Artist Producer Split Questions (Trying to be Fair)

[SmooveMode]

I'm starting to see some success and now need to consider how I want to split royalties. After reading several articles and threads, I have some questions that are specific to my situation, I would like to ask.

It seems like the normal split is 50/50. I write instrumentals and express my vocal ideas to the Singer/Vocalist. They will write the lyrics and perform them. I may change notes by having them sing in a different key or change the key in the software and often change their arrangement, but for the most part it's their vocals, my theme ideas and my music. I rarely take musical suggestions. We do the recordings in my studio and I absorb all expenses. At first I thought a 50/50 split would be ok, but after I heard people mention that when someone 'alters" lyrics, they become a writer of the lyrics too. If that's the case, how would you split it up?

 

[bandcoach]

Do they change the music?

Credit for music is one side of the equation, credit for the lyrics is the other.

I'd be inclined to enter into a split where the music and the lyrics are separately treated but then reworked to reflect the whole

e.g.

You write 100% of the music
They write the lyrics based on an idea you give them and then you make changes as needed/required to fit the overall vision. They should be credited with at least 50% of the lyric split, if not more. Give yourself a 30% split and your associate a 70% split on the lyrics as a ball park if you defined the idea and make significant changes to the lyrics in terms of actual content - rearranging the presentation of them is not in itself an act of lyrical creation....

Reduce these figures so that you have a total of 100% and you get a split along the lines of 65-35 in your favour.

Performance rights splits are different again. Each performer on the track if the releasing artist gets an equal share of the split unless there is a significant difference in workload - beyond the scope of simple advice given on a forum.

As with all things to do with legal dealings, get yourself an arts/Entertainment lawyer, a real good one to assist in sorting through these issues - any advice given by anyone else cannot be considered to be competent no matter what their experience is - your physical location and therefore your legal jurisdiction may have some finer points to consider that your average music biz consultant cannot know in depth

 

[SmooveMode]

Do they change the music?

Credit for music is one side of the equation, credit for the lyrics is the other.

I'd be inclined to enter into a split where the music and the lyrics are separately treated but then reworked to reflect the whole

e.g.

You write 100% of the music
They write the lyrics based on an idea you give them and then you make changes as needed/required to fit the overall vision. They should be credited with at least 50% of the lyric split, if not more. Give yourself a 30% split and your associate a 70% split on the lyrics as a ball park if you defined the idea and make significant changes to the lyrics in terms of actual content - rearranging the presentation of them is not in itself an act of lyrical creation....

Reduce these figures so that you have a total of 100% and you get a split along the lines of 65-35 in your favour.

Performance rights splits are different again. Each performer on the track if the releasing artist gets an equal share of the split unless there is a significant difference in workload - beyond the scope of simple advice given on a forum.

As with all things to do with legal dealings, get yourself an arts/Entertainment lawyer, a real good one to assist in sorting through these issues - any advice given by anyone else cannot be considered to be competent no matter what their experience is - your physical location and therefore your legal jurisdiction may have some finer points to consider that your average music biz consultant cannot know in depth

Your information is very helpful. Thanks for your input as it will help me clarify what my actions are moving forward with further productions.

 

[BeatBrokerz]

[h=3]Royalties types[/h] Licensing fees are only one part of the potential income as a music producer. Royalties are how profit is split between contributing authors of a work after it has been licensed and exploited in the music business. The amount that each author is entitled to is based primarily on what was agreed to when the music was licensed.

There are basically two different types of royalties that can be earned as a music author.

The first type is called "mechanical royalties" in the music business. You earn mechanical royalties when your music is distributed for individual use (singles, albums, mp3 downloads, etc). The maximum amount an author can expect to get from each copy distributed would be what is called the "statutory rate" (9.1 cents at the time this was written), which happens to change from time to time as determined by the government. The person or company distributing the work (such as a record label) is responsible for accounting for how many copies they have distributed and paying out royalties to authors.

[h=3]How "mechanical royalties" should be addressed in licenses.[/h] When you set the "royalty rate" in the mechanicals section of your licensing terms, you are setting a percentage (between 0% and 100%) of the current full statutory rate that you agree the buyer will owe you for mechanical copies distributed. If you license your music at a 100% royalty rate, you'll be entitled to a full 9.1 cents per copy distributed of your music. If you license your music at a 50% royalty rate, you'll only be entitled to 4.55 cents per copy distributed.

