Recording Contract - Legal Eyes Required Please
Discussion
Hi all,
I infrequently make noise in a shouty screamy guitar band, and as a result fame has come knocking. Or, more realistically and accurately, we've been offered a legup via a distribution deal (currently self funded & self produced) from a small independent label.
Now, as a sales manager, and the rest of the band consisting of a plumber and a chef, we aren't as well versed at reading legal documents as we'd like to be. Also, we don't want to come across to the label as green and inexperienced by asking loads of questions. Even though we are.
I have a couple of questions regarding the contract (the documents seem to contradict each other and we don't know which takes precedent), and I'm wondering if someone with a bit of knowledge in the area would be able to cast their eyes over it and advise please.
Naturally I'm not expecting you to do your job for free, so if nobody is comfortable doing it, that's fine. I'm more asking for an explanation/clarification rather than a full legal consulting or anything like that.
Anyone?
Cheers!
I infrequently make noise in a shouty screamy guitar band, and as a result fame has come knocking. Or, more realistically and accurately, we've been offered a legup via a distribution deal (currently self funded & self produced) from a small independent label.
Now, as a sales manager, and the rest of the band consisting of a plumber and a chef, we aren't as well versed at reading legal documents as we'd like to be. Also, we don't want to come across to the label as green and inexperienced by asking loads of questions. Even though we are.
I have a couple of questions regarding the contract (the documents seem to contradict each other and we don't know which takes precedent), and I'm wondering if someone with a bit of knowledge in the area would be able to cast their eyes over it and advise please.
Naturally I'm not expecting you to do your job for free, so if nobody is comfortable doing it, that's fine. I'm more asking for an explanation/clarification rather than a full legal consulting or anything like that.
Anyone?
Cheers!
Go on then. I had that Brian Ferry in the back of my cab once.
Factoid: Robert E Lee there is not the Confederate General but a partner in law firm Lee and Thompson.
Roxy Music said:
Make me a deal and make it straight
All signed and sealed, I'll take it
To Robert E. Lee I'll show it
I hope and pray he don't blow it 'cause
We've been around a long time just try try try tryin' to
Make the big time
(Virginia Plain, 1972)All signed and sealed, I'll take it
To Robert E. Lee I'll show it
I hope and pray he don't blow it 'cause
We've been around a long time just try try try tryin' to
Make the big time
Factoid: Robert E Lee there is not the Confederate General but a partner in law firm Lee and Thompson.
thanks Small independent labels are often cash poor, and as such don't use lawyers. They take contracts, or bits of contracts, that the people working there have seen and managed to swipe copies of during previous jobs. Then they take scissors and a pot of glue and (generally) make a f
king dogs' dinner out of what they have, but call said dogs' dinner their "contract".
It would be wholly unsurprising to find that the docs you've been given are inconsistent and/or contradict one another.
Conversely young aspiring artistes such as your good selves often don't read the "contract", preferring to fix their gaze on what seems like inevitable future fame and fortune. So they sign, then wonder some months/years later why they aren't receiving any money. The answer is often the second rule of the music industry: contracts are for filling drawers, stabilising wobbly tables, and (sometimes) the first step in the real negotiations. For when there is no money around, there is no point in spending money on lawyers; the time to spend money on lawyers is when there is money around (and in the record company's account/noses) and the artistes are still too povvo to be be able to fight for it.
Good luck. Make sure you have a right of entry to the label's offices and audit of their accounting records. You may need that more than anything else.
king dogs' dinner out of what they have, but call said dogs' dinner their "contract". It would be wholly unsurprising to find that the docs you've been given are inconsistent and/or contradict one another.
Conversely young aspiring artistes such as your good selves often don't read the "contract", preferring to fix their gaze on what seems like inevitable future fame and fortune. So they sign, then wonder some months/years later why they aren't receiving any money. The answer is often the second rule of the music industry: contracts are for filling drawers, stabilising wobbly tables, and (sometimes) the first step in the real negotiations. For when there is no money around, there is no point in spending money on lawyers; the time to spend money on lawyers is when there is money around (and in the record company's account/noses) and the artistes are still too povvo to be be able to fight for it.
Good luck. Make sure you have a right of entry to the label's offices and audit of their accounting records. You may need that more than anything else.
Exactly how Greg puts it above - most labels I've dealt with cobble together contracts from others they've seen.
From experience even a binding contract can be negotiated out of cheaply/easily, although it does depend on the label.
Happy to take a look (from a music perspective rather than a legal one) if you want a second opinion.
From experience even a binding contract can be negotiated out of cheaply/easily, although it does depend on the label.
Happy to take a look (from a music perspective rather than a legal one) if you want a second opinion.
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