Hey,

I just received my first contract from a label, and have very little experience in law, particularly music licenses lol, so i was just wondering if any of you guys could give me a hand with some of this terminology:

1) The length of the contract is the life of copyright. i guess this is absolutely normal but just want to check haha.

2) Royalty rate is 50-50. ive heard this is normal, but after that it says "third party" is 50-50

3) what are "options"? this license says "a further 3"

4) remixes of my track will "be paid 100% recoupable". What does this mean?

would appreciate any advice you guys can give me on this

thanks a lot!
Alex

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i think you should seek out a little more professional advice...doesn't sound like you have any idea what you'e signing...

Do yourself a favour and get a consultation with a lawyer...

Actually signing with a reliable label shoudlnt get you in trouble, but just in case...it's better to have a lawyer check out your contract...Hell I've even done that with my job contract...(not music)

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4) means : you will have to repay the amount that will be given to you as an advance. You'll start making a profit when sales of the record has paid the debt.

never heard of a 50/50 royalty rate. 20% for the artist is already rare.
Do you have to pay for expenses as well ? Also, you'll need a manager, a music lawyer, and an accountant at the end of the tax year(legal&compulsory)

quote:

Originally posted by theholyalex Hey, I just received my first contract from a label, and have very little experience in law, particularly music licenses lol, so i was just wondering if any of you guys could give me a hand with some of this terminology: 1) The length of the contract is the life of copyright. i guess this is absolutely normal but just want to check haha. 2) Royalty rate is 50-50. ive heard this is normal, but after that it says "third party" is 50-50 Third party is from compilations/licencing to outside the label. 3) what are "options"? this license says "a further 3" This means that they want to be able to claim your next 3 tracks 4) remixes of my track will "be paid 100% recoupable". What does this mean? This means that the costs for remixes will be paid out of your income would appreciate any advice you guys can give me on this thanks a lot! Alex

Seek out professional advice, because I am positive you are missing important stuff. The first contract a label presents you is always full of b/s.

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Does music really sell so much that using a lawyer etc can be profitable.. i doubt it.

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quote:

Originally posted by Subtle Does music really sell so much that using a lawyer etc can be profitable.. i doubt it.

its not terribly expensive to get someone to look over a contract...

quote:

Originally posted by Floorfiller its not terribly expensive to get someone to look over a contract...

it's $200.00 an hour but most contracts will be corrected in 30min or less(my own business outside of music requires a lot of contract review).

1.) you're signing your track to the length of the copyright which is either until you die or 75yrs
2.) royalty right - i assume they're talking about compilations, they'll split any proceeds beyond them that try and license the track 50/50 withyou
3.) i don't understand what you're asking
4.) once the label has broke even on its spending to get the track profitable the proceeds will then start to be split

cheers guys, dont wanna sound like im disregarding your advice (i REALLY appreciate it) but i dont have money atm to consult with a lawyer, the label itself is well respected and after some more research on the internet im quite happy signing to this label,

thanks very much again!
Alex

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it's not about the respectability of a label. You have to understand that contracts are negotiable, and in the music industry it is just standard to have stuff scrapped from the first version of your contract.

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1) The length of the contract is the life of copyright. i guess this is absolutely normal but just want to check haha.

Depends on what it's based, but this means that the label becomes master owner of the rights for a period of 100 years unless they give them to you afterwards, what happens quite often.

2) Royalty rate is 50-50. ive heard this is normal, but after that it says "third party" is 50-50

3rd party: compilations, licenses, everything that's not being physically released by the label itself. 50/50 is a good deal.

3) what are "options"? this license says "a further 3"

I have doubts, either it's an option on the next 2 singles under this project name, or the next 3 ones. So this basically means you MUST offer at least 2 or 3 new singles under that name to the company FIRST and that the company has the right to refuse them until it judges you have made decent ones to be released (which isn't a big deal)

4) remixes of my track will "be paid 100% recoupable". What does this mean?

this means that remixes that you get will be partially or totally financed by the releases.


This is a quite standard contract actually. What's your standard royalty rate for in-house releases? MAKE SURE IT IS MENTIONED on the contract, otherwise the label won't owe you any money for the vinyl sales and in-house compils AND WEB SALES! Don't forget publishing either, otherwise no MCPS author rights for you.

L.

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