Confused By Music Agreements?
Working as a music lawyer over the years, do you know what is still one of the toughest things for me to see?
When a talented artist or producer comes to me that is really starting to gain traction in their career (or an Indie Label with talent) but are haunted by some type of dispute from early days when they were first starting out.
Usually, it’s because they worked on music projects with either a poorly written contract or no contract at all.
At the time, it probably seemed like no big deal because there was no money coming in anyway, right?
And maybe you were collaborating with your best friend or family member.
There is no way you guys would ever let something like money come between you, right?
Well, let me tell you from experience. No matter how close you are with your collaborators, you should always have a solid written agreement in place!
I have seen it all. Disagreements between best friends, uncles and nephews, cousins, lovers, and even between artist’s parents (the artist was a minor) and grandparents.
Common disputes include questioning who owns the copyright in the recording and disagreements over the composition ownership splits.
I have even worked with well-known artists and producers who have known each other for decades and still proceed to argue over thousands of dollars (when one or both have millions) because they did not have solid agreements in place.
I realized that most of the problem is when people are first starting out they don’t have the money to pay an entertainment attorney to put those agreements and contracts together for them.
That’s why I decided to release a FREE EBOOK: How To Make It In Today’s Music Industry (it includes a bonus Split Sheet Agreement!)
In the book, I go over how to brand, protect and monetize your music business.
But back to this article and the importance of having agreements.
Below are 6 important agreements you should focus on getting together right away, no matter what stage you are in your music industry career.
Infograph: 6 Agreements Every Music Pro Needs
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1. Work-Made-For-Hire Agreement with Waiver
What is it?
This is a general, all-purpose form that ensures that you don’t accidentally relinquish rights to people who contribute to your music. This form also includes a waiver in case the hired person is signed to a company (i.e., production company, label, publisher).
Why is it so important?
U.S. Copyright law requires any work-for-hire relationship to be in writing. If it is not then all contributors are considered partial owners of the copyright!
For example, if you hire a vocalist to sing a hook and you don’t have her sign an agreement, the vocalist can claim ownership in your recording of the performance, and potentially hold up the release of your music.
2. Music Collaboration Agreement
What is it?
This is a general form that may be used in instances when a music producer is collaborating with a recording artist to create a recording. This particular agreement shows the producer creating the “beats”, and the artist both performs and is the songwriter.
Why is it so important?
It is critical that when you collaborate you have a formal agreement about the percentages of ownership. In my template music collaboration agreements, the parties agree to each own 50% of the final recording.
3. Songwriter Collaboration Agreement
What is it?
This is a general form that may be used in instances when two (or more) songwriters are collaborating to write a musical composition. This particular agreement shows the writers administering their own shares.
Why is it so important?
Without the splits clearly defined, there is a chance for a dispute. For example, if you and a co-writer write a song you both may have a different idea as to what the splits are.
Does each writer own 50%? Does one writer receive a larger ownership percentage because he or she wrote the hook?
These are all questions that should be decided early on. If there is a dispute then you will not be able to properly register the composition with your performing rights organization (ASCAP, BMI, SESAC) and they will not be able to pay you royalties!
4. Side Artist Agreement
What is it?
This is a general form that may be used in instances where a side artist is engaged to contribute vocals to a recording. This particular agreement allows the side artist to keep ownership of any lyrics he or she may write.
Why is it so important?
Any of the scenarios from 1, 2, and 3 could happen without a proper side artist agreement in place.
5. Split Sheet Agreement
What is it?
This is a simple one-pager form that can be used to show the division of a musical composition (i.e., writer’s shares and publisher’s shares). It’s great to have on hand when you are registering your compositions with ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC
Why is it so important?
Similar to not having a Songwriter Collaboration Agreement in place, you will not be able to collect royalties if there is a dispute over splits.
Having this one-pager filled out and signed by all parties can save you from a ton of headaches down the road.
6. Mechanical License
What is it?
This is a general form that may be used when a writer or producer is granting a record company the right to use a musical composition.
Why is it so important?
Many times writers/producers do not know that a record label will not pay mechanical royalties unless a mechanical license is in place.
Hope you enjoyed this article. Again I highly recommend you download my FREE EBOOK How To Make It In Today’s Music Industry that also includes one of the most important agreements, a Split Sheet as an extra bonus for you.
I really encourage you to protect your work no matter what stage you are at and look into getting these type of agreements to protect your music business.
The time and money you invest in it now will be much better than trying to find someone like me in the future to clean up the contract.
Now that will cost you a lot more time and money!