Posted on 01/03/2021 11:36:42 AM PST by SamAdams76
You've finally made it. A record label recognized your exceptional talent and offered you what seems like the deal of a lifetime. But before you sign on the dotted line, make sure you actually understand what you're signing so your dreams of fame and fortune don't turn into a nightmare like it did for Robert Henderson (you never heard of him and there's a reason for that, as he could have been bigger than John Cougar). Here are five tips every artist should consider before signing their first recording contract.
Typically, the initial length of a recording contract is one year. This one year term is generally followed by several option periods, where the record label is free to renew your contract for additional time periods if they like the work you're producing. By limiting the length of your contract to one year, not including option periods, you prevent a record label from effectively controlling your life and creative work for an unreasonable amount of time.
You never know where your career will take you, and it's important to keep your options open. I've seen unscrupulous record labels use five- and even 10-year terms, locking their artists into long-term contracts that destroy their artists' creative lives and financial futures. Before signing that contract, make sure the record label isn't locking you into a lengthy contract with no escape.
In addition, you should think about negotiating a minimum marketing spend as a part of your release commitment. This gives the record label some "skin in the game" when producing your album, forcing them to actually spend money to market your creativity, making your hard work pay off.
Don't let a record label convince you that a one or two percent royalty rate is the industry standard. Some record labels prey upon unsuspecting artists by offering relatively large upfront signing bonuses, giving their artists an initial feeling of success. But in return, the contract gives the artist a paltry royalty rate, ensuring that the label – not the artist – will reap all the long-term rewards of artistic success.
But some record labels sneak in abhorrent and enormous royalty deductions that all but guarantee you'll never receive a royalty check. Watch out for deductions based upon the record label's general costs of doing business, like the deduction of record label owners' salaries and benefits. You should also keep your eyes peeled for deductions that give the label a blank check, like unlimited deductions for travel, hotel stays, car rental, meals and entertainment, and other costs that a devious record label could use to rack up a lavish tab at your expense.
Artists often ask me how they can ensure the record label is being honest with them about the total number of albums or tracks sold. Without honest communication and detailed record keeping, the relationship between artist and label can quickly turn contentious. An audit provision is the best way to prevent this type of communication breakdown before it happens.
The typical audit provision gives the artist the ability to hire a third party auditor to go through the record label's books and records and make sure they're paying the artist what he or she is entitled to under the contract. Typically, the artist must pay for this type of audit. However, many audit clauses require that the record label pay for the audit if a large discrepancy is found.
Before signing a record deal, it’s always a good idea to hire qualified legal counsel to review the record label's proposed contract. But with the above tips in mind, you can now at least look at the contract and know whether the label is trying to squeeze every last penny out of your artistic abilities while hanging you out to dry. Remember, you can be the next John Cougar with your very own "Jack And Diane" type anthem!
I was in a clastic rock bar/events band a few years ago. We had 6 members and would charge $600.00 per night + food and booze. Talked to some other bands and they said that was pretty good compensation these days.
At $100 a night we lost money and we had all the fun of breaking the equipment down and haling it setting it up every night. That's why you don't do it for the money but for the fun.
Now they pay a stupid no talent DJ $600 for something Alexa can do.
The band did OK though, our bar tab was over $600 every night so we got paid twice.
Words shouldn’t be wasted. 😁
>>What’s an aspiring young artist/band to do? CoVid stopped the touring. Radio stations are going out of business. Maybe you get a few hits on YouTube but nothing produces any income.
There are independent acts around the world who are staging online concerts tying in with other acts of similar sound or scene. Each artist plays 2-5 songs, generally in a home sound studio, some in a backyard, a few in a club with or without audience).
That right there helps build an audience in this lockdown world.
Show - Business
Gotta give them the show.
I know some others who are doing 15-30 minute weekly concerts with online tip jars for those who want to give something. They do these on youtube or facebook where they can be shared afterwards (if the artist wants to leave them online). Others use Zoom meetings but there is little to no replay and no share of the video feed to build audience for the next one.
Others are using Bandcamp or Soundcloud. With those an artist can sell digital downloads (for a price or for a donation of varying amound) as well as have a distribution network for merch/orders. Discogs.com is another place that an artist/label can list all of their wares and a direct link for sales.
If people are looking for validation of their music choices (as they do with their movie choices, thus the nation’s strong interest in the Top 10 movies of the week, “I won! Saw the number one movie last week!”) then they aren’t going to ever find it by only looking at what the rigged music charts are pushing.
You are correct. But here’s the thing: Unless you have, in some way, a major label behind you, it is exceedingly difficult to be heard through the massive wall of self-produced stuff out there. Because of the fact that the technology to produce pro-sounding music at home is well within the reach of most musicians there are now literally hundreds of thousands of performers who flood the internet with music. Most of it sucks, some of it’s decent, a minute amount of it ever “breaks out” and goes somewhere. So, the smart way to go about it is to do it all yourself but also somehow attract the attention of a major label because if that happens then you can negotiate to have them handle just a part of your product such as marketing, instead of relying on them to handle everything and thereby ass-rape you.
It’s a sweeping generalization to be sure.
Step 1: Sing like Karen Carpenter or play drums like her.
We’ve Only Just Begun
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaqoQr-aCtQ
Drums
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdHyzGXAJPg
Rick Beato - I just listened to the Top 10 on Spotify...WTF?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5YZHlzAyxo
There are sites/agencies that place music in movies, tv shows, and commercials.
I think there has been at least one director or producer who scouted music on Bandcamp to find affordable music rights for his film (without going through an agency).
