DIEING FOR SONGWRITING BUSINESS HELP!

[kaydiddy]

Hey guys,

Ok so I am completely new to the forum. I have shadowed around, been to rally, been using taxi for about a year and such.

FINALLY a signed artist with whom i have direct contact with is interested in one of my songs (which is already copyrighted). She has already communicated to me that she is ready to cut the song. "like... now" she said, lol

My dieing question is this... WHAT NOW? Its crazy how this is what i have been waiting for since ive been in diapers, and im not even prepared to take the next step! :-/

I have contacted my publishing company, but lord knows when they are gonna get back to me by.

Before anything official happens, the artist needs to first cut the song. So What I *think* i need to do is first get a contract between me (the songwriter), the producer, and the artist, that allows for her to record the demo and use it for herself (for a small fee). But also there should be a clause that would still allow me and the producer to collect royalties later on, right?
Is another option to just flat out sell the song for a flat fee? (im not very interested in this option, but im just curious)


ANY HELP AT ALL WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED!
Thanks guys.

[randwool]

A lot depends if you've signed away the copyright (i.e. publishing). DO NOT sell your song for a flat-rate. I would recommend some serious reading before being in a hurry to sign any contract with a publisher or producer. Two books to check out would be:

• All You Need To Know About The Music Business by Donald Passman

and/or

• The Plain and Simple Guide To Music Publishing by Randall Wixen

They are well-worth a look as it is so easy to be left with nothing by signing a bad contract.

[markmeilander]

The Donald Passman book is is excellent (I don't know the other).

To that list I would add :
"Making Music Make Money - An Insider's Guide to Becoming Your Own Music Publisher" by Eric Beall
and
"The Musician's Business and Legal Guide" - by Mark Halloran, Esq.

These are all extremely useful references for these types of questions.
Hope this helps,
Mark

[Casey H]

I agree regarding the music biz books!

If you have a publisher, I have to assume they own the copyright. Therefore THEY are the ones that have to take it from here as far as paperwork, agreements, etc. I'm not sure why you can't reach your publisher in a reasonable timeframe. Please tell us more about the situation.

Best
Casey

[simonparker]

congrats on the opportunity and good luck.

As other members have mentioned here, there are good books that talk about this issue and others you'll face as a songwriter trying to get songs placed.

Regarding your publisher - if you are signed to a publisher and this song was written during that time frame, or is included in the publishing agreement, they will most likely own the copyright, and the administrative process for such.

When I was looking to secure the right of first release for a song written by band members of a very well-know artist, I was referred to the band member's publisher. One phone call got me the permission I needed. The publisher (Warner Chappell) was very quick in registering the song with Harry Fox so I could get a mechanical license. For me, the entire process took less than a day. You should expect the same from your publsiher - having them get the proper licensing in order within a very short period of time, and being able to allow for your song to be recorded by this artist.

[kaydiddy]

Hey guys! Thank you so much for your feedback! I still need more of it, please! everything is happening so fast, and I just don't wunna step on a nasty crack!

So this is whats going on. publishing agent finally contacted me back and it felt like a breathe of fresh air once I got off of the phone with him. I feel very confident that he steered me the right way. The outcome of that talk is this: now the artist has agreed to pay us an "X" amount of dollars to record the song. JUST to record the song. The copyright, including the mechanical and performance rights, remain with the producer of the track and me, the songwriter. She is going to talk to the label manager and try to get whatever standard contract they use in these situations. I will run that past my publisher to see if its good, then when thats done, i can send her the tracks session so that she can go ahead and record it.

So basically I would be getting payed for her to demo the track, make it hers. But whatever she wants to do with it afterwards, whether that is use it for an album, for a movie, perform it, for a commercial, (i pray! haha), then that has to do with publishing. That is when my publisher said he will step in and collect the royalties.

Does that sound good? I really am hoping I didn't do anything wrong!

[kaydiddy]

iTS A GO! She is paying an "X" amount of money JUST to record the demo. The rights and everything remain with me and the producer.

Now paperwork!! Anyone know where I can find a standard contract between me, the producer, and the artist for this type of thing? Im going to ask my publishing, i just fear they are going to take forever to get the contract back to me.

Im looking on the internet and I am not really finding anything that fits my situation...
either that or I am misunderstanding exactly which contract I need.

[randwool]

"The Music Business Contract Library" by Greg Forest has an included CD-ROM with contracts, forms, and worksheets.