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my first bit of advice is for you to stop being a cheap skate, and see a lawyer. what ever a lawyer will charge you will be worth it, because of what you learn from the lawyer today, will certainly help you in the future.
1) my friend does business this way. artists will send him material. if likes it, he will buy the track(s). meaning he (my friend) will be the owner of the track. i would say this is more or less how business goes, from my observations. -not just from my friend but watching others too.
2) i think what they are trying to say is that you will get 16% of the net income. gross income is what you have before you deduct expenses, taxes, etc. gross income does not = profit for a business.
net income is the money that is left after all expences, taxes, etc are accounted/paid for. net income, if any = profit.
i belive what they are offering you is 16% of the net, since they want to deduct expenses, before they arrive at a figure that they will give you 16% from.
it is possible to take a cut from the gross earning, but you usually have to have some juice to do this, and the percentage is usually lower.
4) see number 1 basically... i think what they are telling you here, is that once they own your recording, they reserve the right to market or license the track how ever they want.
5) this means, that if the label owes your $100, they reserve the right to hang on to $25 and pay you just $75. later on (w/in 2 accounting cycles) they will give you the last $25.
i belive you can look at this way too: every accounting cycle, they can hang on to %25 of what they owe you.
definately see a lawyer. you might see this one track as small potatoes, so it doesn't matter, or the cost is not justified. this doesn't mean you need to see a lawyer EVERY TIME you sign w/a label, or sell a track... but you never know what's gonna happen next... you might sell more tracks, to this label, or to other labels. get some pro advice now. you will protect your self today, and protect your self in the future also.
a lot of the jargon you see, you'll probably see again. it's better to pay a lawyer to figure it out today, instead of getting screwed today, pay a lawyer tomorrow... or worse yet, getting screwed today and tomorrow.
rememeber, labels want to make money. sometimes this leads to un-ehtical behavior. don't expect them to pamper you, and make sure you get a fair a shake. this is a business, money first.
edit:
opps, forgot to takle number 3: if the label release their own comp "best of xyz records", or "dj abc does xyz's greatest hits" you will get 50% of the income.
"sold thru clubs" means cd clubs, like BMG, or Columbia house... you know those get 13 cd's for $1.00 deals. you will get money from that too.
honestly, i would take some time to think about what you're gonna get 50% of. if the label plans to release a comp... if it's a comp of the label's music, how are they going to give you 50%? mostly likey the label has other artists, and they are probably gonna share some space on a comp.
if the comp is about you... ok, then... but you still have to ask, what are you getting 50% of?
this is another reason to see a lawyer...
and here is one more reason to see lawyer:
does the label sell merchandise? is there any provision in your contract mentioning how/what/if they are going to pay your if they use your name/likeness/tracks, etc on t-shirts n' stuff they sell to promote the label?
who knows... maybe right now they don't have plans to sell t-shirts and stuff like that at all, and think/say they never will. maybe a month or two after you sign they might change their mind. they put the name of your track, along w/cover art on the front, and the label logo on the back. and sell them for $20.00 a pop. you deserve a cut from that.
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Last edited by sr126 on Jun-06-2007 at 18:08
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