Collaboration and contracts

[ednot]

This is my first post, so be gentle with me I have read a number of posts on here about the merits of collaborating with others, which is predominantly the way I work. This means that various folk can be involved in the writing, recording, and producing with me. I am however rather unclear about the best way to ensure that any income is fairly split. Can someone direct me to any resources, and / or give me an account of personal experiences that would give me some ideas on how to go about this. Many ThanksEd

[hummingbird]

Welcome aboard!! This is how I work with my collaborations - everything is divided equally. Two songwriters, 50/50. If the two parts can be divided (like lyrics and music), then we include a reversion clause in the agreement. If we both contributed, then no reversion. We agree to split any costs (copyright fees, demos) providing they are approved in advance, in writing. We always sign a co-writing agreement up front that details our agreement. More than that, I usually try to discuss our working relationship. Of course people can get emotionally attached to their work and negotiating for change or accepting other ideas can be difficult. I try to work by these rules: nothing is written in stone (everything is re-writable); we both have to agree (for example, if I want to change something & the partner doesn't, then we need to discuss until one of us can let go of our POV - or perhaps get an outside opinion); that we need to respectfully listen to each other -- because the fun of collaborating is arriving somewhere you wouldn't be if you'd gone on your own.HTHH'Bird

[ednot]

Hey thanks for the reply !I have probably got quite a chaotic way of working in comparison, as there are about 12 people who I regularly write and record with. There are quite a lot of times when people's contribution to a given track is limited. This means that a track can end up having up to 5 people involved. The contribution of each person varying significantly. I love this way of working, and people drop by the studio when they can. dipping in and out of projects. Having recently got a number of forwards here on taxi, I am concerned as to the best option in terms of a way to reflect the varying contributions of different folk. I guess we could divide this equally, but there are a few of us who do an awful lot of the behind the scenes work, on top of doing the majority of the music. I think I need some sort of points system

[ajenkz]

Maybe you could measure it by hours of work put into it? Kind of hard to keep track of if people aren't in the studio with you while working on a project, but they could clock in and out just like a regular job, and in the end you could divy up based on that. I've heard of some people doing stuff similar to this and it seems to work with them, as long as you don't have someone who purposely takes 4 hours to write 3 words of a chorus to take advantage

[ednot]

Like the idea, aside from needing a device for clocking in Although I think it is me who takes four hours to write one word

[jchitty]

I always offer a 50-50 split on a song, no matter who did what. When you start quibbling over stuff, then projects just end up being scraped. I suppose this is the Nashville way too. There's this joke I've heard.....that if a person walks into the room to deliver coffee while a song is being written in Nashville, then they get a co-write too. This is just an old tradition......people don't realize that if you're fighting for more credit, then the project could be tossed all together. You want to do what's best for the song, not your ego. And I think you want to make money too. I'm guessing that if your song ever does get a contract or an artist to sing it, they'll want their hand in the pie, and then your share of the co-write will be reduced again. But 25 percent of something is better than 100 percent of nothing....well, that's what I've heard. If I have a song I want 100 percent credit for, I just save it for myself and submit it solo. Vikki brings up a good point about getting attached to your work. You can't be a control freak.....you have to let co-writers have input too. You gotta embrace changes to your song too. I find it all boils down to compromise....I may feel strongly about keeping a certain line, and I'll often offer a trade on another line. That way, the other co-writer gets to make changes, but you can keep some of your other original lines too. It's all good.

[ednot]

Many thanks for this, I guess the couple of us who put in the hours need to think this one over

[weapon]

You need to divide it up on a percentage base. Publishing, Producing (Points on the record), then you have performing rights, mechanical rights. Are things being done as a work for hire? There are alot of factors to consider, my advice for you would be to get a good entertainment attorney, sit down with him and get standard contracts drawn up for future use, it will save you alot of trouble and headaches down the line. It should cost you about $2500 to get them all done and then you have your templates for all time.