Am I the Artist or Songwriter?

[tomyco]

I have one of my songs accepted for one of the listings and have a question, hopefully a Music Attorney may be reading this. I am a songwriter, I write the lyrics and music, but have an internet music studio record my songs with studio musicians and singers, I do not perform at all, again I just write the lyrics and the music. I have a "Work for Hire Agreement" and have sole ownership and rights to all my songs

The company who is interested in my song is asking questions like the who is the Performing Rights Affiliation, Publisher, etc. I know the answers to these questions. But they are asking who is the "Artist" Am I the Artist? I can't put down the person who is actually singing because then I would be giving him Artist credits and would have to give him royalties. Many of the musicians and singers have their own publishing deal which would cause a lot of headaches if I use their names.

So Can I use my name as the "Artist"

Thanks!

[Casey H]

If your work for hire agreement states you can use the name and likeness of the vocalist, you should use the vocalist name as the artist. Otherwise, you can say "Your Name (Songwriter)".

Remember that for Film/TV, the artist DOES NOT collect royalties (sync license fee or PRO), only the songwriter(s). And if this is going to a publisher to pitch for an artist to record, it would be irrelevant.

In the future, make sure your Work For Hire agreement gives permission for you to use the "name and likeness" (e.g. name and photo) of performers. Some music libraries require or strongly prefer that. If that's already covered, please ignore this.

Hope that helps! If you have more questions, please let us know. Feel free to PM me.

PS I am a non-performer like you who does this all the time!

Casey

[annayarbrough]

If your work for hire agreement states you can use the name and likeness of the vocalist, you should use the vocalist name as the artist. Otherwise, you can say "Your Name (Songwriter)".

Remember that for Film/TV, the artist DOES NOT collect royalties (sync license fee or PRO), only the songwriter(s). And if this is going to a publisher to pitch for an artist to record, it would be irrelevant.

In the future, make sure your Work For Hire agreement gives permission for you to use the "name and likeness" (e.g. name and photo) of performers. Some music libraries require or strongly prefer that. If that's already covered, please ignore this.

Hope that helps! If you have more questions, please let us know. Feel free to PM me.

PS I am a non-performer like you who does this all the time!

Casey

Great info, Casey - thanks