Rights to music and royalty

[incessant]

Quick question that may have a long answer:If I write a song, and record it with other musicians, and said song gets signed to a deal.. do the other musicians have any entitlements?ThanksRhad

[hummingbird]

Oct 14, 2008, 11:04am, incessant wrote:Quick question that may have a long answer:If I write a song, and record it with other musicians, and said song gets signed to a deal.. do the other musicians have any entitlements?ThanksRhadDepends. If the Song is signed to a deal with a label, and another artist will be re-recording it, then no worries. If they want to use your backing track, then you need releases from the performers.If it's a band, then you should have a band agreement that specifies who owns what & what happens to the song(s) when the band breaks up. If it's a studio situation, & you're pitching to film/tv or you are planning to sell the recording as indie, then you need each performer to sign a Master Release.caveat - I'm not a lawyer, the above is just opinion. You might pick up Jason Blume's "The Business of Music" for more intel

[sgs4u]

Oct 14, 2008, 11:04am, incessant wrote:Quick question that may have a long answer:If I write a song, and record it with other musicians, and said song gets signed to a deal.. do the other musicians have any entitlements?ThanksRhadThe musicians may feel that they are entitled to something. Truthfully, they are not unless you the songwriter give them some reason to believe they are. However, by not talking about your plans for the use of their recorded efforts, you may be implying some sort of agreement. So it's always best to clearly identify the plan, put it in writing, and have all the parties sign some kind of written agreement.There are also many kinds of scenarios that can play out. Let's say you wrote a great song, and they played on the recording of said song. If you find a way for that recording they helped you create, make a significant of money, it would be regarded (at least by me) as unethical to not pay them for having played on the recording. Even when you pay people to play on a recording, you should be honest about what you are planning to do with that recording, so that the musicians know what they are getting involved with. There are sometimes problems created when musicians are hired to create demo recordings of songs, that get used as finished products. When a producer asks a professional musician how much it will cost to hire them for this demo, then that's all the musicians is expecting that music to be used for. Demonstration purposes only. Most musicians are happy to be paid a demo rate, to get things started, and then have their pay scale increased, of a piece of music (they demoed) is placed somewhere it can make money for the producer. The best choice always, is to understand and identify why a piece of music is being recorded, and what the intentions of the producer/creator and musicians are. Unfortunately for most people, when they are getting started with writing and recording, they don't know enough about the different ways music can be used, and the different ways participants are rewarded. I wish there was a standardized multiple choice document people could fill in the blanks with, that could become the basis of songwriter and//or recording agreements. No I'm not a lawyer. And there could easily be several more long answers coming. Some might think my answer is not totally correct.

[incessant]

Thank you both for your responses. Very helpful. I think a signed agreement is the safe route. I only fear insulting said musicians, like some kind of pre-nuptial agreement situation.

[suzdoyle]

I always have musicians sign a performer release/ work for hire agreement if its a song I wrote and I'm hiring them to play on it. This clearly spells out what the agreements are ahead of time -- namely, that they get paid for their studio work and have no rights to the song (however, I would give them a bonus if the song gets signed somewhere in a big way, just because that feels right to me.)I sign the same agreement when others hire me for studio work; they own all rights to the final product, and I am paid as a work for hire for the specific project.If I'm collaborating with someone in creating a work, we sign a collaboration agreement in which ownership of writers shares and publishers shares is clearly spelled out. This is not done out of mistrust, but rather to make sure everyone is clear on what our agreements are.I think it is especially important in bands to have things in writing, as bands and relationships can change over the years, and it's good to be intentional with the biz part of things (as well as the emotional and creative parts!). ,Suz

[mojobone]

+1 to Suze, that's pretty much how it works 'round here, but occasionally, at the producer's (and sometimes the songwriter's) discretion, a session musician's suggestion can so fundamentally change a tune that they are given a co-write credit. When I hire in musicians they are given to understand that I'm paying for more than just notes, I'm also hiring their musical judgement and will ask for their opinions where appropriate. When I hire out, I don't expect any of the above, unless it's written down somewhere.

[stephen]

Great advice from all. Always smart to get things down in writing up front to avoid all the head ache afterwards. Happened to a guy from Trinidad he wrote the son "Who Let The Dogs Out" for our carnival many years ago. Disney used it in their movie 101 Dalmatians I thinks. Anyway the song was recorded by another group the Baha men I thinks their name is. This thing is still in court last I heard millions now at stake everyone wants to cash in. So long and short get it done up front...

[incessant]

A couple of my songs with semi-ex band members I have recorded.. I wrote the songs, but they each wrote their parts. i.e. bass line, guitar solo, drums etc.. hence my concern.