’s new era?

I used to always think x and vs. was the same sort of thing where each artist is jostling for more song prominence, but when it comes to vocalists, like RAYE in the example I mentioned, why isn’t she just a feat. if the song is part of Disclosure’s new era?

One of my favourite uses of the "vs" credit was Sugababes and Girls Aloud's Walk This Way, where they very much were rivals of each other in the song's music video. A great package even if the song isn't the best of either group's discography. As for the Disclosure/RAYE song, I assume it's just personal choice for Disclosure!

perhaps this should be a separate topic but I’ve also noticed a lot of confusion and inconsistency regarding credits which makes the lines even more blurred.

 

for example Make Me Feel Good, Apple Music credits to Belters Only & Jazzy. However the cover art only credits Belters Only, and on YouTube Jazzy is clearly listed as the featured artist.

 

so for one song a secondary artist could feasibly be the feature or the joint lead, depending on what source you’re going by. a very minor thing to be annoyed by sure but nonetheless I’d appreciate some more consistency..

Jax Jones & Martin Solveig pts. Europa – All Day & Night

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I think this was deliberately early 00s referencing, there were quite a few presents or pts credits back then iirc, the most well known being XTM & DJ Chuckie Presents Annia - Fly On The Wings Of Love and M&S Presents The Girl Next Door - Salsoul Nugget.

 

'X' on the other hand only started appearing in the 2010s I think?

Edited March 26, 20223 yr by TheSnake

I used to always think x and vs. was the same sort of thing where each artist is jostling for more song prominence, but when it comes to vocalists, like RAYE in the example I mentioned, why isn’t she just a feat. if the song is part of Disclosure’s new era?

 

The early history of 'vs' seems to be associated a lot with dance remixes, eg. Run DMC vs Jason Nevins - It's Like That (any songs earlier than that with 'vs'?)

Yes I believe you’re right Snake, vs. seems to have come about in the late 90’s, but I could be mistaken.

 

When was the first notable feat. I wonder, seeing as that has been around the longest, maybe since the mid-70’s?

 

Another minor annoyance like Dan is the inconsistency of the x/X reference, which on some album covers is capitalised and others not! :lol:

Using the back cover of the latest Now compilation, Now 111 (due for release in a couple of weeks), there are many inconsistencies that annoy me.

 

 

I also don’t like how they’ve listed CD1 Track 4 by simply separating the two credited artists by just a comma. :mellow:

 

Also, further to my earlier point…

 

CD1 has Coldplay X Selena Gomez

CD2 has Regard x Years & Years

 

This happens a lot and it irritates me. :lol:

Does anyone else remember the whole “Avicii / Leona Lewis” back and forth regarding Collide.

 

Tbh I quite like “/“. I use to standardise multiple artist listings.

When was the first notable feat. I wonder, seeing as that has been around the longest, maybe since the mid-70’s?

 

Well I found Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree by Dawn featuring Tony Orlando from 1973 which was a UK #1. I don't know if there was any earlier feat. or featuring on the chart?

Spotify does seem to be a fan of the comma separation which admittedly works for their platform, it's all always been marketing anyhow. Of course, you won't see that catching on in conversation because there's no good way to say it.

I've always found the distinction to be nebulous anyway, one song's feat. could be a show stealing moment, another could be an artist just saying hi. Insert something about DJ Khaled here. Then you get all those messy cases like Bebe Rexha initially having her name not on "Hey Mama" because it made for too much clutter or that twit over here who still refuses to credit the singer so he can be sole auteur of his clout chasing cover of "Dreams". And that's to say nothing of the swathes of chart historians who use these technicalities to discredit contributions like 'oh they haven't had an actual hit, only features'. If they're on the song, they're on the song, simple.

I prepare songs for an internet radio playlist and I'm never sure which one to use on which song so I just stick with the Spotify format of separating all artists by commas

I think this was deliberately early 00s referencing, there were quite a few presents or pts credits back then iirc, the most well known being XTM & DJ Chuckie Presents Annia - Fly On The Wings Of Love and M&S Presents The Girl Next Door - Salsoul Nugget.

Going by Polyhex, there's actually an isolated example of a presents much, much earlier than that - 'Samantha' by Lonnie Donegan presents Kenny Ball And His Jazzmen, which was 1961! But other than that, it was the late 80s when presents started becoming a popular way of crediting.

 

Another of my favourites which hasn't been mentioned is introducing - the earliest example I can find of this is 'C'mon And Get My Love' which is billed as D Mob introducing Cathy Dennis, which was in 1989. There was also Quartz introducing Dina Carroll on 'It's Too Late' which is 1991 (Polyhex doesn't agree on that one but it definitely says introducing on the cover of the single).

Yes I believe you’re right Snake, vs. seems to have come about in the late 90’s, but I could be mistaken.

 

I looked on polyhex and vs starts in 1990 with MC Tunes Vs 808 State - The Only Rhyme That Bites but doesn't get that popular until the late 90s

Another of my favourites which hasn't been mentioned is introducing - the earliest example I can find of this is 'C'mon And Get My Love' which is billed as D Mob introducing Cathy Dennis, which was in 1989. There was also Quartz introducing Dina Carroll on 'It's Too Late' which is 1991 (Polyhex doesn't agree on that one but it definitely says introducing on the cover of the single).

I'd forgotten about this one, does it get used anymore?

Wasn’t Why Do Fools Fall in Love an early “featuring” #1?

 

I also loved “Run DMC Versus Jason Nevins” lolol

Its very hard to look up x on Polyhex but the earliest I think I can find is Oliver Heldens x Becky Hill - Gecko (Overdrive) from 2014, are there any earlier songs with x I wonder?