A question about buyouts of songs

[TerrellBurt]

Are songwriters still entitled to mechanical royalties if a label/artist wants to buyout one of your songs for a fee? Performance royalties are a no brainer, but not sure about mechanical royalties. Someone please chime in. Thank you.

[ScottFree4All]

Hey Terrell,

All deals are different but I would assume a buyout means a total buyout. You would be signing away all past, current, and future rights for any aspect of that song unless otherwise specified within the contract. You should ask to see the offer in print and perhaps have a lawyer review before being pressured to sign but these types of deals are common. It's business. I've never sold a song so I don't have first hand knowledge.

Cheers,
Scott

[andygabrys]

to add to what Scott said and further muddy the waters:

there are a lot of different kinds of buyouts - a common one around these parts is a "sync buyout" where you trade your participation in any future sync / master use fees for upfront money.

so like Scott says - its going to depend on exactly what is written in the contract that you receive in this particular deal.

[TerrellBurt]

Hey Terrell,

All deals are different but I would assume a buyout means a total buyout. You would be signing away all past, current, and future rights for any aspect of that song unless otherwise specified within the contract. You should ask to see the offer in print and perhaps have a lawyer review before being pressured to sign but these types of deals are common. It's business. I've never sold a song so I don't have first hand knowledge.

Cheers,
Scott

Makes sense. And I would definitely have an attorney review the paperwork before signing anything. I was just going back and forth with an artist manager who is looking for songs for an artist he managers and he was saying he would want a total buyout as opposed to me retaining the copyright and licensing it to his artist.

[andygabrys]

it goes without saying that a TOTAL buyout should get you a sum much greater than any kind of license situation.

[TerrellBurt]

it goes without saying that a TOTAL buyout should get you a sum much greater than any kind of license situation.

I see.