Music Business & Management Theory Exam Notes PDF

Theory Exam Revision MUSIC BUSINESS & MANAGEMENT Recording Agreement KEY CLAUSES: Engagement and Exclusivity Fundamental to the purpose Commitment to exclusive services from musical performer Artist cannot record for anyone else, not court enforceable but the recordin...

Theory Exam Revision MUSIC BUSINESS & MANAGEMENT Recording Agreement KEY CLAUSES: Engagement and Exclusivity Fundamental to the purpose Commitment to exclusive services from musical performer Artist cannot record for anyone else, not court enforceable but the recording company can prevent artist from recording for anyone else Terms and Options Initial period followed by a number of ‘option periods’ Exercisable at the discretion of the record company “Contract periods” - individual periods described “Term” - collective term for the “contract periods” Length usually dependent on the delivery of the recorded music Long stop cut-off - although the cut off point for contract periods depends on delivery no Term lasts longer than 2-3 years 4-5 option periods usually common Recording Procedure Recorded material, producers and artwork be subject to the mutual agreement of recording company and artist. Often deals involve ONLY rights of consultation to the artist. Record company controls even artistic elements of the recording/recorded music. “Points Deals” Recording costs are recouped against the artists percentage of retail/dealer cost price of every record sold. “Net profit deals” -recording costs and recouped from gross income before the net income is divided between the artist and the record company Delivery When does the recorded music become ‘deliverable’ Terms made on the record companies expectations and ideals for the recorded music. Standard of recorded material must be “Technically satisfactory” Cleared samples - any samples used must be accompanied by a list of relevant artist, recording company, origin and list of publishers in order to aid the clearing process. Music not considered delivered until the samples are cleared. Label and Mechanical Licenses.  Grant of Rights Agree to the copyright of all recordings made during the term belong to recording company. NOT the same as the individual underlying copyright of the songwriters or publishers. As copyright owners of the recordings the company are entitled to exploit the recordings throughout the territory. “The world and its solar system” It is not uncommon for artists to sign to different labels for different territories. Small labels may not have the resources. Advance costs for smaller territories will almost certainly be reduced. Often the rights to the domain name of artist website required too Merchandise rights and concert tickets should be considered in this clause. Release Commitment Commits the record company to releasing the delivered album and singles in the given territory. Failure to do so grants the artist the right to terminate the agreement and end the term. Royalties Share of “net profit’ of the exploitation of the recordings. “Gross income” is put into a pot and after expenses have been recouped the profits are split between artist and label. Artist and label benefit equally from the risks. Artist providing the content and label providing the money and opportunity for the release. Advances Payment made to artist before the share of net profit in order to assist the creation of the desired deliverable recording. ALWAYS should be Non-Recoupable. Accounting Labels must submit accounting of cash and gross income to artist. These must be submitted quarterly or annually depending on the agreement made in this clause. Re-Recording restriction Restricts the artist from re-recording the material recorded during the term. Mainly protects the record company. States during and for a period after the term ends.  Mechanical Licenses The right to reproduce musical compositions is known as the mechanical right. Owned by the author of the composition or the assignees. In order to manufacture records the recording company needs a mechanical license from the owner of the mechanical right. Subject to a fee. This clause warrants that the recording company will be able to obtain such a license. Mechanical royalty rate in the UK is negotiated between the BPI and the MCPS. calculated as a percentage of retailer or dealer price of the record. Videos Negotiates how and when and under what terms videos will be released. Similar to Clause 5 Artist could be granted rights of consultation. Also states how many and how regularly the record company should release videos. Warranties and undertakings The warranties are standard. Undertaking eg, attend recording sessions and are fit to perform. Careful consideration should be made to ensure that the artist is able to fulfill the undertakings stated. Group Provisions Group agreement i.e members of a band. “Jointly and severally” All members equally liable to fulfill the terms of the recording contract. Crucially this clause deals with what happens if one or more members of the beans leave. Record company need to ensure that they have the option to do one or more of the following. - Retain the services of the leaving member - Retain the services of the remaining members - Terminate the agreement with respect to the leaving members - Terminate the agreement with respect to the remaining members  COPYRIGHT The legal right that protects use of your work once your idea has been physically expressed. