You’ve found out you love music, it’s your passion, you are consumed by it and it consumes you. You have a special way of relating to musicians and you might even be a musician yourself. You are considering managing your best friend’s band or approaching your favorite up and coming band to offer your services. But how do you begin? What will your rights and responsibilities be? And how will you get paid?

Getting started:

Creating mailing list is a good start (and try to get fans or potential fans to sign it at every gig). Help the band negotiate with merchandise manufacturers. Expand and build their social media presence, book appearances and gigs (where this is legal –some US jurisdictions forbid this unless manager hold a booking agent license), set up and work the merch booth and don’t forget to keep expanding that mailing list.

Radio and moving on to nearby cities and towns:

Contact local and regional radio stations and do your best to get them airplay. Get them added to Spotify, iTunes, Last.fm etc. Book them out of town and get to know all the venues and promoters in nearby cities and towns.

Once you have accomplished all of this and the band is starting to get noticed, hire a publicist and get them media attention. Then you may start getting interest from labels and producers.

Hire a good Lawyer to review and advice you on the incoming deals.

As you can see, your responsibilities as a manager are innumerable and you need to be flexible and have the patience of a saint.

How do you get paid and make money as a manager?

Managers get paid a commission on gross revenue (net revenue for live and merchandise income) and the industry standard is 10-25%. It is common to have 20% in the beginning and slide down to the 10% minimum as the artist’s success increases.

The rationale for this is that you won’t be making as much money in the beginning so you deserve a higher percentage for your hard work building up things. For example, if you generated a £1,000 from a deal during the early days your share would be £200 provided that you are working on a Gross basis. Down the road when you become an established Manager and you regularly accrue deals of £100,000 a 10% of that is a very nice income.

You will be earning on a number of deals you secure for your band including distribution, publishing, synchronisation, merchandise, live and even book publishing and acting (depending on the scope of your appointment in the management contract you have with your band).

What your responsibilities are:

Booking shows (either on your own or with the help of a booking agent), securing and negotiating publishing and recording deals, hiring publicists, keeping track of receipts and outgoings, arranging merchandise deals and coordinating recordings, marketing and publicity with record label, hiring and consulting with music industry lawyers.

Essentially you are the buffer between the band and the world as well as being the business affairs representative for your artist or band as the case may be.

What your requirements are:

1) An undying passion for music;

2) A well rounded knowledge of the music business;

3) Some knowledge of business and contracts;

4) To be extremely driven and motivated;

5) Excellent people skills (this is a relationships business and you would be surprised how the old adage “it’s not what you know but who you know and how much they like you” applies in this industry)

6) A good manager always has a good management agreement in place and their bands have a good band agreement. You can find some great management contracts and band agreement templates with explanatory breakdowns and after-purchase support here: www.MusicLawContracts.com

By: Juan Lopez (Legal Consultant) @AvenantLaw & Leon Luis (Publisher)

Image source: Mike Licht

You’ve been playing guitar for a while now and can sing a little. You have been sitting in your room writing songs and have played them to your friends and your band at rehearsals. Your friends love them and tell you they one day will be hits. Your band is keen to learn them and play them at your gigs.

Suddenly you remember you read somewhere that music is a business built on song-writing and you start wondering: 1) how does copyright work and where do I protect my music 2) Who do I need to get my music out there? How do royalties work and how do I get them?

Well, here are the answers:

1)    Copyright is an automatic right of the author. This means that as soon as you make a tangible copy (e.g. a recording of a song, or a transcript of some lyrics) you have copyright. Mere ideas or melodies in your head are not protected by copyright.

The common practice of posting a copy of your material to yourself has nothing to do with securing copyright but it establishes a date on which you created the work. If later on someone uses your material without permission you can prove you created it before them.

In the US, registering with the Copyright Office grants you certain legal advantages (which you would be missing out if you don’t register):

• Being able to collect compulsory license royalties;
• Being able to file infringement action for damages and injunctions and recover attorney fees (if you win the case) ;
• In the event of an infringement dispute in court the burden of proof is put on the party allegedly infringing your copyright.

So now that you have fixed your songs onto a CD and received your registration number (or dated copy) you can start making copies of them, licensing them to publishers or directly to content users and otherwise commercially exploit them.

2)    Publishers; who are they and what do they do?

