[x] Inheriting members

scott makes a good point which would be usefully ruled on.

REM contributed 2 songs to a soundtrack. On one they 'collaborated' and this is credited as 'REM, Andy and Tony'. This becomes a unit under our rules - that much is clear. It appears that it may only be Michael Stipe who appears on that track from REM. However, this was one of 2 tracks they did specifically for the OST. The question then - does the appearance of one other song on the OST sufficiently protect REM - or does REM now have a 1-man Stipe only line-up?

My view - there was no intention to create a separate sub-group and the fact that there was another track should allow Mills & Buck in - but then that would make them members of a 'band' (REM, Andy, Tony) they never played in.

Is this a weakness in collapsing all those collabs? It would be easier to 'protect' REM as a group if their identity weren't lost through the amalgamation.

Given that REM, Andy And Tony is a single unit band, we do not risk creating a fake REM lineup by crediting only those members who actually appeared on the recording. Buck and Mills should not appear in a band called REM, Andy And Tony if they were not in it. Obviously they can/should appear in a separate entry for the REM tracks that are on the album because REM is a different band.

I agree we do not risk anything much by excluding Buck & Mills and I'm happy to accede. But I do think we are putting our rules in places where the artists didn't intend them and which then create false histories. We are allowing our rules supersede the artist's intent. REM (as a 3 man unit) were working on this project, creating songs; a single song only required vocals but also had the added involvement of Carrey's alter-egos. We even have the evidence of REM's full involvement through other tracks on the project. But we then decide, because we have come up with a way of recording 'REM, Andy and Tony' that is entirely to do with us codifying line-ups, that only Stipe is eligible. Interestingly, if Andy and Tony had separate tracks on this album - that would then make it a 3-way collab and REM, since they worked the album as a unit, would revert to a 3-piece for all the songs on the album. The fact that the 'REM' element of the line-up (and I accept that 'REM Andy Tony' is a unit and therefore never will we say that REM = Stipe alone but we will certainly imply it) is dependent on the prior recordings of Andy and Tony seems to me to dig at a difficulty, or perhaps a flaw, in our logic.