A word about music/entertainment attorneys

[Casey H]

A good music/entertainment attorney is very important. When it comes to music related contracts, it is not advisable to use a general practice attorney-- this is all foreign to them.The first time you are presented with a specific type of contract such as a music library or single-song publishing contract, you should discuss it with a music attorney. They should be able to explain all the terminology and discuss the pros, cons, risks, and benefits of the deal. Often, after you've reviewed a few contracts with an attorney, you will know enough to evaluate contracts on your own. But there are two problems you need to be aware of. (1) Not all music attorneys are familiar with the things many of us are presented with such as non-exclusive music library deals with re-titling. Some are only used to dealing with big management contracts, etc. (2) Attorneys are there to protect you. But in doing so, they can often try to way over-protect you and bloody a contract with red ink to an extreme that is not in your best interest. I refer to those as the "deal killers". There is nothing wrong with every nuance of a contract being explained to you and an opinion on what would be better wording. But it's important that, if you truly want to take the deal, that you only go back to the party offering the contract with concerns on the MAJOR things. A lot of the other stuff would be better in legal utopia, but isn't worth hassling the other party about. When you walk away from a contract review with a music attorney, you should mainly focus on: How could this deal HELP me or HURT me (by "hurt", not the nuclear holocaust scenario)? What are a few key things I should go back and ask the other party about?With all that said, how do you find the right music attorney? Referrals... Ask around. Geography used to matter but in today's cyber world, that's becoming much less of a concern. Best, Casey

[simonparker]

Good points Casey.Two other points I'd like to add:1) There is no "industry standard contract". Everything's on a case by case basis. Many times, the "cut and paste" template used needs to be modified to get both sides in agreement2) Always ask about stipulations in contracts you don't understand. I'll give you an example of why this is important.Here's a clause from a demo deal between myself and an artist I'm working with that my attorney recently prepared:8. Re-recording Restriction: For any song recorded by Artist hereunder, there shall be a 5 year re-recording restriction from time of commercial release whereby Artist cannot record that song(s) for any other third party. I did not realize what power this little clause could give me. For example, say I find eager songwriter with great song. I get my artist to record such song, and the artist is a year later, signed to major label. Artist/label wants to rerecord said song. Technically artist would need my permission to waive this clause. Also, songwriter could lose out on royalties if I don't waive clause.... just interesting how little clauses in contracts can have such far reaching consequences....

[nett]

Hi,This whole 're-titling' thing seems to be a relatively new phenomenon, primarily occurring in the US...I was wondering if there are any Composers out there, who have been signed to such deals for at least the past 5 years? If so, it would be terrific if they could provide some feedback as to their experiences, the advantages, and the potential pitfalls they've encountered...Any info would be greatly appreciated...

[anne]

I'd like to throw one more related question into the mix as well: When I write a song, I often make different versions of it - style, tempo, instrumentation etc are different in the different versions, but its still the same general melody and chord progressions. Would this be a violation of something like the re-recording clause, mentioned above?I know I know... ask an attorney...

[simonparker]

Hi Anne:Yes, you should talk to an attorney for your specific events.The no re-record clause that my attorney drafted was for demo-deals that I work time to time with artists that need development but show great promise.The idea behind the no re-record clause is to protect my interest in the project. Since my demo-deals usually require me to put the cash upfront, it is in my interest to recoup these costs first. I also share 50% of the profits from any of these recordings as well, subsequent to the recoupment costs.Should the artist I work with write a hit song - a career identifying song - like "Bleeding Love", the no re-record clause would be powerful in protecting my interest. It would enable me to not only recoup the cost of the original demo, but also allow me to get adequate compensation for the production of the song.