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Hey Chuck
I know Art doesn’t want discussions about specific pay sites on MLR. Unfortunately, these discussions, especially about the company you are asking about, quickly get very heated and ugly.Not my call… Up to Art.
Best
Yes, More Advice, all the libraries are lying to us. I think the time has come that we give all the library owners polygraph tests every quarter. Don’t sign any deals with libraries whose owner won’t submit to polygraph testing.
[roll eyes]
I would never pay money directly to a library for submitting my music. As far as 3rd party services go, I stay away from ones where the listing party gets a share of the submission fee. That’s true for one that starts with “S” and one that starts with “B”.
But not all services are bad. I’ve had success through ones starting with “T”, “F”, and “H”.
This is a touchy subject here as Art doesn’t want to discuss specific pay sites on this site. And debates about certain services get heated very quickly. So I won’t go there.
Hi 13ones
Just thought I’d ask. WHY are you concerned about forming an LLC? That’s the more important question. If you are just starting out and you have only small income from music (a few hundred to a few thousand dollars per year), I wouldn’t even bother with this stuff. However, if you are making serious money already, that’s different.
The reason I ask is sometimes I see folks putting the cart way before the horse and expending energy on things that are not important for where they are at this point. I have no way of knowing if that is the case here, of course.
Anyway, as far as LLC advice… Can’t get better than from Michael since he is a lawyer. (But we like him anyway!)
Best 😀
You can (from a legal and kosher POV) always put the same tracks in multiple non-exclusive libraries of any kind. Some RF libraries such as Audiosparx re-title for you by adding a tag to your original title. With others, you should ask if they register tracks with PROs and how they handle titles. Some on-line RF libraries rarely get broadcast TV placements so with those I really don’t concern myself about how the tracks might get registered with PROs.
One thing that many composers do is re-title the tracks ourselves when loading to multiple NE libraries, especially the RF kind whereby they may have no re-title policy. It makes it easier to track things and could *possibly* prevent your tracks from obviously price competing against themselves, should someone do Google searches.
For example, let’s say you have a song in a conventional NE library. If you then want to also put in in a NE RF library, you would re-title it yourself.
HTH
Just as a point of general information, even if Edouardo doesn’t think this is the best route for him in his situation…
Very often, if you want to share a percentage of ALL revenue (upfront and PRO) earned by a track with someone who performed on the track, it’s cleaner and easier to make them a co-writer (at some percentage) than do a work-for-hire. When you make someone a co-writer, the PRO payments automatically get divided up and paid directly to the writers so you wouldn’t have to collect and then pay out. With PRO royalties not being a one-shot and being a stream over a long period of time, paying out shares each quarter could be a pain.
In many cases, a library will often also pay out separate shares by percentage for upfront license fees as well. (Not all libraries will). So it could be another thing on “autopilot”.
This is a better deal for the performer who worked on your track because once the track is registered with the percentages and signed with libraries with those percentages specified (where the library permits), the performer doesn’t have to be concerned about collecting from you, if something happens to you, etc.
Also, if you collect revenue and then pay out, you are responsible for the tax on that revenue. If you deduct music expenses, you could deduct off what you paid out, but again it’s one more housekeeping chore. (Talking US Residents… Don’t know how it works anywhere else)
And last… I mentioned in some of the posts that got lost in the crash that many professionals split co-write shares in equal percentages (e.g. 50/50 for 2 people) regardless of the individual contribution effort. It could be that the guitar player who laid down those lead licks or the vocalist’s performance that made the difference between getting the track licensed or not. And if you build long term relationships with people and do more work together, things can even out.
There obviously are no hard & fast rules.
You do not have permission to view this content.What happened to our other posts? Art? There was a lot more to this discussion… Co-write vs. WFH, etc…
Good luck, Edouardo!
You should have the singer sign a Work For Hire/Musician’s Release. First, you need that to show that you own all rights to the master and composition and that the vocalist has no claims on any future royalties other than what’s specified. Second, the document can state the percentage you will pay and on what types of royalties/fees.
If you pay $0 upfront, I think 10% is WAY too little since many cues make little or no money ever. MHO is the percent should be MUCH larger.
One template for this type of agreement is at: http://johnbraheny.com/resources/work-for-hire-agreement/
Make sure you are clear that any percentages you would pay the vocalist is YOUR responsibility, not the party licensing the track.
Alternatively, you could just make the vocalist a co-writer from the get-go and then they would share any and all types of income 50/50 with you. Much cleaner and fairer.
Oh crap… I’m old.
Michael doesn’t even buy green bananas anymore. Now THAT’S old!!
😀
Denbo
I think I’d rather have some onion rings. 😉Regards to Sandra… Tell her Jennifer Aniston says hi!
😀
Fluid seal sales? Wow, Denbo17!!! Talk about a chick magnet profession! LOL! I can razz you because I also work in a techie geeky field by day. 😉
Forum color commentator. :p
In my case, of course, the beautiful & scantily clad women are genuinely interested in me. 😉
Usually it’s a spammer. Sometimes they are scantily clad women (in the profile pic) who just happen to love your music and are dying to get to know you better by sharing their photos. 😉
Other times it’s someone wanting to sell you something music related such as production services, memberships, etc.
🙂