An A type of creator who alters a pre-existing musical work, changing, for example, tempo, harmony, instrumentation, and orchestration. takes an existing A collection of notes, melodies, chords, rhythms, arrangements, instrumentation, and more, excluding lyrics. and creates a complete An alteration of a pre-existing musical work that may incorporate changes to, for example, tempo, harmony, instrumentation, and orchestration. of a An original musical composition with or without lyrics. for performance or recording.
One of the most common genres in which arrangers play a key role is classical music. Here, they adapt the work of A composer creates the melodies, chord progressions and other elements of a musical work other than the lyrics. to create their own unique Any form of modification or alteration of a musical work or sound recording to create a new musical work or sound recording of that work. They do this, for example, by adding additional layers of, or rearranging, The selection and combination of musical instruments. or creating musical transitions.
Arrangers may also create The musical notes, scores, bars, text, annotations, and lyrics written or printed documenting a musical work. It may also include instructions about how the musical work should be performed. used for a performance or recording of a musical work.
There are also arrangers in other genres, like pop music, who can work with or without the A person who makes an original contribution to the creation of a musical composition or lyrics., depending on whether they are part of creating a new The term "song" does not have a legal definition. It is frequently used to mean "musical work” – the composition and lyrics (if any) created by songwriters and composers. However, it could also refer to a “sound recording” (a specific recording of a musical work), or a “performance” (a live performance of a musical work). or they are arranging an already existing one.
Copyright ownership for arrangers
If you are an arranger who makes an A creative contribution to a musical work that is sufficiently distinct from any pre-existing musical work contribution to the musical work, you can end up having as much impact as the composer, A type of creator that writes the words of a musical work. or Sometimes called a studio producer or record producer, a person who typically helps a recording artist record a musical work. They are usually responsible for the entire recording process.. Arrangers often receive a fee for their contribution instead of being recognized as co-authors. In this case, they will not receive any Money paid for the right to use a musical work, performance, or sound recording, typically, but not always, in the form of recurring payments. for that contribution. Under National laws that protect creators' and other rights holders' moral and economic rights in musical works, performances, and sound recordings., the composer and A company that represents songwriters, supporting their career development, monetizing musical works, and protecting copyrights. then own the The controls creators or rights holders have over what they have created or produced and over their identity and image. to the notes an arranger writes.
In other cases, when arrangers make an original contribution, they can qualify as a co-author of a new musical work or as the author of a A new work based on a pre-existing work. in the form of an arrangement of a pre-existing musical work.
Arrangers that have multiple creative roles
If you are an arranger, you might also have additional roles when writing or recording a musical work, in which case you might also have additional shares in the ownership of that musical work and the Typically, the recorded performance of a musical work protected as a phonogram under copyright law..
Find out more about how this works in the Recording topic. To understand authors' rights in more detail, visit the Music Creators’ Rights topic.
Image credit: Martin Dam Kristensen