A Publisher is music industry professional who does the following:

•  pitches your songs to record labels for their artists to sing and record;
• pitches your songs to Television, Films, Video Games and Advertising agencies;
• registers your songs with a PRO (Performance Rights Organization); in The U.S. these would include ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and in the UK it’s PRS (they are in charge of paying out royalties directly to you from broadcasts and your live performances); and
• works along side with publishers in other countries, called sub-publishers, to help collect your royalties from abroad.

The basis of your relationship with a publisher is the following: your job is to write songs, and to do it well; their job is to look after the business of making money off your songs.

3)    Royalties: Usually, you will receive 50 to 75% from all revenues generated from your songs. Publishers don’t get paid unless they place a song for you; so anyone calling themselves publishers wanting to charge you a fee for pitching your song is a red flag.

But what if you wrote the lyrics and your friend wrote the music?

You and your friend now share 50% / 50% ownership (or whatever percentage has been agreed) and you should have a Joint Song-writing agreement in writing to avoid any future problems and to keep everyone sweet.

A song is a bit like a pizza which you can slice so that you, your song-writing partner and your publisher can all have a piece.

Can I be my own publisher?     

Yes, as long as you are extremely well connected with record companies, television and film production companies, record producers, music libraries and advertising agencies; or have the time and dedication to start building contacts and relationships in the industry.

What do I need to be a professional song-writer?

Keep writing songs and making demos; some will be great while other not so much.

Most professional song writers are familiar with publishing agreements, songwriter agreements, song-writing agreements and production agreements.

By: Leon Luis (Publisher) & Juan Lopez (Legal Consultant) @AvenantLaw

[notice_box]For trusted Publishing contract templates please visit The Music Law Contracts website[/notice_box]

Image source: Mike Licht

If you are a member of PRS/MCPS you have access to the online database of all works this organisation is authorised to collect for. Each entry has a list of the composers (music) and authors (lyrics) along with their share of each royalty stream, plus the same for their publishers and sub-publishers, and also useful information such as whether the work is active (royalty yielding) or not and whether the writers are members of PRS/MCPS, another society, or a non member.

It is important for you to register your new works using this portal using your CAE (9 digit number). If you have written a song with other writers you must also enter their information. If any writers are not members of a collection society it is also important you still include them with their shares and you can enter their names and addresses.

You will be asked to put in other information such as alternative titles, track length, whether it is for an audio visual production. If the work is active (released, screened, played on radio) you will be asked for details so PRS can effectively track the work and collect royalties on your behalf.

If the work has not been released you can also request to be notified before a label attempts to release it in the process known as ‘MCPS 1st License Referral’. This is a useful tool to make sure you are notified of the release of your work by another party, and has proven effective by me personally in a situation where I was writing with someone who was signed to a label and I had a disagreement with his new manager over my share of the works. It turned out the label was going ahead with a worldwide release on CD and vinyl. I had asked MCPS for 1st License Referral and was notified directly that a license had been requested by the label. I was then in a much stronger position to negotiate as my consent was required for the release to go ahead. To use this service in similar circumstances members have to notify MCPS via email (flr@mcps.co.uk), using the first licence referral form downloadable from the site.

Once PRS/MCPS has accepted your registration they issue the all important Tunecode, the 7-10 digit code, sometimes including letters, which identifies your work amongst the millions of others handled by PRS. This allows you to track usage of your work faster than searching by title as some titles run to 100’s of numbers!

Guest article by: Matthew Mars

Independent publisher: +Added Music; tw: @added_music 

Programme Manager: CM Sounds; tw: @cmsounds

The Manager/Artist relationship can be one of the closest and most important in the career of a musician. Managers are the ones who do the legwork, handling the day-to-day business side of an artist’s enterprise with A&R representatives, producers and agents amongst others, in order for the artist to focus on being creative.

It is a business relationship, so all parties need to be sure that this arrangement is the best thing for everyone. You need to be sure of who you are choosing to enter this relationship with. They are going to be giving you advice, they will be your face and voice to much of the industry. You need to be able to trust them implicitly. Once you have decided on this course, here are some tips as to what to look out for in the management contract.

5. Act on your behalf: The contract will empower the manager to act on your behalf in situations such as advertising and executing agreements. The manager will often consult the musicians about these agreements.

6. Artist’s duties: The artist too must perform their role reasonably and to their best potential. It is the manager’s reputation on the line here too, so if you cancel a gig suddenly for no good reason, perform badly because the group is drunk and continue to act without regard to the agreement, the manager could drop you. Managers will generally work very hard for an artist if they feel the artist is as committed to success as they are. A band cannot claim they are not receiving enough money if they turn down a lot of the ventures the manager brings to them. Sometimes, a contract will specify that the judgement of the performance of the manager must include the potential income from ventures and offers turned down by the band.

