Royalties vs. exclusive right

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YKBN

New member
Hey guys, I've got some problems with leasing/selling beat exclusively.

1) If would like to pay attention, that I've sold/leased few beats, but I've never made any contract. It was like sending a e-mail message with beats inquiry by an artist, and my response with zipped beat file after "terms" agreement (including only price and exclusive/non-exclusive without specyfying). I have not any documents (on the paper). I've leased and sold excusively few beats. Is it /consequential/ in legal actions in this point of view?

2) Youtube producers in their beatstores usually point out their terms like "beat leased for 50$ can be sold up to 2,000 units, use for album, radio, etc." How they control it? For example some artist can just lease this beat and do whatever want. I guess they also have not any contract or document.

3) What about royalties? Does artist share his gains made on my beat? How it works? How can I control is he fair?

Please pay attention on my point of view, I'm a small producer without any connect with any labels, I'm selling about 1 beat per month.
 
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YKBN said:
Hey guys, I've got some problems with leasing/selling beat exclusively.

1) If would like to pay attention, that I've sold/leased few beats, but I've never made any contract. It was like sending a e-mail message with beats inquiry by an artist, and my response with zipped beat file after "terms" agreement (including only price and exclusive/non-exclusive without specyfying). I have not any documents (on the paper). I've leased and sold excusively few beats. Is it /consequential/ in legal actions in this point of view?

2) Youtube producers in their beatstores usually point out their terms like "beat leased for 50$ can be sold up to 2,000 units, use for album, radio, etc." How they control it? For example some artist can just lease this beat and do whatever want. I guess they also have not any contract or document.

3) What about royalties? Does artist share his gains made on my beat? How it works? How can I control is he fair?

Please pay attention on my point of view, I'm a small producer without any connect with any labels, I'm selling about 1 beat per month.
Click to expand...



So just make a contract and sell your beats.
 
Hi YKBN!

Yeah, the music business is really tricky to figure out. I'll see if I can help you.

1) If you didn't make a contract and you never said that your song is exclusive, your sale is not exclusive, so you can just offer it to anyone. Post it on licensing sites, etc. Only thing to be afraid of is taxes :)
2) This is a ballpark figure. If I buy one of your beats I have to tell you what I use it for. If I use it for something else, we have to renegotiate. You can sue me if I use it for something else so I should tell you.
3) Yes, you normally get a 50% royalty if you sign up with a PRA and sign up your song. This might make sense if your beats are played publicly a lot (radio, shows, etc).

Hope this helps :)
 
HolisticSongwriting said:
Hi YKBN!

Yeah, the music business is really tricky to figure out. I'll see if I can help you.

1) If you didn't make a contract and you never said that your song is exclusive, your sale is not exclusive, so you can just offer it to anyone. Post it on licensing sites, etc. Only thing to be afraid of is taxes :)
2) This is a ballpark figure. If I buy one of your beats I have to tell you what I use it for. If I use it for something else, we have to renegotiate. You can sue me if I use it for something else so I should tell you.
3) Yes, you normally get a 50% royalty if you sign up with a PRA and sign up your song. This might make sense if your beats are played publicly a lot (radio, shows, etc).

Hope this helps :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for help, this is what I've expected, but I would like to clarify:
1) What if I've wrote in e-mail message, that it's sold exclusively? It means nothing I guess! There's not any contract so producers can cheat their clients and sell this same beat X times exclusively this way!?
3) What PRA means? Can't google this. Btw. how can I check the artist's profits, especially when he lives in different state/country?
 
Hello again,

Yes, of course!
1) In this case the artist is able to sue you (because he's got it on paper).
3) PRA = Public Rights Associations, like ASCAP (USA), GEMA (Germany), BUMA (Netherlands), etc. They are basically companies that you pay a (low) yearly fee for so they check all radios, clubs, etc to see which music has been played there and they pay you for every time your song is performed. It's not much though, but if your music gets played a lot it might add up to a little pocket money. :)
 
You sure? There's no any paper, it's only e-mail; most of my clients didn't even asked me what exclusively means. it was like:

client: hey i would like to buy this beat exclusively
me: ok it's 250$

and that's all. I've never sold exclusively 1 beat twice but I read that it's a common practice and considered is it has any legal consequences (when it comes only to 'e-mail' agreement').
 
YKBN said:
You sure? There's no any paper, it's only e-mail; most of my clients didn't even asked me what exclusively means. it was like:

client: hey i would like to buy this beat exclusively
me: ok it's 250$

and that's all. I've never sold exclusively 1 beat twice but I read that it's a common practice and considered is it has any legal consequences (when it comes only to 'e-mail' agreement').
Click to expand...


Just make new beats to sell.

And never sell exclusively unless you are getting $5,000 or more for the beat. Just lease/license the beat and maintain ownership. It is your song. You keep the rights and license the rights for others to use your music for a fee. Never sell exclusively for anything under $5,000.

And if you do sell exclusively, make sure to sign a contract detailing how the music will be delivered and to when you will receive payment. Never leave anything to chance or someone will be hurt. Make sure to protect yourself by having these things in writing and having all people agree before signing.

Stop playing games with emails and leaving things to chance. You will get hurt if you do not have paperwork. It will happen and you will feel terrible afterwards. The music is the least of your concerns.
 
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