Deals When The Song Is A Collab

[ChipD]

Hi guys,
OK. I hear that when you get studio musicians to play on your song, you secure a work-for-hire agreement and that makes everything nice and clean for licensing companies who work in the film and TV industry.

No problem.

What if your song is performed by a band?

Is it best to approach it as if all members of the band are cowriters and get all signatures on the deal?

Or does a multiple songwriter scenario scare off licensing companies?

[coachdebra]

You should have a working agreement with your band that covers all recordings both live and studio in advance. This is just good business. Whether you are going to go after licensing agreements or not, these things need to be put in writing in advance. It may seem silly, there's no money, so why write an agreement for what to do with the money, right? But when there is money - everyone will have a different memory of what was said and what was promised. So get it in writing.

The things you should agree on in advance:
Writer's credits percentages
Band share of income
Dissolution agreement (what happens if someone wants to leave or gets fired)
Mechanicals/Sync credit percentages

Get this in writing in advance. And if a song comes up that is an exception, put that exception in writing. As long as you have an agreement that is signed off by everybody - you should have no trouble with licensing.

Anyone have a different take on this question?

Debra