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY; Creations of the human mind 2 strands Industrial property > Inventions, Scientific works, trademarks, designs. Copyright > Literary and artistic works. CDPA - Copyright designs and Patents Act 1988 Copyright laws lay out framework of how the intellectual property can be used/exploited Rights of owner Responsibilities of how other people use the work In order for the work to be protected by Copyright it has to be: - ORIGINAL : The work has to be your own and not just an imitation - TANGIBLE : The work has to be expressed physically in some way Sound recordings, films, Broadcasts and typographical arrangements DO NOT need to satisfy the original criteria Copyright is something you have, not something you get. When the work is expressed physically. You are automatically protected by Copyright. - No official registration in the UK - No forms no fees Due to lack of ‘one-off’ registration for copyright. Situations have arisen in the UK whereby multiple people have appealed for copyright/recognised parts of songs that contain intellectual property. Measures have been taken to ensure that there are ways of proving that the intellectual property was created on a certain date at a certain time. I.e - Posting copies of your work to yourself with a dated sealed stamp from a post office. Depositing copies of your work with a lawyer or reputable professional in return for a dated receipt. What does Copyright grant you? - Exclusive right to copy the work - Exclusive right to issue/rent or lend - Exclusive right to perform - Exclusive right to make an adaptation ECONOMIC V.S MORAL RIGHTS ECONOMIC - Rights owner can derive financial reward from others MORAL - Non - economic protection e.g named as author of work ECONOMIC RIGHTS: Reproduction - You have the right to control the reproduction of your work. Includes making copies in any format Distribution - You have the exclusive right to distribute copies of your work to the public, whether by selling, renting, lending or transferring ownership. Public Performance Right - You can control how your work is performed publicly, live performances, screenings, presentations. Communication to the public - You have the right to control the broadcasting or online sharing of your work. - Streaming - Online platforms - Digital services Adaptation Right - You have the exclusive right to authorize adaptations of your work - screenplays - Books Issuing copies to the public - First sale or distribution of your work Rental and lending rights - You have the right to authorize or prohibit the commercial rental or lending of your work. MORAL RIGHTS Moral rights always belong to the author(s) of the work. NON - ECONOMIC Interests - ensuring respect for work and reputation. Personal to the creator Right to Attribution (Paternity Right) - The right to be identified as the creator of your work whenever it is published, performed or communicated to the public. - Usually asserted formally in writing Right to object to derogatory Treatment (Integrity Right) - Right to object Distortion, mutilation or other treatment of work that could harm the integrity or damage reputation Right Against False Attribution - You have the right to prevent someone falsely attributing authorship - To you, or to work you did not create Right to privacy of certain Photographs and films - You have the right to prevent the public release of Who owns the Copyright? In the case of musical, literary, dramatic or artistic works the author of the work is the person who creates it. In the case of a SOUND RECORDING the author is the producer. DEFINE PRODUCER: - MORE THAN ONE AUTHOR If the contribution to the work is indistinct then the authors become JOINT FIRST OWNERS All owners must agree to use of work otherwise an infringement takes place. Where contributions or parts ARE DISTINCT Each contributor would be the author of the specific part they contributed to the overall work. E.g Melody of song, lyrics, arrangement. Obtain consent of lyricist in order to use lyrics etc OWNERSHIP CAN BE TRANSFERRED Multiple contributions can be condensed down into sole ownership by one author subject to appropriate transfers. This can be agreed in advance of the creation of the work. ARRANGEMENT - Arrangement or transcription: Consent is required from the composer - Some share of copyright can be attributed to new creator i.e arranger - Arrangers, producers and orchestrators have no automatic right - Permission often granted on the basis that 100 percent of ownership is attributed to original composer Employee authorship: If work is created by an employee under employment the EMPLOYER is the owner of the copyright Commissioned author If the work is commissioned the creator of the work is the copyright owner unless otherwise arranged. Copyright under her majesty’s services belong to the crown Important to remember that Until someone wants to copy, adapt or exploit your work COPYRIGHT HAS NO VALUE Granting the right to copy or adapt demands a commercial exchange. 