Music Artist & Producer Agreements

Music contracts are important, especially if you are an upcoming producer/artist and not sure about what you're responsible for legally. I've done some research for you and put it in a video that breaks it down for you.
This video is part of a series of music contract videos that you can benefit from in regards to legalities in selling/making/ & distributing your music. Let's Get To It!
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Legendary Beatz has 10 years experience in music production. He now provides business and music information to upcoming artists to help them on their path to be Legendary!
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[@janbriggs3387]

You have Such a BEAUTIFUL Relaxed Presentational Lecture and VOICE!! WOW WOW BOW WOW !!!

[@Legendarybeatzonline]

Appreciate thattt!!!

[@avounca1681]

Thansk for the info brutha, you helping a lot of people out

[@Legendarybeatzonline]

Really appreciate that! Glad it helped. I'm hoping to start back making videos. But I'm gonna have to brush up on my music law information.

[@TheBawss90]

Very helpful thanks man!!

[@Legendarybeatzonline]

You are welcome!

[@tonycopeland3084]

Your presentation is very professional and educational. Continue doing the great work of educating those who want to be educated. TGC aka Tony Guitar Copeland

[@Legendarybeatzonline]

Thanks so much! Really appreciate that! Any other topics you may be interested about?

[@MichaelHurdleStudio]

Good information bro. Thanks.

[@Legendarybeatzonline]

Michael Hurdle Production Studio thanks! Really glad it helped. Do you have any other topics you would like me to do videos on?

[@SweetieLaughAlot]

thanks for sharing

[@Legendarybeatzonline]

You are welcome

[@jakegonzalez359]

this helped a lot bro thanks

[@Legendarybeatzonline]

Jake Gonzalez you're welcome! I actually share a lot of information through my mailing list. would you be interested in signing up?

[@jakegonzalez359]

is there any fee

[@Legendarybeatzonline]

Nope, no fee at all

[@Legendarybeatzonline]

But first I should ask you if you are an artist?

[@jakegonzalez359]

Im not an artist but I'm a producer who is just starting off

[@Pray4blackbird]

What if you rap on your homies beats. Made all these songs, then something happens and he says you can’t release the tracks anymore without there being a contract?

[@Alaniasty]

Where to find a solid template of that document ? Cheers

[@Legendarybeatzonline]

Alann honestly if you just google you will find a bunch of sources. I'll find the link I found and post it in a comment before the day is out.

[@louisfiol]

what about if i made a beat n just uploaded to youtube an artist make a song with it and go viral? how do i get paid? do i have to do some kind of register before uploading the beat?? how it works?

[@Legendarybeatzonline]

+louis fiol good question. I would say don't post it on youtube without a tag. If someone uses it, request that they buy a lease, or exclusive rights or ask them to cease and desist use of the beat. If they do not agree to do any of that then you can take legal action. But you must prove the beat is yours to begin with. Then you need a lawyer, money for that lawyerand etc.. hope that helps!

[@jdrizzy187]

How can you track how many copies an artist sells?

[@Legendarybeatzonline]

That my friend is the million dollar question. To be honest with you. How many artists actually sell enough of their music for this to be a problem for most music producers? Not many. So honestly, I wouldn't be concerned about this. Now, if the artist blows up, or if a major artists ends up using your beat, then sure you can see their sales on public charts. But honestly, this doesn't happen honest enough to really worry about this. Place the limitations in your contracts. Cover your bases. If it happens, at least you have all legal rights to pursue legal action.

[@kastriotleci]

I have a question can you do a 50/50 split for publishing and writers share between producer and artist and then also say that the artist owns 100 % of the new song ( master) or does the 50/50 split automatically also aplly to ownership I am not sure if ownership and royalty split is linked or can be treated seperetly

[@Legendarybeatzonline]

Oh man, there are so many more individuals smarter than me with this. But I believe the split is on the master. But it sounds like you are talking about a "new work" created. You've stumped me with this one. Might have to do some research and get back to you

[@kastriotleci]

@@Legendarybeatzonline No problem brother thanks for helping out! It is a joke how complicated the music industry is, this needs to change in the future!! Anyway if you find out anything I would love to hear about it, I will let you know aswell if I do