​

The second type of royalties are called "performance royalties". You earn performance royalties when your music is performed for an audience (radio, internet streaming, live shows, jukeboxes, etc). The amount that you collect in each scenario will vary depending on how/where it was performed, and more importantly; if you have somebody to collect the royalties for you. Performance royalties are collected by PRO's (Performance Rights Organizations). Some notable ones are ASCAP, BMI, & SoundExchange. You must register your work with these organizations in order to have any hope of collecting performance royalties for your music, since they are set up to monitor and collect for these types of uses.

For more info on selling your music check out this Free Sellers Guide provided by Beat Brokerz: Seller Guidebook

 

[SmooveMode]

Royalties types

Licensing fees are only one part of the potential income as a music producer. Royalties are how profit is split between contributing authors of a work after it has been licensed and exploited in the music business. The amount that each author is entitled to is based primarily on what was agreed to when the music was licensed.

There are basically two different types of royalties that can be earned as a music author.

The first type is called "mechanical royalties" in the music business. You earn mechanical royalties when your music is distributed for individual use (singles, albums, mp3 downloads, etc). The maximum amount an author can expect to get from each copy distributed would be what is called the "statutory rate" (9.1 cents at the time this was written), which happens to change from time to time as determined by the government. The person or company distributing the work (such as a record label) is responsible for accounting for how many copies they have distributed and paying out royalties to authors.

How "mechanical royalties" should be addressed in licenses.

When you set the "royalty rate" in the mechanicals section of your licensing terms, you are setting a percentage (between 0% and 100%) of the current full statutory rate that you agree the buyer will owe you for mechanical copies distributed. If you license your music at a 100% royalty rate, you'll be entitled to a full 9.1 cents per copy distributed of your music. If you license your music at a 50% royalty rate, you'll only be entitled to 4.55 cents per copy distributed.

​

The second type of royalties are called "performance royalties". You earn performance royalties when your music is performed for an audience (radio, internet streaming, live shows, jukeboxes, etc). The amount that you collect in each scenario will vary depending on how/where it was performed, and more importantly; if you have somebody to collect the royalties for you. Performance royalties are collected by PRO's (Performance Rights Organizations). Some notable ones are ASCAP, BMI, & SoundExchange. You must register your work with these organizations in order to have any hope of collecting performance royalties for your music, since they are set up to monitor and collect for these types of uses.

For more info on selling your music check out this Free Sellers Guide provided by Beat Brokerz: Seller Guidebook

This is a little confusing. According to what I've been told before it's the distributor who gets the 9%. and the publisher/author who gets the 91% (-middle men like itunes). My goal is to establish a policy on how to split royalties with my vocalists. If I take the time to write a great beat, come up with the theme and fund the project I need to know what split if they write and perform: 1 verse that is repeated 2 verses or full vocal arrangement. They are not investing anything but their vocals and time. Then it gets complicated. If I have to request for them to alter their performance to fit the music better or theme better (i.e. change words, notes of their vocals, etc). I wish there was some "rule book" somewhere, but I can't even find one.

 

[bandcoach]

you mistake what is told to you for percentages

- what is said is that 9.1c ($0.091) is the maximum statutory mechanical rights payment back to you from whoever does the distribution after buying/licensing the track from you

- the license fee paid to you covers the initial costs and may be several hundred or thousands of dollars. the mechanical rights payments are essentially residual payments from future exploitation

- also do not confuse the information provided with what you get from distributing yourself via any sort of brokerage

- always check that your deal with a brokerage is biased in your favour - i.e. that the costs charged to you are reasonable and not exploitative; involve a lawyer if necessary simply to be confident that you are not being scammed or otherwise ripped off.