7. The Money: A manager is paid on a commission rate of usually around 15-20 % of your gross income. This percentage rate can vary, the manager will argue the risk of taking on a new band which may have a limited following and the extra investment required for launching the act to increase the percentage stake. These are valid considerations but artists should be very cautious of anything over 25%.

It is important to note that this compensation rate for live booking and merchandise is often taken from the Net Income. This means after all the additional expenses are taken from the fee, the manager will receive their amount. An example is a fee of for an appearance and the band may have expenses for food and hotels of. Managers commission of 20% will be charged after the expenses (£200) are taken from gross income (£1000) giving the manager £160 and the band £640 to be divided between the members.

If an artist signs a separate deal with a company the management owns, such as a publishing or record contract, management will not be entitled to the commission on such deals as this would constitute ‘double-dipping’. For example, they cannot get the percentage of royalties from the recordings made with the management’s record company then get a commission from your share of the royalties from that record deal.

8. Reductions, expenses and exclusions: The arrangement can be modified for net income commission on certain things, such as touring, in order to get the manager to keep costs down. Additionally, an agreement could be modified to include capping, agreements as to no commission on failed tours etc.

The commissionable income is usually subject to a number of exclusions and deductions in order to make the arrangement fair and successful. Investment income and tour support funding are examples of money to be excluded from the commission. Paying record producers, legal fees, merchandise production are examples of money to be deducted from the commission.  All these costs will require proof as will any expenses management will seek to obtain back from the bands income.

9. Sunset Clause: This clause put a final closing date on the arrangement between the Artist and Management if the contract is terminated through the usual requirements. It usually specifies a gradual phasing out of commissions and revenues. For example, 15% until the 3^rd anniversary of the termination, 5% from the 3^rd anniversary until the 5^th anniversary of termination. These amounts will only be paid from contracts and arrangements substantially organised by the manager or entered into by the artist during the term of representation. Management are entitled to get this money due to the effort they put in to help the artist.

Artist need to be fully aware as to these dates to determine when they will have full access to their income streams, perhaps for new management. The main thing to be wary of is records and publishing deals. Be sure there is a final cut-off date, when the commission period ends completely.

10. Termination: In most instances, the contract will continue until notice in writing is given following the term as to terminate the relationship. If the manager is not properly fulfilling their duties, you should be able to terminate through failure to carry out required duties but this can be hard to prove. If a member of the band decides to leave, often the management team has the option to terminate the contract, with the sunset clause and other rights to be unaffected.

This is an important agreement not to be taken lightly, many careers have been made and lost under poor management and many court battles waged over such contracts. Remember, once you sign the agreement all parties need to abide by the terms and conditions. Good luck!

By: Julia Bell

Edited by Juan David Lopez, Legal Consultant

Image source: Yale Law Library

[notice_box]For a trusted Artist Management Contract template please visit The Music Law Contracts website.[/notice_box]

The Manager/Artist relationship can be one of the closest and most important in the career of a musician. Managers are the ones who do the legwork, handling the day-to-day business side of an artist’s enterprise with A&R representatives, producers and agents amongst others, in order for the artist to focus on being creative.

It is a business relationship, so all parties need to be sure that this arrangement is the best thing for everyone. You need to be sure of who you are choosing to enter this relationship with. They are going to be giving you advice, they will be your face and voice to much of the industry. You need to be able to trust them implicitly. Once you have decided on this course, here are some tips as to what to look out for in the management contract.