[@eLLBdotmusic]

@@kastriotleci Hello Did you find your answer? Based on my research, royalties and ownership are totally two different things. If ownership of masters aka publishing aka copyright is not transferred to one party both owns it. You must do a work-for-hire contract with the artist and producer. For example, if you are the artist and you worked with a producer to create the beats, forget about royalties that is easy. Split the royalties how you see fit. You want to make sure it is clear, you as the artist own the rights of the recording. You do that by giving the beatmaker a work-for-hire contract. The beatmaker is then agreeing to sign their half of ownership over to you. You pay them a fee for their services and walk away with the copyright. I hope this was helpful.

[@jvonnjvonn4688]

I had someone come to an say they not giving me free beats I'll have to sign a production deal An they pay for my studio time n videos But i want a contract that allows me to walk away what do they an I would have to sign waiver or a release

[@Legendarybeatzonline]

Its good to hear that you are thinking this way. With that being said, I can only provide suggestions but you should get a lawyer to help you with a contract for legal reasons. But yes, either you can formulate a contract which protects you and have them sign it. Since they want you to sign a production deal most likely they want you to stay on until you make a certain amount of tracks or albums. These type of deals mean you can make 100 tracks and they need only 25. But they have to accept out of all the tracks you make with their production as something they can use. So ultimately, if they do not like the any of the 100 tracks, you are still stuck with them until you fulfill the agreement. So yea get a contract formulated that protects you and get someone with legal music knowledge to review it. Then go to the production company with that and see if they go for it. Hope that helps!

[@jvonnjvonn4688]

@@Legendarybeatzonline ok cause they wanna pay for my studio time an things I can't make beats but they said they make them for me

[@Legendarybeatzonline]

Yea, they sound likke a label. Just because you can't make beats doesn't mean you can't get beats.. Theres so many producers selling beats for different prices. high and low. All you have to do is look and you would find beats everywhere. That should be the least of your problems. Promoting your music and selling your music is very important.. thats when learning about distrokid and spotify and having your own website comes into play. Learn about getting money from streaming your music and online stores. This is what you should be thinking about int 2018. Not the beats. Make sense?

[@locqq]

What if for example i didn't purchase my exclusive beat from the producer i recorded in his separate studio?? And what if i didnt sign any contract with a producer i bought a exclusive beat from?? I asking cuz im tryna to place my finished masters on distribution..

[@Legendarybeatzonline]

Well then if you two have an understanding them hopefully that is fine. But try to just keep a record of payment.receipt, rmails back and forth, texts that talk about you paying for exclusive rights

[@locqq]

Yes im just tryna avoid any producer coming back at me in case my music starts popping off. Could a producer try and take credit for something even if i just came for recording on my exclusive track?

[@Legendarybeatzonline]

So here is where you may need to do some research to protect yourself. A lot of artists don't know this, but you can formulate your own contract as well. Check online for some templates and add or subtract what you need in the contract. Then have the producer sign it. But this is why communication with the producer and artist is important. Most producers have their license info on their sites.

[@mybagtvnetwork]

do you have a video on contracts with feature artist

[@Legendarybeatzonline]

bryan young not as yet. but ultimately the contract is based on your needs and the artists. Between you and the artist. That means that you cover the basics and then add in the juicy stuff. I'm not a legal advisor so you should talk to a lawyer to confirm you have covered all the bases. hope that helps

[@SizweC]

I have the same question

[@youtubestuff1317]

do I need to discuss splits with producer if I had just bought the exclusive? my contracts says nothing about splits, and if there is a split what info do I need from the producer I just bought the beat from ?

[@Legendarybeatzonline]

Collin Maing well that's usually something the producer states in his contract. If it isn't there and you bought the beat exclusively and the contract says you own all rights then, I would say you are good to go. If you ask the prosucer about it then of course he will be interested in the splits. You would need his legal name, producer name and I believe his BMI, ascap or whatever P.R.O. they are a member, account number. And most times the producer knows about this, but some may not.

