About share of payments from publishers

[minoruchan]

Thank you for reply.

We divide all shares equally only if the singer writes the lyrics. If the singer does not write the lyrics,We choose work for hire for the song, pay the lyricist a writing fee, and then share the royalties equally.
My collaborator insists that, according to Japanese custom, to the lyricist we have to pay for her lyrics, so only then will we have her give up the master rights.
Since there are cases where the contracted song is not selected, the idea is to give the lyricist a fee for writing the lyrics as a minimum guarantee.
I compose, arrange, make tracks, do studio work, and produce at the same time, which is quite hard work.
Even if the song is not used and only the songbed is used, the songwriter will still be paid copyright royalties.
Once we have completed the composition, arrangement, and track makeup, we
We ask a lyricist, and if we don't have a lyricist, that doesn't mean we can't write a song.

I don't think I'm not doing the right thing.
She is a popular lyricist in Japan, and I wonder if she will work with me.
It's up to her. She won't do it if she thinks it's unfair.

[cosmicdolphin]

In the case of lyricist, Of course, She will receive royalty payments from the PRO, but does she also has the right to share license and sync fee payments from the publisher with the production team?

Yes. As one of the writers everything should be split equally. The library normally handles this and sends each writer their share of any license or sync fees.

[Casey H]

In the case of lyricist, Of course, She will receive royalty payments from the PRO, but does she also has the right to share license and sync fee payments from the publisher with the production team?
By the way, she does not participate in the studio recording.

You *CAN* split things anyway you agree to by having different splits between the composition and master. For example, a 3 way split on the composition, a 2 way split on the master. The composition is the actual songwriting (PRO royalties) and the master is only the recording itself (sync fees).

But just because you *CAN* do something, doesn't make it the professional and respectful way to do things. The proper etiquette is even splits across the board on everything. Other ways are cheesy. Keep in mind that if she didn't write those lyrics, you would not have the recording you do now.

Also, some music libraries aren't as well set up to differentiate the master and composition splits so it could confuse them or be an issue for them.

Do the right thing.

Best,
Casey

[minoruchan]

In the case of lyricist, Of course, She will receive royalty payments from the PRO, but does she also has the right to share license and sync fee payments from the publisher with the production team?

Yes. As one of the writers everything should be split equally. The library normally handles this and sends each writer their share of any license or sync fees.

of course, we take this into consideration.
But In Japan,Buness customs are different from those on Europe and America

[minoruchan]

In the case of lyricist, Of course, She will receive royalty payments from the PRO, but does she also has the right to share license and sync fee payments from the publisher with the production team?
By the way, she does not participate in the studio recording.

You *CAN* split things anyway you agree to by having different splits between the composition and master. For example, a 3 way split on the composition, a 2 way split on the master. The composition is the actual songwriting (PRO royalties) and the master is only the recording itself (sync fees).

But just because you *CAN* do something, doesn't make it the professional and respectful way to do things. The proper etiquette is even splits across the board on everything. Other ways are cheesy. Keep in mind that if she didn't write those lyrics, you would not have the recording you do now.

Also, some music libraries aren't as well set up to differentiate the master and composition splits so it could confuse them or be an issue for them.

Do the right thing.

Best,
Casey

Thank you for reply

It seems that I used the wrong mailing method and accidentally rewritten my first post.

We divide all shares equally only if the singer writes the lyrics. If the singer does not write the lyrics,We choose work for hire for the song, pay the lyricist a writing fee, and then share the royalties equally.
My collaborator insists that, according to Japanese custom, to the lyricist we have to pay for her lyrics, so only then will we have her give up the master rights.
Since there are cases where the contracted song is not selected, the idea is to give the lyricist a fee for writing the lyrics as a minimum guarantee.
I compose, arrange, make tracks, do studio work, and produce at the same time, which is quite hard work.
Even if the song is not used and only the songbed is used, the songwriter will still be paid copyright royalties.
Once we have completed the composition, arrangement, and track makeup, we
We ask a lyricist, and if we don't have a lyricist, that doesn't mean we can't write a song.

I don't think I'm not doing the right thing.
She is a popular lyricist in Japan, and I wonder if she will work with me.
It's up to her. She won't do it if she thinks it's unfair.

