Music licensing is becoming an ever greater source of income for musicians at any level. However, many acts just starting out fail to see the amazing opportunity for exposure that licensing may give you. One of the best ways to get your name known is through sync licensing.
Sync licensing is the process by which a song is placed in conjunction with another vocal track, image, or moving image. For example, all the great songs you hear in the movies, television ads and programs, and even some radio commercials are sync licensing. The possibilities continue beyond that though as, for example, corporations will often license music for use in their own in-house presentations.
Sync licenses can pay anywhere from a few hundred dollars to hundreds of thousands depending on a few critical contract terms and how well the music is known. Those contract terms are usually how long your music is going to be played, how large a geographic area, whether you grant an exclusive or non-exclusive license, and the duration the license will be granted. A band who gets a sync license for advertising for a whole 30 second commercial, worldwide, for a year, and exclusive rights will be paid more than if the commercial was only in the U.S., for 10 seconds of a 30 second commercial, 3 month duration, and a non-exclusive license.
But don't let money be your only worry. Television commercials, movies, and shows are powerful ways to reach a large audience and increase your exposure. Many musicians have furthered their careers solely based on a national television spot. Be on the lookout for potential opportunities in this area if you are looking to further your exposure. Besides, it might also possibly lead to a nice paycheck.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Copyright
Copyright seems to be the topic most people in entertainment know about, but few people actually understand. This is going to be a quick overview on copyright and why it is important to the entertainment world.
Copyright is defined legally as an "original work(s) of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression, from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated..." That's great, right? But what does that mean? Let us break it down.
An "original work of authorship" is any new concept that fits into a legally defined category of protection. The categories of protection includes such things as: literary, musical, dramatic, pictorial, graphic, sculptural, audiovisual, architectural, or sound recording. So, if you have an idea which is new and can be placed into one of those legally defined categories, you are half way there.
The next step in copyright is to place your idea in "any tangible medium of expression". Essentially, you must be able to place your idea into a format which can be physically manipulated. But, wait, what about sound recordings? You can't physically manipulate a sound recording, right? True. That is why we must combine the next section of the law which states, "from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated...". Basically, if you have an idea, even on in an electronic format, which you can convey to other people from some physical object, then you have a copyright.
That's it. To have a copyright that is all you are required to have. You do not have to register your copyright to have copyright protection. However, that said, registering your work with the U.S. copyright office makes it a lot easier to legally defend your work should someone violate your copyright.
Next time we will talk about what a copyright gives you the right to do and what you can do with it.
Copyright is defined legally as an "original work(s) of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression, from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated..." That's great, right? But what does that mean? Let us break it down.
An "original work of authorship" is any new concept that fits into a legally defined category of protection. The categories of protection includes such things as: literary, musical, dramatic, pictorial, graphic, sculptural, audiovisual, architectural, or sound recording. So, if you have an idea which is new and can be placed into one of those legally defined categories, you are half way there.
The next step in copyright is to place your idea in "any tangible medium of expression". Essentially, you must be able to place your idea into a format which can be physically manipulated. But, wait, what about sound recordings? You can't physically manipulate a sound recording, right? True. That is why we must combine the next section of the law which states, "from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated...". Basically, if you have an idea, even on in an electronic format, which you can convey to other people from some physical object, then you have a copyright.
That's it. To have a copyright that is all you are required to have. You do not have to register your copyright to have copyright protection. However, that said, registering your work with the U.S. copyright office makes it a lot easier to legally defend your work should someone violate your copyright.
Next time we will talk about what a copyright gives you the right to do and what you can do with it.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
360 Deals and Artist Management
It's a pretty well known fact no days that major labels are not going to sign unknown artists. The only chance a musician has at being signed to a major label is to be previously established. What I mean by previously established is that they must have a fan base large enough and a business plan laid out that shows a label they will make money on the deal from the start. But, all is not lost. There may be another way involving the 360 deal.
As the decline in records continues to wreak havoc upon the bottom line of labels they are going to look to other avenues of profit to balance their books. 360 deals offer a viable solution. In traditional music contracts the record company gives you a loan which you pay back through royalties. If the musician is able to pay off their loan then the record company gets a cut of the royalties from there on out to make a profit. The label would offset the cost of loans to musicians that didn't do well, with the massive profit made off the few musicians who did phenomenally. With the decline of record sales that is becoming less and less possible. So, how can a 360 deal save the day?
A 360 deal allows a record label access to more streams of revenue from an artist. Instead of getting a percentage of just royalties from record sales, the label gets a percentage from merchandise, tours, publishing, advertising, and anything else they can think of that will bring them money. But, little known musicians may benefit from this as well. Labels may start to see an avenue in which they are involved in artist development. By taking a slice of all revenue streams the label will have an incentive to make the artist as good as they can. Consequently, labels will find they make a profit off of small artists, thus encouraging them to sign more unknown names.
If you happen to be a band who has gotten some interest, but no deal, perhaps you should consider pitching them a 360 artist development deal that would benefit both parties.
As the decline in records continues to wreak havoc upon the bottom line of labels they are going to look to other avenues of profit to balance their books. 360 deals offer a viable solution. In traditional music contracts the record company gives you a loan which you pay back through royalties. If the musician is able to pay off their loan then the record company gets a cut of the royalties from there on out to make a profit. The label would offset the cost of loans to musicians that didn't do well, with the massive profit made off the few musicians who did phenomenally. With the decline of record sales that is becoming less and less possible. So, how can a 360 deal save the day?
A 360 deal allows a record label access to more streams of revenue from an artist. Instead of getting a percentage of just royalties from record sales, the label gets a percentage from merchandise, tours, publishing, advertising, and anything else they can think of that will bring them money. But, little known musicians may benefit from this as well. Labels may start to see an avenue in which they are involved in artist development. By taking a slice of all revenue streams the label will have an incentive to make the artist as good as they can. Consequently, labels will find they make a profit off of small artists, thus encouraging them to sign more unknown names.
