Who Gets Credit

Something I have never understood are credits for creating the arts.  Books are nice and simple.  X person wrote the book and Y did the illustrations.  Then Z came along and published it.  Nice, clean and simple.  Everyone knows where they stand and what piece of the pie they get at the end of the day.  Movies are all together another thing.  They often say “Based on the novel by X.”  I think they do that to remind people how simple the process was before they started.  I always watch Marvel movies to the end of the credits for the secret extra scene.  When you sit there and watch how many people are involved in making the movie it makes your head spin.  By the way, what is a ‘Best Boy’ anyway?  It sounds like a good job.  But why aren’t there ‘Best Girls’?  I’m sure there’s a story behind it that’s not nearly as entertaining as the ones I can think of for the title.  Getting back to point, it is amazing how many people get credit on a movie.  If someone ate a bagel in the corner on the set, he’s probably listed under ‘Bagel Eater’.  Music is still another animal.  They give less credit than is deserved.  You will like a song and it will give credit to one person for writing it.  So they’re saying that one person wrote the words, the drum piece, the guitar, the bass and the keyboards for that song?  Who is this guy?  He’d have to be a musical genius.  There are a few people who can actually do all that but I emphasize the word FEW.  Most of the time someone wrote the words and maybe a bit of the music.  Then a band filled in the rest of the song.  Why don’t they get any credit?  Think of all the songs with guitar solos and the guitarist is not listed in the credits.  Surely he wrote at least that piece.  Why does he not get credit for his labors?  Take the song, “November Rain” by Guns N Roses.  Axl Rose is given full credit for writing the song.  There are, however, 2 guitar solos within that were clearly written by their lead guitarist, Slash (I didn’t make up the names).  Even with a ‘thank you’ in the credits, his name is not listed as a writer and so his royalties will not be forthcoming.  Does that sound wrong to anyone else?  Music has different rules.  I’m glad I write books.  Everything else is too complicated.