Pitfalls in contracts

[guitaroboe]

A lot of times great opportunities to write music come knocking on our door and we get so excited to get the call, that we forget to take care of the business. Taking care of the business side of any composing gig we get is just as important as writing the right music. If contracts are involved, then make sure that nothing is implied and definitely look for the fine print. Case in point-
I was recently contacted by a production company to write three spots for a huge Cable TV station, one for sports, one for movies and one for news. I was given visuals so I scored demos to picture and send the music for approval. My tracks passed with flying colors so all that was left was to sign the contract and finish the music. The TV station sent me the contract and much to amazement I saw that they would pay for my creative fees + studio time BUT they wanted to OWN the music in perpetuity!!! I phoned them and asked if they meant to renegotiate for a buyout but they were adamant that my creative fees + studio time would be the only payment and they would OWN the music. I explained to them politely that just because someone rents you a car it does not mean that you actually own the car-unless you buy the car for a fee that would cost more than the rental!!! They basically said –take it or leave it- so I left! A gig like that would mean a lot of backend payments for me, if I owned the music. I refuse to give it away to greedy corporations for a pittance.
So fellow composers, be careful what you sign and do not give away your stuff !

Adonis

[Casey H]

Sorry things didn't work out for you here, Adonis.

The lesson here isn't so much a contract one as much as an "always agree to terms and sign the deal UP FRONT" one. Before you spend hours of studio time making music for a client, you need to have your contract agreed upon and in place.

If you are sure you don't want to take this deal, hopefully these tracks will be very usable elsewhere.

Best of luck,
Casey

[kclements]

Great topic. I am in the middle of something similar myself.

I have a good buddy of mine who is a producer of content with a pretty large client. They do a lot of work together and they are trying to introduce custom music to the client. So they asked me to give a quote range for 32, 2 minute intro pieces of music. I agreed to a lesser amount up front - partially to introduce myself to the big client with the understanding if they like what I do, they will use me again.

The big question is who owns the music when we are done. The big client will not pay residuals -so it is a one time use/pay on their part. But the question in my mind is am I able to use the music for other things. If so, then I believe this is an ok deal for me. Even though my initial creative fee is lower, I can use the music for other purposes. If they want to own the music out right (in a work for hire kind of deal) then I have to question if I am getting enough up front for the chance to work with them on a pretty steady basis with an understanding that fees will go up.

I am not too worried about getting screwed. But it is an interesting line to walk between charging a fair rate for your work, introducing your skills to a new, potentially big client, and asking who owns it when you are done. And, most importantly, getting it in writing. As much as I trust my friend, these kinds of questions must be spelled out in writing and agreed upon.

As for your situation, Adonis, good for you to be willing to walk away rather than compromise your ideas to make a buck. I'll wager that your tracks will find a home somewhere!

kc

[crs7string]

Adonis,

One of the things I learned at the Rally from the video game panels in the last two years is that the composers for games have absolutely no back end payments. The game companies don't want to open the door for back end payments to the other creative people working on the game.

So the idea of no back end is not necessarily a company out to rip you off.

I think the key to this type of arrangement is to get paid enough upfront that the backend doesn't matter.

It sounds like the lack of back end on your opportunity didn't rear it's head early enough in the process. It may seem like an expensive lesson, but hopefully you only have to pay for the lesson only once.


Chuck

[guitaroboe]

THANKS for the posts guys!
Chuck, backend was the very issue here because we're talking about a huge TV station playing
my music day in and day out. night in and night out, supporting their 3 spots (news, sports, movies).
Their insistence on owning the music means that they do not want to pay PRS (European PRO) any more
money than they have to. What really annoyed me was the fact that they refused to buyout the music for a reasonable
amount of money. I wasn't looking to rip them off on the buyout price at all!! In TV and radio everything is about
backend. There are not that many avenues left for us working composers to earn a living.
Two years ago I might have taken the money and shut up because I was starving and any piece of dogmeat
would be good just to get my foot in the door. Things have changed for the better (bless my socks) and I get
a nice income from my advertising gigs, placements etc. I just can't give away the whole shop and have them think
that they did me a favor...for ripping me off! The biggest kick I get every time I hear my music on TV or radio is
knowing that my work gets compensated every time!

any other thoughts are welcomed !
Adonis

[crs7string]

Adonis,

I think you did the right thing in this situation. I'm happy that you are operating from a position of strength.

And, I think many composers would have folded, adding another slight undermining of the value of what we produce.

In the immortal words of Kenny Rogers in the "Gambler" : "You need to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away, know when to run".


Great to hear about all the great things you're doing. Must be all the new RAM


Chuck

[fret17]

*

[guitaroboe]

Ok,
all figures I will present will be rounded off to USD since I operate in Europe with EUR's.
So, roughly, here's how it went:
Each spot was 7 seconds long so multiplied by 3 spots it comes to about 21 seconds of music.
My creative fees + studio time for media music is $6000 per finished minute, excluding costs for live musicians.
It's quite a reasonable fee bearing in mind that most ads on TV last 30 seconds. So the initial quotation for the 3
spots was $2000. Once they asked to own the music I made them a buyout offer taking into account that they'd be
using the spots for at least 2 years on a 24 hour basis on their cable network, online sites and wherever they saw fit:
buyout price $10,000 all in.
Their response was: $2000 is enough for a buyout-take it or leave it.
I HAD to leave! they can't have it both ways!! owning AND using something they NEVER created without properly compensating for it!
Adonis

[fret17]

*

[matto]

I think it's important here to clarify terminology...just because a company OWNS a piece of music doesn't necessarily mean you will not get paid performance royalties. Ownership typically just denotes copyright ownership, meaning the company will own the publishing in perpetuity and you can not reuse/market the music in any shape or form...but they can.
However your PRO writer's royalties are generally not affected...they will simply collect the publisher's share. At least this is how it is in North America.

Remember that it's is not the production company that pays the performance royalties, it's the PRO which in turn typically collects blanket fees from the stations (in the case of interstitial uses such as commercials they are almost always blankets which means even if the production company was the cable station it wouldn't cost them extra to air your spots).

Now I don't know what your contract looked like specifically, so I cannot comment on that, nor do I know if European laws/terminology differ on this point. I'm only posting this because there is so much misinformation about this topic out there and most composers automatically see red when they encounter terminology like 'ownership' or 'work-for-hire'...
They automatically think it's tantamount to a COMPLETE BUYOUT, but that's usually not the case at all, at least not here in North America.
Consider that virtually all major motion picture scores and tv themes in the US are work-for-hire and thus owned by the respective studios, yet those composers happily collect their ASCAP or BMI writers' royalties.
I have personally signed hundreds of production music tracks under WFH agreements, and I'm collecting writer's share on all of them.

If faced with an ownership/WFH agreement, look for a clause stating 'composer will receive the writer's share of performance royalties directly from their PRO' or something to that effect. If no such clause is present, ask for it to be added. Only if this is refused, or there is a clause specifically excluding you from writer's share payments, are you dealing with a complete buyout (which I agree you should never sign).

Hope this sheds some light...

matto