So i've been working on this fantasy/adventure/romance/fiction/awesome novel for the past year, and i'm nearing the end of the book, and i just have a question for anybody who knows anything about novel writing. So I'm at this part where this guy's at a dance with this girl and I want the reader to know what song is playing in the background. I've read a lot that it's okay to include the title of the song as long as I don't include the lyrics, but does anybody know if it'd be okay to include the SINGER of the song??? Example: As Ulrich led her to the dance floor, he recognized the song "Eyes on Me" playing in the background. That's how I have it now But can/should I do it like this: As Ulrich led her to the dance floor, he recognized the song "Eyes on Me" being song by Faye Wong. or something like that..... Any suggestions? I'm thinking about just leaving the song title now that i've actually written it out and i see how it looks...
I don't know much about novel writing but if you think it's important for the readers to know what song you're referring then I'd say, yes include the singer (I personally don't know this song). If you think saying ["Eyes on me" sung by Faye Wong] is too much of a mouthful you could make one of the characters point it out in a dialogue (if there's one) like "hey, that's Faye Wong!" or something... I dunno.
For me personally, I'd probably have just written: a song called 'Eyes on Me.' I like Fisnou's suggestion about putting it into dialogue. Or another thing you could do is write something like: As Ulrich led her to the dance floor he could hear the voice of Faye Wong singing in the background (I don't know what style she sings, but maybe replace the word 'singing' with something a bit more appropriate to her style?) That may mean not including the song title though. Just a few ideas. You're definitely right not to include lyrics though (That pisses me off to no end when people do).
The point of the limitations on lyric inclusion and such is a matter of copyright; quotes including lyrics can actually be included, in many cases, if credit is given; this is especially true for poetry. There should not be any more restrictions on naming an artist in a fictional work based in this world than on, say, declaring Obama president of the US in the same work. In other words, you should be good
Readers relate better if you include only information which is ecessary for them to imagine the details for themselves. I wouldn't include more than the song title, but even that is too much unless the song has an obvious significance to one of the characters.