[Casey H]

I can only go by what I know from US and international writers I've worked with the past 20+ years. If things are different in Japan, it's out of my league.

I don't understand why the vocalist is asking for a share in the master, not the composition. Lyrics are part of composition. I've been in many situations where myself or my co-writer wrote only lyrics, the backing bed got a placement, and we still split all revenue equally. Why? Because without the other person's contribution, the song would not exist.

For me personally, I never work with anyone who won't split all shares equally, assuming they did ANY writing on the tune. Sometimes, if someone did all the production work, I give them an equal share for their work. If a vocalist did performance only, I do it as pure work for hire, they get a fee and no other rights to anything.

You CAN do a WFH that includes a percentage of any future sync fees such as $150 up front + 20% of any sync fees earned. However, I know of one case where a music library looked at the WFH agreement and then wouldn't take the song because they saw that as someone else having a claim on the song. So I never include a percentage on my WFH agreements.

Best,
Casey

[minoruchan]

I can only go by what I know from US and international writers I've worked with the past 20+ years. If things are different in Japan, it's out of my league.

I don't understand why the vocalist is asking for a share in the master, not the composition. Lyrics are part of composition. I've been in many situations where myself or my co-writer wrote only lyrics, the backing bed got a placement, and we still split all revenue equally. Why? Because without the other person's contribution, the song would not exist.

For me personally, I never work with anyone who won't split all shares equally, assuming they did ANY writing on the tune. Sometimes, if someone did all the production work, I give them an equal share for their work. If a vocalist did performance only, I do it as pure work for hire, they get a fee and no other rights to anything.

You CAN do a WFH that includes a percentage of any future sync fees such as $150 up front + 20% of any sync fees earned. However, I know of one case where a music library looked at the WFH agreement and then wouldn't take the song because they saw that as someone else having a claim on the song. So I never include a percentage on my WFH agreements.

Best,

Casey

I think you have a huge misunderstanding.
We always do not sign contracts without a mutual commitment to share.
We don't receive production costs from those libraries, and in Japan, it's common for the artist to write the lyrics, so she writes the lyrics and sings them in the studio, and she's not just a hired singer. It only becomes music if she puts her soul into the song, so it's natural for her to get an equal share of the music, and that's the only way for us to be able to produce it smoothly.
We don't just make music for the purpose of placement.
Of course, if the singer is a hired singer, they won't share it.
In our case, whether or not to include a lyricist is a case-by-case basis, and even if we sign a contract with a library, we may not have a placement.
Regarding the lyricist's master rights, we are trying to buy them out and share only the royalties.
I have also signed a buyout deal with a company in New York and given up the license fee. Is something wrong?

In this case, if a lyricist who does not participate in our studio work receives songwriting fees, demanding a 1/3 share of all profits is, in our view, an excessive claim.

anyway, I give up to do with lyricist for this project.

Thank you for advice.

[cosmicdolphin]

In this case, if a lyricist who does not participate in our studio work receives songwriting fees, demanding a 1/3 share of all profits is, in our view, an excessive claim.

OKay, Where I am from ( UK ) it makes no difference if they worked in the studio with you or if you had never met them and they emailed the lyrics to you. It would still be expected that they get an equal share.

[AlanHall]

Isn't this exactly why there is a separation between composition and master rights? Composition rights covers the conceiving and writing of the piece. Master rights covers the studio work; the performances that are captured on the recording. Do I not understand this correctly?
Alan

[minoruchan]

In this case, if a lyricist who does not participate in our studio work receives songwriting fees, demanding a 1/3 share of all profits is, in our view, an excessive claim.

OKay, Where I am from ( UK ) it makes no difference if they worked in the studio with you or if you had never met them and they emailed the lyrics to you. It would still be expected that they get an equal share.

We also have a contract with a UK publisher.
For co-productions, we sign a contract with an equal share, but the contract does not mention the equal share, and it is determined by our agreement.
The company pays a license fee to each, so all profits are shared according to the contract.

As for the other American publisher, all we have to do is confirm that we have 100% master rights, and it only says that the license fee will be received and distributed by the representative, and as for the share percentage. I don't think he wrote anything.
In the past, I have declared a 40/60 share ratio and signed a contract, so I don't think it is necessary to make everything the same.
I've also seen writers do 40/40/20 shares.