1. Jointly and severally: As a solo artist, the contract you sign will obviously only apply to you. As a member of a band though you will sign the agreement ‘jointly and severally’. A musician will have signed as an individual but also as a member of the band. This becomes important in two main respects. Firstly, they are bound to the manager as an individual artist as well as a part of the band. Therefore, if a member decides to leave the group, they are still bound by the contract for the remainder of the term. The second element of this requirement is about group culpability and responsibility. Any liability incurred to the manager will be the responsibility of the whole not a single individual from the band.  If one member cannot pay, the other members will have to cover it.
2. Management Services: Some of you talented musical folks may also have creative inclinations in other areas, such as sculpture or as an actor (I am thinking of Jared Leto here). Note which areas of your career the manager is to provide service for. In some instances, it may state the manager will deal with all aspects pertaining to the ‘entertainment industry’. You may wish to change this to ‘the music industry’ to allow for the possibility of obtaining management services for other endeavours in the entertainment industry without fear of breach of contract. Additionally, the artist will be bound exclusively to that manager for a specified territory, generally the entire world. You may wish to limit the exclusivity to a smaller territory in order to engage managers for specific regions of the world such as the USA or UK.   
3. The Term: The term of the contract is traditionally between 3-5 years in duration, at which time the agreement can be terminated with sufficient notice. There are many variations to this set up and each artist will need to decide what they prefer. BE VERY CONSCIOUS OF THE TERM, 5 years is a long time to be with a bad manager or an unenthusiastic band. It has become a trend to draft the term as an Album Cycles condition, the period from commencing recording to the end of touring and promotional activities associated with that record. This avoids the potentially difficult problem of an agreement ending mid-cycle at which time parties may terminate, momentum stall and management failing to recoup from their efforts.
4. Manager’s Duties: Providing advice, working alongside a booking agent to secure employment, obtaining that amazing record deal; these are just some of the things which fall under this heading. It is important to note the use of the phrases ‘best endeavours’ and ‘all reasonable endeavours’ regarding the provision of these duties. Their interpretation is an objective test, determined by what the wider world would consider reasonable and done with their best efforts by a manager performing their duties for an artist.  Despite all efforts on the part of the manager, they cannot guarantee to get everything a musician wants, they are managers not magicians. What is important for the artist is if they feel that the manager is losing interest and is not doing the best they can for them, they need to take special note of everything the manager has initiated or proposed. If an artist is unhappy, they need to approach the manager about their lack of diligence with this evidence. Going to court to prove breach of contract should be considered a last resort as it can be a long and arduous ordeal. 
   

By: Julia Bell

Edited by Juan David Lopez, Legal Consultant

Image source: Yale Law Library

[notice_box]For a trusted Artist Management Contract template please visit The Music Law and Contracts website.[/notice_box]

The best way of thinking about an agreement with co-writers in your band is as a way of keeping your friends. I say band but really this applies to any partnership, whether songwriting, production, or a music enterprise like a label or a club night.

Whilst you may or may not still be friends with the co-writers in your band in 15 years time there is no surer way of losing them – or some of them – than not making an agreement before finances get involved. Putting an agreement off can place you in the painful position of being unable to get an agreement signed when, after years of hard collaboration and honing of the partnership of two, three, four or five people, you finally win commercial success with a track, only to find someone in the band who denies the significance of your contribution to the writing.

It is not an uncommon scenario that before any money is made the people in any partnership are happy to work with full commitment on an assumption of equal shares, only to find in reality one or two contributors have not seen the process as 100% ‘democratic’, and that any division of royalties, fees and advances should favour whoever they deem to be the main contributors, which invariably includes themselves! Inevitably the trigger for this sharpening of focus is the prospect of income, by which time it is too late to be rational.

Another de-stabilising factor is the amount of advice suddenly flooding in from outsiders who are interested in the partnership. These opinions are inevitably conflicting simply due to the range of honest opinions and the timing can hinder a fair agreement that would have taken 2 rounds in the pub after rehearsals just six months before.

So do your entire collaborative effort a huge favour and get this done as soon as possible. It will help you keep your friends and devote all your energies into making the best creative product possible without question. Your agreement doesn’t have to be long or fancy. It just has to be signed, now!

Guest article by: Matthew Mars

Independent publisher: +Added Music; tw: @added_music 

Programme Manager: CM Sounds; tw: @cmsounds

[notice_box]For a trusted Band Agreement template please visit The Music Law Contracts website.[/notice_box]

Images source: Mike Licht

Sometimes it may feel like ALL the power rests with the label in recording contracts. The artist is bound to the label for what seems like an indeterminate time and restricted in exercising their creative muscles. You have rights in the entertainment industry to practice your trade and there is a help in law, it is called the Restriction of Trade doctrine.

The recording contract can not specify requirements which are imposed overly harsh or are unreasonably restrictive on an artist and their musical aspirations.  ‘I am in an exclusive recording contract and I just got a call from Kanye West and he wants to duet with me!’  Never fear dear artist, the law will usually look unfavourably on a label denying you this opportunity. Generally, there is a clause in your contract which will allow you to do certain things with the label’s permission and acknowledgment.

There are also limitations on how long and the nature of the commitment a record company can tie an artist  to the label. Courts in some instances have found it to be an unreasonable restraint to bind a band to a company for say 6 albums or 10 years. In California, the Labor Code Section 2855, forbids the enforcement of personal services contract against employees beyond 7 years from the commencement of services under it. The courts in the US have applied this provision to the music industry but note that contracts lasting over 7 years are not actually ‘illegal’ but just ‘unenforceable’ beyond the 7 year limit.

