Some questions

[geoffmartyn]

Hi folks, I have some very basic questions about payments and royalties for music placements. I think this is the correct place to ask them, but if not please let me know and I'll post it in the appropriate forum.I have recordings of my songs, featuring myself and other musicians. If I get a placement for one or more of those songs and they generate income, should I be splitting that income with the other musicians equally? I live in the UK and don't really understand the difference between PRS and MCPS. I know the first is performance and the latter is mechanical, but I'm not sure what the split should be if any to players on a specific recording. The songs were 100% written by me (chords, melody and lyrics) but drum parts, basslines and guitar parts were written by the other members of the band at the time of recording. If they are due money for the performance of the recordings they feature on, am I responsible for getting the money to them or are they responsible for registering with the relevant organisations and 'staking a claim'?I would be interested to hear how other Taxi members deal with this kind of thing. I also have a another question about contracts with music placement companies. If the company signs your song, and gives you money to use it on the condition that you sign the publishing over to them, renaming it in their library. Does this mean that all future earnings from that song, PRS/MCPS/ASCAP wise, when it goes out on air on a TV show for instance, goes to the placement company? In other words, would I be correct in assuming the only payment you get for that would be the up-front payment? If so, would this not be unfair if the placement went on to become very lucrative, i.e. a theme song for a drama/soap that then went on to be incredibly successful? If anyone has any view on the above, I would be very grateful of some feedback. Thanks in advanceDec

[davewalton]

Quote:I also have a another question about contracts with music placement companies. If the company signs your song, and gives you money to use it on the condition that you sign the publishing over to them, renaming it in their library. Does this mean that all future earnings from that song, PRS/MCPS/ASCAP wise, when it goes out on air on a TV show for instance, goes to the placement company? There are two parts to performance royalties, the writer's share and the publishers share. There's more to it than this but the simplest way to think of them is "the guy that wrote the music" and "the guy that got the deal". In your example, you'd get royalties for writing the music (as the writer) and they'd get royalties for getting the deal (as the publisher). Suffice to say that there's all kinds of complicated splits and arrangements that can come out of these situations. Generally, a deal where you take the writers share of the royalties, they take the publishers share of the royalties, and any upfront money is split down the middle is a common arrangement.

[horacejesse]

The wording in parts of all music contracts I have looked at make it sound like you are simply signing your song and all rights away to the publusher. Anyone not a leagl expert in entertainment would need some help interpreting the clauses, at least on the first few deals.

[booker]

I guess the way I'm reading your question, is that your band mates get...well.... nothing. If you wrote the music and melody of the song, and they are in effect, studio musicians, for all purposes, then they get nothing of the copyright. The studio, or you, pays them for their time. Unless you are planing to give them credit as "writers" , the individual parts aren't really covered.

[aubreyz]

Quote:I guess the way I'm reading your question, is that your band mates get...well.... nothing. If you wrote the music and melody of the song, and they are in effect, studio musicians, for all purposes, then they get nothing of the copyright. The studio, or you, pays them for their time. Unless you are planing to give them credit as "writers" , the individual parts aren't really covered.Correct as far as publishing goes, but performance rights are a different issue. Notice how many listings say that you must have release forms for any studio musicians on the recording. The fact is, when someone performs on a recorded work they by default have rights to a portion of the performance royalties generated by that recording. The release form, or some other contract, makes that a work for hire performance - the studio player would give up his rights in return for whatever compensation was given for the actual work involved. Without a signed release, it is possible for a studio musician to sue for performance royalties - even if they were payed for the session. The safest, wisest route is to have everyone who even breathes on a recording sign a waiver.Aub

[matto]

Rock is correct, performing rights societies (ASACP, BMI, PRS etc) only deal with the song itself, the composition so to speak, NOT the recording of that song. The composition is essentially what you'd put on a lead sheet: Melody, lyrics, chords.If the RECORDING of that song made it into a movie or TV show, your bandmates would be entitled to a share of the license fee that would be paid by the producer in return for permission to use that RECORDING.If the recording made it on a CD, the bandmates would be co-performers (or artists) with yourself and thus entitled to a share of the mechanical ARTIST royalties (but not the mechanical WRITER'S royalties, which would go to you only.)So basically a song consists of two separate entities: The underlying composition, which only the writer(s) of that composition (and/or his publisher) owns, and the recording of the song, which would be co-owned by all band members (unless different arrangements were made in writing at the time of recording).Hope this helps...matto

[booker]

I stand corrected. I was speaking only in terms of the PRO's.

[geoffmartyn]

Thank you all for your valuable feedback in answer to my questions, and for taking the time to answer in such detail.All the bestDec