History Main / MisattributedSong

* The ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' series has many of its vocal themes performed by the rock band Crush 40 (the group's guitarist, Jun Senoue, is one of the series' main composers). Because of this, some songs that are done by different performers (such as both versions of "It Doesn't Matter" or "Escape from the City") are sometimes mistakenly credited to them. "This Machine" from ''VideoGame/SonicHeroes'' has also been credited to Crush 40, even though it doesn't sound anything like them. It's Music/JulienK.

* Pick any Music/{{Vocaloid}} song. Chances are that it's been attributed to the singer(s) more often than the actual songwriter. (For example: "Rolling Girl" is by ''wowaka'', not Miku.)

* For a time Music/{{Devo}} seemed to get pretty much ''any'' synth-heavy [[TheEighties Eighties]] OneHitWonder attached to them.

** Similarly, "Rush Rush" from ''Film/Scarface1983'' and ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIII'' is not by Music/{{Blondie}}, but Debbie Harry collaborating with Moroder.

* In the early years of [=P2P=] networks, a lot of novelty songs that are uploaded are for some reason credited to Creator/DrDemento, just because they've received airplay on his show. Notably, "Monster Mash" is often credited to the doctor even when it's by Bobby Pickett. Likewise, "Boot to the Head" is by The Frantics. Thankfully, this is starting to die out with the advent of song identification software like Shazam and Midomi/Soundhound.

* The 1969 cover of Etta James's "I'd Rather Go Blind" that made the British charts is not by Music/FleetwoodMac, but by Chicken Shack, the band Christine McVie (then known as Christine Perfect) had played in before joining Fleetwood Mac. The fact that the track appeared on the 2002 complation ''The Best of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac'' compilation doesn't exactly help matters. It's also not a Christine solo track, as the same song appeared on Christine's first solo album.

* UsefulNotes/HenryVIII of England is the [[IncrediblyLamePun king of this trope]] and possible UrExample. Henry VIII didn't write ''nearly'' as many songs and tunes as have been ascribed to him. He was a notable musician and composer of his time, and while a lot of this notability did stem from him being one of the most influential and recognisable English kings, he did write some songs and tunes that were well-regarded on their own merits. But not every Tudorbethan or late medieval ditty whose author is uncertain can actually be attributed to him, even though that is exactly what people have been doing ever since he was ''crowned''. Best known examples are "Greensleeves" and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas", both of which music historians are now pretty sure he didn’t write.

* Neither "Back in My Life" nor "Will I Ever" are by the Vengaboys. They're both by fellow Dutch Eurodance act Alice Deejay. However, they were co-produced by Vengaboys founders Danski & Delmundo.

* That vocal remix of a VideoGame/{{Touhou}} theme? Could be Music/{{IOSYS}}, yes. Could also be Cool&Create, Innocent Key, Silver Forest, or any number of other Touhou doujin-music circles.

* "Blaze of Glory" was a solo song from Jon Bon Jovi, and not from [[Music/BonJovi the band that carries his name]]. He had it included it in the band's ''Greatest Hits'' compilation, though.

** [[https://twitter.com/riverscuomo/status/1075864148519649281?s=21 If one believes his Twitter]] Rivers Cuomo was at his kid's piano recital when they called [[Music/WeezerTheBlueAlbum “Say It Ain’t So”]] a Music/Blink182 song. Though whether this is a case of Misattributed Song or RefrainFromAssuming is debatable, as they very well could have been referring to "All the Small Things" which actually is by blink-182 and whose chorus opens with the phrase.

* Not every parody song is by Music/WeirdAlYankovic. (Bob Rivers and Music/RichardCheese are prime candidates; if it's country, Cledus T. Judd is most likely the actual performer.) Al addresses it in his [[http://www.weirdal.com/archives/faq FAQ]].

* "Battlesong" is sometimes credited to {{Music/Gorillaz}}, when it's really by Deltron 3030. However, there's a reason the song sounds somewhat similar to early Gorillaz: Two of the main members of Deltron 3030 are Dan the Automator, who produced the self-titled Gorillaz album, and Music/DelThaFunkeeHomosapien, who appeared on the Gorillaz songs "Clint Eastwood" and "Rock The House" from ''Music/Gorillaz|Album}}''. Actually, the strangest thing about this misattribution is that there are two Deltron 3030 songs that also feature Damon Albarn ("Time Keeps On Slippin'" and "What Is This Loneliness?"), so it would be a bit more logical to associate either of ''those'' songs with Gorillaz instead.

* Music/AphexTwin has never produced a ''VideoGame/{{Tetris}}'' remix. In general, he gets so many remixes or vaguely techno-sounding tracks attributed to him that Richard D. James once jokingly claimed his double album ''Drukqs'' consisted entirely of songs he downloaded from the internet that had been mislabeled as Aphex Twin. See also Glorious Subversions below.

* "Battlesong" is sometimes credited to {{Music/Gorillaz}}, when it's really by Deltron 3030. However, there's a reason the song sounds somewhat similar to early Gorillaz: Two of the main members of Deltron 3030 are Dan the Automator, who produced the self-titled Gorillaz album, and Music/DelThaFunkeeHomosapien, who appeared on the Gorillaz songs "Clint Eastwood" and "Rock The House" from ''[[Music/GorillazAlbum Gorillaz]]''. Actually, the strangest thing about this misattribution is that there are two Deltron 3030 songs that also feature Damon Albarn ("Time Keeps On Slippin'" and "What Is This Loneliness?"), so it would be a bit more logical to associate either of ''those'' songs with Gorillaz instead.

* Everybody knows Music/MickJagger is the lead singer of Music/TheRollingStones, but "Just Another Night" is him going solo.

** None of the many Lutheran chorale melodies attributed to [[Music/JohannSebastianBach Bach]] were actually written by him; he merely wrote harmony and counterpoint. However, Alban Berg's use of the chorale ''Es ist genug'' at the end of his ''Violin Concerto'' does count as a Bach quotation since it uses Bach's harmonization of the chorale in the last movement of the cantata ''O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort'' (BWV 60).

** And indeed, a couple months after the release of Generation X's recording, a remixed version served as Idolo's debut solo single.

** And indeed, a couple months after the release of Generation X's recording, Idol recorded his own solo version of the song as his first solo single.

* not every vaguely nu-metalish song with a hint of rapping and/or electronica belongs to Music/LinkinPark.

* Not every {{Reggae}} song is by Music/BobMarley. This seems to be a problem on Website/YouTube.