The Ins and Outs of Recording Contracts
By Ty Cohen | On April 23, 2008 | In Music | Rated 
Before you sign on any recording contracts it is very important to understand everything you are getting into. There are many legal aspects that you may not be aware of. In order to comprehend everything, you need to read the contract carefully and if possible bring an attorney with you. The last thing you need is to get stuck with a contract that heavily favors the recording company. Sometimes you can even block some of your work this way and waste hours of time and money. Here are 3 points to look for before you sign.
The terms of the recording contracts: The term of any agreement is one of the key points of the deal. This clause will bind you for a certain length of time to the company. Initially it is often around a year. If the partnership works well you will be able to extend this. You will need to pay special attention to what your commitment will entail. You will be required to do a certain amount of songs within the time frame of the contract. Be sure that you do not sign up for too many, as this can be time consuming and not very profitable.
Copyrights for the recording contracts: This is an important legal point for any artist. The copyrights to your work should belong to you. Of course in order to produce your work the company will have some rights as well as you. It is imperative that you the artist know what this entails. You do not want a company to take advantage of you and use your work without your permission, anywhere they want. Look into licensing agreements and see which ones will favor you and not cost you a lot of out of pocket expenses.
Royalties for recording contracts: royalties are the percentage that you will get paid every time a record or DVD etc. of your work is sold by the company, or can be based on wholesale sales. It is important to understand how much you will be getting and when. Also be aware of any overheads like the production costs that may be taken off your Royalties. This will be one of the main sources of income for you, so extra care should be taken to understand the clauses before signing.. There is another thing you need to distinguish between; the royalties of the songwriter when the music is published and the royalties that you the artist will be paid.
These are just a few points to look for when you sign recording contracts. When you pay close attention to what you are signing for you can look forward to a successful partnership between you and the company.
The terms of the recording contracts: The term of any agreement is one of the key points of the deal. This clause will bind you for a certain length of time to the company. Initially it is often around a year. If the partnership works well you will be able to extend this. You will need to pay special attention to what your commitment will entail. You will be required to do a certain amount of songs within the time frame of the contract. Be sure that you do not sign up for too many, as this can be time consuming and not very profitable.
Copyrights for the recording contracts: This is an important legal point for any artist. The copyrights to your work should belong to you. Of course in order to produce your work the company will have some rights as well as you. It is imperative that you the artist know what this entails. You do not want a company to take advantage of you and use your work without your permission, anywhere they want. Look into licensing agreements and see which ones will favor you and not cost you a lot of out of pocket expenses.
Royalties for recording contracts: royalties are the percentage that you will get paid every time a record or DVD etc. of your work is sold by the company, or can be based on wholesale sales. It is important to understand how much you will be getting and when. Also be aware of any overheads like the production costs that may be taken off your Royalties. This will be one of the main sources of income for you, so extra care should be taken to understand the clauses before signing.. There is another thing you need to distinguish between; the royalties of the songwriter when the music is published and the royalties that you the artist will be paid.
These are just a few points to look for when you sign recording contracts. When you pay close attention to what you are signing for you can look forward to a successful partnership between you and the company.