Sharing royalties from on line sales with band members

[Muser]

I have my music uploaded and ready to sell on Tunecore. I wrote and copyrighted all the songs and paid all the recording, and mixing fees for my band last summer. Now I am wondering what percentage of money to share with the other band members( guitar, backup vocals, drums, bass) from any proceeds I make from internet sales. ( hopefully I will make some) Thanks!

[andygabrys]

wow! sounds like you should have discussed this beforehand.

It seems fair that if only you own the music, and paid all expenses, then you would compile all your expenses and all sales could go to recouping those expenses. Once that is done, then you split everything anyway you want after that.

It is probably going to fall somewhere between you taking all (as if the band all signed work-for-hire agreements and donated their time not expecting any compensation) and splitting everything evenly with the band.

my 2 cents. not reality, just the way I see it.

[guitarhacker]

Bands tend to not discuss this in detail before hand, so your situation is not unusual.


Here's my recommendation. Since you said YOU wrote everything, paid the copy right fees, AND paid all the costs to record and mix the music.... it seems you have a lot invested up front. And by assumption, I would guess all they have in it is time.

So... you are reasonably entitled to recoup ALL of your upfront costs for everything before your band mates see a single dime. I'm pretty sure even they would agree that that is reasonable. If not... go look another band.

Even small budget CD's recorded in small project studios can easily cost several hundred to well over a few thousand to record and mix and then distribute.

On line sales typically take a fair percentage of all sales, so it comes down to..... you really have to sell a fairly large and significant number of downloads to see any sort of profit. Most bands in your situation will not break even let alone make significant income, that's the reality of online sales. I hope you make a profit and have to figure out how to fairly split it up.

As the writer, you should earn more then the musicians from the sales, once you have all expenses covered. Cross that bridge when you get there. For now..... just concentrate on selling enough to break even.

I saw some charts that compared the various online music stores and the numbers you have to sell to just break even on the costs are in the tens of thousands.

HOWEVER....there might be a better way for you. If the band is gigging..... sell CD's at the shows. You can sell CD's to fans that love the band easily for $10 to $15 and even offer some deals for multiple copies sold to an individual. One for $12 or 2 for $20. The idea is to move product. A live band with a good show and fans can sell hundreds of CD's for a nice profit in a short amount of time. One CD costs about a dollar and sells for $12 to $15.... how many downloads would it take to equal that one CD? Same deal applies to the band mates.... all expenses covered first, then you talk about the split. Generally..... I would think to keep the peace..... on sales.....equal shares are probably best and don't worry about the songwriter's share in that situation. IF.... IF the songs get airplay, the writer will get performance royalties that the musicians will not get.

In a band I was in many years back, we had a similar situation. No CD's or tapes, but we did sell T-shirts and other merchandise with our name on it. When it came time to pay the T-shirt printer..... no one had the money. It was supposed to be a 3 way split. I did have the money and agreed to buy the shirts. The other 2 guys were offered the opportunity to buy their share after the weekend's gig. After the show, they all had excuses for the money, so I ended up running the T-shirt sales. There were nights I walked out of the clubs with more money in T-shirt sales then the band as a whole made from the "paying gig" . I ran the side business for quite some time.

[mojobone]

I'm going to slightly disagree with Guitarhacker, in that you simply must pay the songwriter first; without him, (you) nobody has a reason to make the recording in the first place, and the other musicians need to get used to being paid last, especially if they're in this for the long haul.

Seriously, for maximum flexibility, you need to pay them upfront, (and get a work-for-hire agreement) unless you're a band, and want to open the door to making every licensing decision a group thing.

[Muser]

Thanks for the answers, it was very helpful. I am still a student and learning the ropes. Half the band just quit on me, so that feels bad, personal differences nothing to do with the recordings. But it still sucks. Two guys have stuck with me so we'll make the best of it.