Now, don’t rely on the fact that if the contract is unreasonable you will sign it and then go to court to get out of it. BAD MOVE (yes, I am talking about you Gareth Evans -former Stone Roses Manager). While the court procedure takes place you may still be prevented from recording with anyone else until the matter is resolved. Before you know it, 3 years have passed, you are working at ASDA and you may not win at the end!

This is a tricky area of law and not straightforward. Just ask George Michael. Truthfully these issues are unlikely to arise, but it is important to know your rights!

So the checklist:

1.  When you get it, do not, I repeat DO NOT sign it right then and there. It may seem basic, but you will surprised how many people would treat such an important contract like their basic mobile phone terms and conditions form. You need to read it from beginning to end. If you don’t understand something, ask. If you are not happy with the answer, ask someone else. Remember, this is important. You do not want a Stone Roses moment.
2. Be aware of the requirement for “Prior Written Notice”. You cannot just tell people at the label in these instances. You have to write to them to say ‘you have not released out album within the release commitment period’ or ‘we do not approve of the use of this recording in this advert’. The door swings both ways, they also have to write to you. Legal cases can fall apart simply due to a lack of a letter.
3. Be conscious of the time requirements. Specific dates are important, the last day to complete the recording etc. I recommend getting a wall year planner, outline all the dates clearly for all yours and the label’s responsibilities.
4. Be aware of your rights, when the label must get approval, when your royalties are due etc.

Oh, and why the Stone Roses? Because they rock people and what happened to them SUCKED!

by Julia Bell and Juan Lopez.

Image source: Yale Law Library

[notice_box]For quality recording contract templates please visit The Music Law & Contracts website[/notice_box]

Okay, so the recording contract. The thing most musicians dream and strive for. So well done, you are now presented with one. It is important not to get carried away. First off, THE RECORD COMPANY IS NOT THE ENEMY, so approach with caution not angry scepticism. You need to take a deep breath and consider what all that legal jargon is trying to say. I mean, your music is your baby; you want it taken care of.

The Money Thing:

Yes, this is the thing that makes the world go around and you will be brimming with excitement at the prospect of all those royalty payments.

The Royalties will come from either Net Receipts from the exploitation of the recordings or a percentage of the price the records are sold to dealers (i.e. distributors). Now, the amounts the label and the artist will receive will vary according to the way in which the recordings have been exploited to make a profit and the percentages agreed between parties. On a Net receipts type of deal, the label and artist will usually get a fairly even split regarding the actual sale of the albums or EP, usually 50/50. For other ventures, such as synchronisation licenses and printed sheets of music, the proportion of profits will usually be higher for bands, around 70% of the Net Receipts.

The basis of this split is that the label has invested their time and effort into making the recording itself, its production, distribution etc. The synchronisation deals rely more heavily on the talent of the artist themselves and final product, which impresses the third party licensee.

As mentioned, another way of account royalties in respect to record sales whereby a label offers the artist a percentage of the dealer price for every record sold (PPD – Published Price to Dealers). For this type of royalty accounting a label will customarily pay for promotional costs from his share of income as opposed to ‘Net Receipts’ type of deals where all costs are recouped from income before applying the 50/50 split. As guideline, a basis royalty of more than 18% of the dealer price calculated on 100% of records sold with deductions for packaging of no more than 20% would be considered OK.

There are some catches as to when an artist will receive these royalties. If a band receives an Advance before the recording is made, you may be able to afford Tesco finest sausages but it ain’t free money. It’s an advance on future earnings! Additionally, and this is when reading the document is very important, Budgetary Expenses provided by the record company for promotion and other things may be due back to the label. In both instances, this money is effectively owed to the label and will need to be earned back through net receipts until paid in full at which time the artist will start to receive the royalties.

Sorry, killed your money buzz.

by Julia Bell and Juan Lopez.

Image source: Yale Law Library

[notice_box]For quality recording contract templates please visit The Music Law & Contracts website[/notice_box]

Okay, so the recording contract. The thing most musicians dream and strive for. So well done, you are now presented with one. It is important not to get carried away. First off, THE RECORD COMPANY IS NOT THE ENEMY, so approach with caution not angry scepticism. You need to take a deep breath and consider what all that legal jargon is trying to say. I mean, your music is your baby; you want it taken care of.

