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•Obtaining An Attorney...
•Obtaining an Attorney
In addition to the intricacies of taxation, there are other legal labyrinths to navigate. A very important part of your career, is obtaining an entertainment attorney. Their job is to provide legal counsel and in some way, shop your demo to record companies. You need to consult an attorney before you sign any kind of contract. You should never sign anything with a manager, an agent, record company pr a publisher without consulting an attorney experienced in the entertainment field. Engaging an attorney, can be indispensable in protecting you from potential losses or other troubles. It is become more increasingly common for artists/bands to become signed through attorneys. The most important part, is locating the right lawyer. Take the time to extensively research and as other musicians for recommendations and call the local bar association.
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What to look for...
Make sure that any prospective attorneys main practice is entertainment law -especially music law. The music industry is highly specialized and transforming constantly, so it cannot be successfully practiced on the side. A good attorneys should be selective about their clientele, because they are usually striving to keep a good reputation and success rate. A lawyers incentive for shopping your demo, is to successfully aid you in your negotiation with any contracts that may be presented to you, this is where they acquire their money, so be a little watchful of an attorney that charges to listen to your demo. Also, most attorneys will charge around $100-300 an hour to shop your material. If you can locate an attorney that will work on spec deals, you should be even more watchful. While they may be willing to go without a retainer for you, it is also very possible that they are not well connected enough to find paying business to fill out their days. Most importantly, take your time selecting an attorney, and feel very secure about his or her ethics before signing a contract.
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Music Publishing & Performing Rights Organizations...
Another aspect of the music business is music publishing... it offers lucrative possibilities, and no serious artist should overlook it. The first step is to legally claim your work as your own by copyrighting it... (U.S. Copyright Office's 202-707-3000) This usually cost around $20. After you have copyrighted your work, you will need to register with a performing rights organization, such as ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC. These organizations take a percentage of the royalty payments they collect for you, so they are always interested in recruiting new members.
When you begin collecting royalty checks, there are 5 major sources of royalties.
Mechanical royalties are collected from retail sales, Performance rights royalties accrue from radio or public (stores, etc,) airplay, Synchronization royalties come from the use of your songs in television or movies, Sampling royalties are yours if a piece of your work is sampled into another artist's material, and Royalties from sheet music manufacturing.
As long as you remain independent, the royalties are yours. Once you sign with a publisher or label, ownership of your songs become open to negotiation.
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