[@youtubestuff1317]

thx for the reply!! and yeah I think I'm good, I bought it EXCLUSIVELY for sure, but it said I own %50 of the publishing for the original beat and the original producer owns %50 percent of the original beat.... and I'm guessing that is only reference to IF I RE-Sell the original beat as my own beat with Instrumental changes. I'm assuming ... all I know is that I'm paying full price for Exclusives with contracts so I have no issues... I HOPE. lol

[@Legendarybeatzonline]

Hey, so I made a video about this, I'm about to upload a video tonight about this. In regards to the publishing like what you stated, it means that when you set up for royalties you have to input 50% publishing rights for the producer. Usually, the artist cannot sell the instrumental "as is", you get rights to sell your "finished work" which means you record your vocals as a song and you can sell however many copies of that song using that beat. So even if you purchased a beat exclusively, this doesn't mean you can buy the beat and then go and sell the beat as is. Unless the producer agreed on that.. But generally, that is not the case. I'm gonna upload the video tonight so you can check it out.

[@Legendarybeatzonline]

Here is the link: bit.ly/MusicContracts

[@youtubestuff1317]

WOW! THATS AWEMOSE MAN, really appreciate all the response. I'm checking the video out now. great work

[@vortexfarmer]

Do you have sample contracts?

[@Legendarybeatzonline]

That I do not have. but if you look online, you can find a lot of contract templates. Have you ever heard of DJ Pain1, you should follow him on KZbin. He provides a lot of information that can probably help in this area.

[@isabelhearts8453]

I'm looking to buy exclusive beats. I have lyrics but I need someone to sing it for me. What kind of contracts would you recommend for me and the singer?

[@Legendarybeatzonline]

Oh man, I love this question. I'm not sure if I have enough legal information to provide something that covers you 100%, what I would suggest though, is that there are artists who will sing lyrics for you and not want anything but just an upfront fee. You can use sites like fiverr.com or actually find an artist who does hooks maybe. Pay them to sing your hook under exclusive rights. This means that you retain all the rights to the vocals sung. Hope this info helps

[@kipmehari]

@@Legendarybeatzonline if they come up with the melody, they might want some writers share on the Pub (Lyrics/Melodies)

[@NickLAnderson]

Hi. 🙂 Please, let us pray together. Dear God who art in heaven hallow be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever in Jesus Christ's name we pray amen. ❤🙌

[@ThickNPaid]

I would like to listen this audio sucks. please fix especially if you are in sound production

[@Legendarybeatzonline]

Thick N Paid thanks for your comment.I'll consider that in the next video. The audio is clear enough for you to hear.

[@ThickNPaid]

I can hear it you may want to get a lav mic instead of using a boom or the camera mic.

[@ThickNPaid]

I liked the information you are sharing with up coming artist

[@Legendarybeatzonline]

thanks! I will actually look into that

[@ThickNPaid]

Legendarypromotv shoot me an email [e-mail]

[@SweetieLaughAlot]

do u really need a contract? what about Info the artist and producer discusses through email? isn't that good enough proof?

[@Legendarybeatzonline]

hey thanks so much for watching and that is a good question. yes emails are good but then the other party can always say it was not them replying or their email was hacked. With a contract you now have a legally bindi g agreement between you and the other party. So in either case that one of you do something you are not supposed to, you can legally enforce it. Again, contracts are a more professional and efficient way of doing it and definitely the way I woulf suggest doing it. But with that said, if you have an agreement made over email just be sure the person understands you are holding them accountable of their side of rhe agreement. Again, because you have to ask for such assurance, it's best to justbuse a contract because the agreement made over email would then be considered "concrete". Does that answer your question?

[@SweetieLaughAlot]

+Legendarypromotv yeah thanks a lot

[@Legendarybeatzonline]

+SweetieLaughAlot you are welcome!! are there any other topics younwould like me to cover

[@SweetieLaughAlot]

+Legendarypromotv I have nothing in mind but if something comes up I'll let u know :)

[@Legendarybeatzonline]

+SweetieLaughAlot thanks!!

[@Ladymink85]

Can I get your email. I’m trying to help my son who is a producer also and I’m trying to get his business set up. I’m willing to pay you to do him a contract.

[@Legendarybeatzonline]

HI, thanks for reaching out, my email is [e-mail] I think the best option though is to get a music lawyer to draft him a contract that is best for him.