2 MAIN TYPES of Copyright in MUSIC SONG - Music and words in original form - Recorded many times - Owned by the composer/author - Often assigned to a publisher RECORDING - The ‘master’  - Particular sound recording of a song - Can be several master copyrights of one song - Owned by the producer - Usually owned by label - Label has to license song copyright from the owner - Recordings are to labels what songs are to publishers So it covers the ownership of the song- the copyright of the song would belong to the individual that wrote the song or created it originally A new copyright comes into play when a label/whoever creates the arrangements and enables a particular sound recording. Copyright does not last forever. Composer is author and therefore 1st owner Lyrics of the song are protected separately Meaning that exploitation/reproduction and re-recording etc can be issued from both aspects of the work. I.E licenses must be obtained from both 1st owners of copyright in order to utilise for eg a melody or a lyric. How long does protection last? Musical work The terms of protection last for author's lifetime plus 70 years In the case of joint authorship the term of protection is calculated with reference to the date of the death of the last surviving author. Sound recordings Length of term dependent on whether it has been published or performed publicly/communicated to the public (Radio) In the case that the recording is not released or communicated to the public: Copyright lasts 50 years from when initial recording is made. MAIN DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SOUND RECORDING AND SONG COPYRIGHT Main difference is the way the two copyrights generate royalties. CASE STUDY A bands song is played on the radio - Writers of the song or the publishers receive a royalty - Owners of the copyright for the sound recording receive a royalty The radio station is using the copyright of the writers of the song The radio station is using the copyright of the sound recording (LABEL) If the radio station is hosting a live session the band still receive a royalty: - Use of the song copyright The sound recording copyright has not been used so therefore the label or whoever owns the sound recording copyright does not receive copyright. 2 recorded covers are played on the radio - Both bands and respective labels receive royalties for the sound recording - The original writers receive royalties from both uses of the sound recording because use of song copyright. If these songs are performed live: - No royalty paid to label - Royalty paid to songwriters for use of song copyright. PERFORMERS RIGHTS A sound recording will also contain performers rights. A performer usually assigns their rights to the producer of the sound recording in return for recurring payments. A non featured performer is someone who has transferred their performers rights in return for a one time fee. - SESSION MUSICIAN Performers rights forms part of a revenue collection service that ensures performers and musicians get properly paid for there services. INCOME STREAMS FOR SONGWRITERS 2 initial income streams for songwriters - available through song copyright MECHANICAL RIGHT - The right to make copies of a song to sell - ‘The bread and butter’ of the sound recording Who owns it? Songwriter or publisher What Does It Protect? It protects the right to reproduce and distribute the musical composition in formats such as; - C.Ds, Vinyl, Cassettes - Digital downloads - Streams Licensing record , distribute, stream the musical work must obtain a mechanical license. REVENUE STREAMS In scenarios where material gain takes place from the performance or reproduction of the musical work revenue is collected by services and distributed accordingly to the owners of the copyright. Performing right - performers rights services Mechanical right - mechanical - rights - services PRS and MCPS - Operate collectively as PRS for music. PRS Pays out in the following scenarios Broadcast on T.V or radio Performed or played in public, whether live or through a recording Streamed or downloaded MCPS Pays out Copied as physical products Streamed or downloaded Used in T.V, film or radio PPL PPL deals with the recording side of copyright ‘Audible’ contributions Helps protect the people involved in the recording They conducted or musically directed a performance during the recording process