I know a friend who got global exposure of one of his (non-celebrity) photos when his site was found in a google search. The publisher used it for a book cover in several nations.
But all of this is like the approach of throwing darts at a globe. Can’t rely on lucky/random hits/matches to advance or continue a career. And without some sort of representation, you are at the biggest risk in any contractual agreements.
Taylor Swift was angry about the deal her producer secured but frankly she wouldn’t have $80,000,000 in the bank herself if she hadn’t had that producer. The hype and the playlists got her there, that’s what publicists, producers, and management is for and they all work harder when they get some of that money (based on a percentage) that the artist is getting.
>>Some contracts claim a percentage of all work you do, not just recordings. So if you act in a movie (no singing) you owe them their cut. If you produce an album for someone else, yup, their cut. If you work in a grocery store, you owe them a cut.
That’s the new scam.
“They” want a cut of t-shirt sales and endorsement fees.
>>We have another friend who is very well known in his genre. He has refused to sign any more deals. He says that selling fewer CDs on his own web site earns him more money than he ever got from a label.
Reminds me of the tale of Bill Haley’s Comets.
Bill started out with a hillbilly band. As a gag they hopped up an R&B number and that took off at their shows.
Eventually his backing band members were replaced with the band that became known as the Comets. They recorded Rock Around The Clock (in 2 takes at the end of a session because the producer owned publishing on an “old” song Thirteen Women). The single was released but didn’t really take off until it was rereleased in conjunction with Blackboard Jungle.
The band was a hit and toured the US and Europe.
But the band members were watching Bill Haley getting/buying new cars while they were struggling.
They walked out (but not before instructing the original bandmembers of the stage show and new songs) and former their own band.
They made more money as the Jodimars with only a couple of singles than they ever had in the Comets.
The Jodimars - Clarabella (1956)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LREd_N-I2Ec
Funny thing, as obscure as they were, the Beatles still covered them.
Clarabella (Live At The BBC For “Pop Go The Beatles” / 16th July, 1963)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSkGljRyhsg
And with the official release of the BeeB tapes they probably saw even more of a financial success.
Pete Best didn’t see any BEATLE money until Anthology and it was noticeable.
Thank, I will pass these on to my son who is the bassist in a 3-man band. They’ve been together for 10 years now, started to have some success a few years ago, got slated as opening act for several nationwide tours, but still haven’t hit the big time. They do put on an entertaining show, high energy. The tours brought in new fans and some attention, but it’s a tough industry. Our son is wondering whether this is still a good option. Thought they’d have “made it” by now, but it all seems up in the air. He is tired of his day job which has been in the restaurant industry. He wants to learn about producing, but I fear that will be just as competitive. At any rate, thanks for your advice. Much appreciated.
>>And with the official release of the BeeB tapes they probably saw even more of a financial success.
On second thought, maybe not. I don’t see any of them with songwriter credit
Also, there are record label deals to be had out there, but you have to prove you can write hot level music, as well as the ability to generate and grow revenue streams before they will take much notice. Yes, the whole industry changed from top to bottom thanks to computers, but I can tell you for a fact, there are entertainers out there who you've never heard of before that are easily pulling 6-8 figures a year in ticket sales and merch--well not this last year though thanks to covid. .
I read this once, cover to cover (but not in order).
No answers are contained within but there are warnings or notice of situations to predict/expect both with releasing (as a label artists or self-released artists) and while on tour.
“Have you ever been stiffed by a club owner? Gone on a disastrous tour? Ever been double-booked by a promoter? Consigned your CD release to the local record store only to find it no longer there and nobody knows where your money is? Eugene Chadbourne uses his hilarious sense of humor to deliver the truth about touring, making records, working with a band, getting a record deal, playing overseas and just about anything else you can think of. With no hype and no fluff, this essential guide is a must for real musicians who have decided to make a living doing what they love: playing music! No matter what style of music you play, no matter where you live, don’t make playing music your life without this survival guide for real musicians!”
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/904561.I_Hate_the_Man_Who_Runs_This_Bar_
wtf?
We are definitely in a brave new world music biz
Here historied songwriter Irving Caesar explains why he proclaims why “I Wonder Who’s Kissing Her Now” is the most perfect popular song ever written
The title is the first line of the song.
The first line tells the entire story right there.
The melody follows the words.
After the hook you can hum it in your head or even make up your own words.
It is the very beginning of the 1 hour episode
https://tubitv.com/tv-shows/493488/s01-e07-always-chasing-rainbows-tin-pan-alley?start=true
Modern hits remind me of modern movie titles (that aren’t franchise series), one word that tells you nothing about the film.
A few years ago, my son was offered a contract as studio guitarist for a big LA label. He had dropped out of Berkeley, saying it was a waste of time, and I told him Godspeed in the business, but you must read every industry/ artist/agent “tell-all” book about it that you can find. He read them all.
They sent the lawyers to see him in Miami but refused to allow him to have anyone else in the room, not counsel, not family. He went, listened, thanked them, and told them to screw off. Was the most ridiculous one-sided deal ever.
Another classic was when a Korean studio sent a “Vice President” to Miami to convince him to play for them. I asked him how the meeting went. “Well, Dad,” he said, “I don’t think she was actually a Vice President. I mean, she was wearing 6 inch heels, stockings, and was dressed like a hooker.” He declined that job, too, lol.
“People wasting time on Free Republic will never get a record deal. Useless post.”
Absolutely wrong. I’m not interested in a record deal, but i have a strong interest in How Things Work in the Real World. And this thread gave insight and history from others with crowd sourced information.
So, thanks,
to all that participated.
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