If you happen to be a band who has gotten some interest, but no deal, perhaps you should consider pitching them a 360 artist development deal that would benefit both parties.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Cross-Collateralization
Alright, it's time to speak to musicians about the dreaded Cross Collateralization clause. This is a clause feared by many who know what it is capable of. Many a record deal has been brought to ruin thanks to this gem of a contract.
Cross-Collateralization is a defense mechanism by record companies. It forces artists to repay the record company for any monies spent on the record with successive records. Let's break that down into a real world example. You get a record contract. Yay! Congrats. Now, for your first album the record company spends $250,000 in studio fees, distribution, advertising, etc... Your album doesn't do the greatest, and ended up only returning $150,000 to the record company. The record company isn't concerned though, because they can collect against the $100,000 deficit of the last album through the sales of the next one you make. However, lately it doesn't just stop there. The record companies have found they can do this with every media outlet you try.
In the last 10-15 years record companies have started to use this cross collateralization concept on any form of income to the artist. So, suppose you owe them $100,000 from the poor sales of the last album. Lately, they have clauses that allow them to take money from other sources of revenue for the artist. If you get a great licensing contract to put your song on a movie and get paid $150,000 for it, guess where $100,000 of that is going? Yup, to the record company.
So, musicians be very careful about what you sign and know exactly what rights you are giving up, and what revenue streams the record company can take from.
Cross-Collateralization is a defense mechanism by record companies. It forces artists to repay the record company for any monies spent on the record with successive records. Let's break that down into a real world example. You get a record contract. Yay! Congrats. Now, for your first album the record company spends $250,000 in studio fees, distribution, advertising, etc... Your album doesn't do the greatest, and ended up only returning $150,000 to the record company. The record company isn't concerned though, because they can collect against the $100,000 deficit of the last album through the sales of the next one you make. However, lately it doesn't just stop there. The record companies have found they can do this with every media outlet you try.
In the last 10-15 years record companies have started to use this cross collateralization concept on any form of income to the artist. So, suppose you owe them $100,000 from the poor sales of the last album. Lately, they have clauses that allow them to take money from other sources of revenue for the artist. If you get a great licensing contract to put your song on a movie and get paid $150,000 for it, guess where $100,000 of that is going? Yup, to the record company.
So, musicians be very careful about what you sign and know exactly what rights you are giving up, and what revenue streams the record company can take from.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
The wide world of validity
So, today I'd like to take a look at validity clauses. Validity clauses are used by lawyers to keep as much of a contract alive and well as possible. They in brief state that if one part of the contract is found to be invalid the rest of it is still valid. What this means for an artist is this: A contract can, usually, no longer be discarded just because one item in it is invalid.
This is effectively, the black knight's clause from Monty Pythons' search for the holy grail. You can chop of an arm, or a leg, and it still lives. Tis a flesh wound! (please, Monty Python, don't sue!) So, be careful when you sign a contract to remember that even if one section can be thrown out due to an invalid clause the rest of it can continue to bind you to it.
This is effectively, the black knight's clause from Monty Pythons' search for the holy grail. You can chop of an arm, or a leg, and it still lives. Tis a flesh wound! (please, Monty Python, don't sue!) So, be careful when you sign a contract to remember that even if one section can be thrown out due to an invalid clause the rest of it can continue to bind you to it.
Friday, January 15, 2010
The awesome merger clause!
Alright, with my first intro blog post out of the way it's time to write about something that may actually be of interest(but it's still pretty drab material): The merger clause!
Merger clauses often start something like this, "this contract represents the whole of the agreement between the parties". You might be thinking, so what? Well, this is a very important clause. In your negotiating the contract, did you or the other person make any verbal commitments? Yes? Is it in the contract? ...No. Now you have a problem.
Merger clauses are designed to be all encompassing. They basically tell courts that everything about our deal is in this contract, and nothing outside of it is included. So, if you want to make sure you don't run into problems down the road you need to put everything discussed is in the contract. Otherwise, if a problem arises you may have a lengthy legal battle ahead of you.
And that, is what you need to know about merger clauses.
Merger clauses often start something like this, "this contract represents the whole of the agreement between the parties". You might be thinking, so what? Well, this is a very important clause. In your negotiating the contract, did you or the other person make any verbal commitments? Yes? Is it in the contract? ...No. Now you have a problem.
Merger clauses are designed to be all encompassing. They basically tell courts that everything about our deal is in this contract, and nothing outside of it is included. So, if you want to make sure you don't run into problems down the road you need to put everything discussed is in the contract. Otherwise, if a problem arises you may have a lengthy legal battle ahead of you.
And that, is what you need to know about merger clauses.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Introduction day!
It occurred to me a while ago that most people in the entertainment industry may need some help understanding some basic legal concepts. This blog was made to highlight some of those concepts, as well as discuss recent entertainment law news and its effects.
I'm utterly and completely new to this 'blogging' thing, so bear with me. I promise to try to be interesting and not fall into the pit of despair, but don't hold your breath. Much of the law is very boring, but very important.
Hopefully this will help answer some questions for those in the biz, as well as serve the purpose of some shameless self promotion. :P Stay tuned, I'll begin actually posting some material this week.
I'm utterly and completely new to this 'blogging' thing, so bear with me. I promise to try to be interesting and not fall into the pit of despair, but don't hold your breath. Much of the law is very boring, but very important.
Hopefully this will help answer some questions for those in the biz, as well as serve the purpose of some shameless self promotion. :P Stay tuned, I'll begin actually posting some material this week.
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