K-pop credits: songwriters, lyricists and producers

To find out who wrote, composed or produced a K-pop song, start with the credits attached to the release, copy the names exactly, and then search for the work in KOMCA’s public database. Compare titles, contributors and identifiers, but treat differences as leads to verify—not as proof of an error, omitted authorship or royalty splits. Platforms display metadata supplied by different participants in the music chain, and the information may be incomplete.

What question should the credit answer?

First, define what you want to confirm. “Who made the song?” could mean who wrote the lyrics, created the composition, worked on the sound production or appears as the recording artist. These roles are not interchangeable, and a name listed for one should not automatically be assigned to another.

Create a simple record containing the title, artist, album or single, version, and the spelling of every contributor. Also note where each detail appeared and the date you checked it. This prevents confusion between an original track and a remix, instrumental, adaptation in another language or video that merely uses the music.

Start with the release, but preserve the spelling

Open the information available in the service where you found the track and transcribe the credits without “correcting” names. Initials, name order, spaces, hyphens, romanizations and stage names may vary. Keep the original spelling beside any variant found later.

In Apple Music, the official Mac guide says users can search by song, artist, album or lyrics, and warns that not all features and content are available in every country or region. The reviewed page does not provide a credit-checking procedure, so it can help locate a release but cannot support an authorship attribution on its own.

If you check Spotify or another app, rely only on what is actually visible in your version and territory. Interfaces and fields can change; verify current conditions through the service’s official support. Without reviewed documentation explaining those fields, do not assume the list is complete.

Use YouTube as a second layer

Some video descriptions contain a “Music” section. According to YouTube Help, it may display the song and artist names and is automatically added to certain videos, including those claimed through copyright-management tools such as Content ID or those containing music from the YouTube Audio Library.

The section’s absence does not demonstrate that no record exists. YouTube itself lists possible reasons such as insufficient data from the copyright owner, music that has not yet been identified, a recent claim or a video marked as made for kids. For videos containing many songs, information about the first ten appears. A missing credit there therefore does not justify concluding that somebody did not contribute to the work.

The platform also advises labels, distributors, publishers or collection societies to provide accurate metadata. The identifiers it mentions include ISRCs, ISWCs, UPCs and ISNIs. They can help distinguish people, works, recordings and releases that have similar names or titles.

Search for the work in KOMCA

The Korea Music Copyright Association’s English public search provides a “Searching Works” area. Search manually and observe the notice on the page, which prohibits automated tools from being used against works managed by the association.

Begin with the title exactly as it appears on the release. If there is no clear result, try a romanization variant or the name of a contributor you have already confirmed. When you find a possible entry, compare every available element rather than accepting a title match alone. Different songs can have identical or similar titles.

Record the result and preserve any displayed codes. An identifier is more useful for reconciling records than “normalizing” names by intuition. The search must not, however, be turned into a payment calculation: the reviewed materials do not provide contractual percentages or authorize royalty splits to be inferred from name order.

Why names may not match

A discrepancy may result from romanization, a stage name, an abbreviation, an update not yet reflected on another platform or incomplete metadata. YouTube acknowledges that its section may contain missing or incorrect information and directs artists and songwriters to verify what metadata managers submitted.

Build a table with one column for each source and another for identifiers. Do not merge two spellings simply because they look alike. Do not automatically treat two spellings as separate people either. The responsible conclusion is: “The sources display variants that require confirmation,” followed by the links and access date.

What you can conclude

When the same contributor, role and identifier appear compatibly in more than one source, the documentary match is stronger. If only the name matches, say exactly that. If roles conflict, preserve both versions with attribution to their respective sources and seek confirmation from the label, distributor, publisher, collection society or official release material.

This method answers who is credited without turning gaps into accusations. It also separates three questions: who contributed to the work, who appears in a recording’s metadata, and how rights or revenue are administered. The available sources mainly help with the first two; they do not disclose private contracts.

Discover Becoartes

For more coverage of music and culture, discover Becoartes at Rua Gonçalo Afonso, 99, Vila Madalena, São Paulo.