- a brokerage is not a publisher and should not be allowed to act as such on your behalf

Your scenario is still as I initially related it to you. Simply keep tabs of what is done by who and to what extent

- your assertion about duping the same content and using it later in the same piece is irrelevant as that still constitutes a contribution to the overall piece

- number of appearances is as important as the uniqueness of each appearance here

- consider the phrase "second verse, same as the first" used to link some nonsense songs that seem to endlessly repeat the same set of lyrics multiple times

- repetition in and of itself is no different musically or lyrically, it is the artistic combination that determines contributions

 

[SmooveMode]

you mistake what is told to you for percentages

- what is said is that 9.1c ($0.091) is the maximum statutory mechanical rights payment back to you from whoever does the distribution after buying/licensing the track from you

- the license fee paid to you covers the initial costs and may be several hundred or thousands of dollars. the mechanical rights payments are essentially residual payments from future exploitation

- also do not confuse the information provided with what you get from distributing yourself via any sort of brokerage

- always check that your deal with a brokerage is biased in your favour - i.e. that the costs charged to you are reasonable and not exploitative; involve a lawyer if necessary simply to be confident that you are not being scammed or otherwise ripped off.

- a brokerage is not a publisher and should not be allowed to act as such on your behalf

Your scenario is still as I initially related it to you. Simply keep tabs of what is done by who and to what extent

- your assertion about duping the same content and using it later in the same piece is irrelevant as that still constitutes a contribution to the overall piece

- number of appearances is as important as the uniqueness of each appearance here

- consider the phrase "second verse, same as the first" used to link some nonsense songs that seem to endlessly repeat the same set of lyrics multiple times

- repetition in and of itself is no different musically or lyrically, it is the artistic combination that determines contributions

Thanks. Very helpful. So, Vocal impact or only use one part make little difference. It's the amount of time over the track (be it repeated or not) that stipulates the split. So, I assume if someone writes lyrics for half the song, they still get 100% credit? What if I gave them the idea on what to write about? Is there a defined name for that and does it have a common percentage given to it?

 

[bandcoach]

Thanks. Very helpful. So, Vocal impact or only use one part make little difference. It's the amount of time over the track (be it repeated or not) that stipulates the split. So, I assume if someone writes lyrics for half the song, they still get 100% credit?

if they write half of the lyrics for the song they get 50% of the lyric split which should be 25% in real terms (based on the idea that words and music are equally split).

If they wrote the words and the melody then they get a 50% split, regardless of underlying arrangement/chords being done by some one else

- this is because courts do not generally recognise chords or arrangements as being subject to copyright or forming part of the basis for determining splits

- publishing the physical version of the arrangement is subject to copyright act as someone has "authored" the content sold

What if I gave them the idea on what to write about? Is there a defined name for that and does it have a common percentage given to it?

are you engaged in a partnership or are you purchasing works for hire?

This relationship determines to what extent a split should be applied, if at all; i.e.

- if you pay someone to write words for you then they have no recourse when it comes to the split sheets

- if, on the other hand, they are an equal or otherwise partner, then you need to give them a split commensurate with their input to the work in question

as I wrote in my first post, consult a lawyer if you are uncertain - each jurisdiction has its own twists and turns when it comes to entertainment law and partnership law, so best to have solid legal advice than the advice of a potential nutter

- remember, "advice received is only worth as much as you paid for it" - if you get it for free and act on it, then you have no grounds to seek compensation because the advice was considered to have no intrinsic or extrinsic worth

 

[SmooveMode]

if they write half of the lyrics for the song they get 50% of the lyric split which should be 25% in real terms (based on the idea that words and music are equally split).

If they wrote the words and the melody then they get a 50% split, regardless of underlying arrangement/chords being done by some one else

- this is because courts do not generally recognise chords or arrangements as being subject to copyright or forming part of the basis for determining splits

- publishing the physical version of the arrangement is subject to copyright act as someone has "authored" the content sold



are you engaged in a partnership or are you purchasing works for hire?

This relationship determines to what extent a split should be applied, if at all; i.e.

- if you pay someone to write words for you then they have no recourse when it comes to the split sheets

- if, on the other hand, they are an equal or otherwise partner, then you need to give them a split commensurate with their input to the work in question

as I wrote in my first post, consult a lawyer if you are uncertain - each jurisdiction has its own twists and turns when it comes to entertainment law and partnership law, so best to have solid legal advice than the advice of a potential nutter

- remember, "advice received is only worth as much as you paid for it" - if you get it for free and act on it, then you have no grounds to seek compensation because the advice was considered to have no intrinsic or extrinsic worth

Thanks again for your information. Extremely helpful.