Find The Light In The Beautiful Sea By Lyndal Salmon

Find light in the beautiful sea I choose to be happy You and I, you and I, we’re like diamonds in the sky You’re a shooting star I see, a vision of ecstasy When you hold me, I’m alive, we’re like diamonds in the sky

Diamonds by Rihanna

Hi Everyone, Lyndal Salmon here and I’d like to talk about some potentially icky topics.

Things like: What is Ghost Writing? How the hell do I know who made what? What responsibilities do we have when crediting co-creators or does none of that really matter anymore?

Let us revisit the lyrics above. Everyone loves this song by Rihanna; yes, even you (points accusing finger at reader).

The thing is Rihanna didn’t write it; SIA wrote it. Not only did SIA write it, SIA wrote it in 14mins!

Ghost writing is a practise that has been around for years, even Mozart was a Ghost-writer for other composers right up till his death! Ghost-writing usually describes words and lyrics created by an external talent but it has moved into art, commercial work, comics and now potentially the Hair World.

Ghost-writing causes huge flare ups in the HipHop world. HipHop was born out of suffering and oppression, the lyrics are the artists soul and the life stories they share “should” be their own lived experiences….. but when people hit the Big Time their focus changes to business, and their ability to connect to their roots fades.

So why and I telling you all this? Well, I guess I want to start the dialogue about our own industry. There’s been a huge shift to work shared online only. Live Hair comps are few and far between… so how do we really know who created that hair? Or does that not really matter anymore? Do established artists use up and comers to help them sail along and stay afloat? Or, are they providing incredible opportunities to young creatives that would otherwise never experience them?

Are people knowingly Ghost-writing for people forgoing all forms of recognition? Or, has the Hair Collection been a Collaboration?

Perhaps the way around this godawful topic is to just give credit where credit is due, communicate and connect better with our teams, and provide platforms for smaller voices to be louder and empowered. Are we grateful enough for our co-creators who bring our creative visions to fruition allowing us to kick goals, win awards and succeed in the industry?

I’ve always been of the opinion that lighting someone else’s candle won’t diminish your own flame, but maybe I’m just a dreamer.

To be the best, must we fly solo to the top?

Sounds pretty lonely and sad to me….

I spend a vast amount of time connecting with the Next Gen of our industry; the people so cool they don’t even know it yet!!

What I can share with you based on first-hand knowledge is that giving credit where credit is due goes much further than you think.

My last few provoking words are this:

Did I write this article myself or did one of my talented friends do it for me? You will never know…..