The Time Thing: Time periods and deadlines are crucial when addressing the commitments from both the artist and label. It is a two-way street and some key points are as follows:

(a)  The Release Commitment: This outlines how the label has to exploit and make public the recording commitment produced by the musician(s) within a certain time periods. This is laid out to prevent the label from simply shelving the recordings. The territory specifications are important here, the label may only be required to promote in a particular territory (UK, USA, Australia, etc) in which case you should be able to have another label releasing your music in other territories not covered by the agreement.

(b)  The Recording commitment: This will specify how and when the songs need to be presented to the label, e.g. 6 months from the date of the agreement. It will usually also state how many songs, the quality of the recording expected and the total playing time required to fulfil the commitment. An example being an EP of 3 to 8 songs equating to 23- 25 minutes playing time.

The artist needs to be VERY aware of the full length of time they will be bound to a label, especially at the prospect of it all not working out. The contract will usually specify an initial period of say 12 months that artist is committed to the label which may include the time needed to deliver the recording commitment plus a certain period of time from the release for promotion what-have-you.

It all seems straight forward up until now, but what about this ‘Option to Extend’ thing?

An Option is a contractual legal term that gives the label the irrevocable right but not the obligation to extend the recording contract for successive periods usually with a new recording commitment imposed on artist. For example, the Initial Period may have required an EP to be produced of a certain length with a certain amount of songs. If the option to extend the contract is exercised then a new requirement of say an album of 14 songs with a playing time of a minimum of 45 minutes to be made within this a certain period, for example 6 month period after the exercise of the option.

It is important to note then that:

–          If the record company decides to exercise them under the contract, artist is bound to abide by the new terms. If label doesn’t think a subsequent album artist make will have enough success to guarantee the investment, guest what, artist is dropped.  It may seem harsh, but the label needs to be able to better guarantee their return from their commitment the artist.

–          There is usually more than one option period outlined in the contract, such as ‘First Option Period’ then ‘Second Option Period’ usually up until 4-5 Option periods; each with an additional recording commitment.

by Julia Bell and Juan Lopez

[notice_box]For recording contract templates please visit The Music Law Contracts website[/notice_box]

Images source: Mike Licht

Okay, so the recording contract. The thing most musicians dream and strive for. So well done, you are now presented with one. It is important not to get carried away. First off, THE RECORD COMPANY IS NOT THE ENEMY, so approach with caution not angry scepticism. You need to take a deep breath and consider what all that legal jargon is trying to say. I mean, your music is your baby; you want it taken care of.

So what is a recording contract?

In simple terms, it is a legal agreement between the recording artist and recording label whereby the label is given the right to promote and sell the contracted record or records. What an artist needs to be aware of is the number of different, additional conditions attached to this arrangement.

Rights & Exclusivity:

This is the important one people. The term ‘sole and exclusive’ will pop up throughout the contract regarding the many rights to do with you and your music. The areas covered will include:

(a)  The artist will be bound to the label for a specified period to produce an album (or single or EP.) as well as be forbidden from working with other labels.

(b)  The label will exclusively own the copyright to those songs for the duration of copyright (or an agreed shorter period –often called ‘Rights Period’). Label will also prevent artist from rerecording those songs for a certain time.

(c)  The label will also have the ‘sole and exclusive’ right to exploit that product in any media, to grant licenses for compilations, synchronisation and other profit making ventures.

So, what to look out for regarding all this stuff:

Firstly, some clauses may state they do not require your Prior Approval for certain ventures, such as the choice of promotional photos, or in issuing of licences for your recording. This can raise problems, as you may not want your song to feature on an ad for nuclear power (due to moral/ethical reasons) or that photo in which you looked ‘fat’ and you want them to ask you before publishing it.

You can ask to change certain clauses to require your permission for use; this should be clearly outlined in the contract to prevent headaches in the future.

Secondly, the music exploitation section of the contract will often make reference to Moral Rights. These moral rights protect the musician(s) reputation by guaranteeing them:

(a) identification as the author of that music and

(b) the right to object to the derogatory treatment of that work, to preserves it’s integrity against alteration and distortion,(you know, when musicians cry “that’s not my song, what did you do to it!”).

There are parts of recording contracts which will say that you waive these rights. You can ask them to change this in the contract, so you have a say in regards to what they may do to the Masters in the future, thereby maintaining some control.

by Julia Bell and Juan Lopez.

Image source: Yale Law Library

[notice_box]For quality recording contract templates please visit The Music Law Contracts website[/notice_box]