dwells said:
Is this serious? I'm saw some really wrong advice here.
In hiphop, the term 'producer' is usually missed used. If you made the beat, you are a writer. A songwriter. In books the term producer refers to the person who is responisble for the project, the maintain the budget and oversee the entire project. They get no writers share, unless they actually wrote anything.
In urban music usually the song is broken down into 2 parts; music 50% and lyrics 50%. this all depends on the individual arrangement, what it says in paper. If you sample that is concidered to be part of the music. The sampled artists get thier money from the producer(beatmaker)'s money first. If they want more than 50% it starts coming from the artist money. But all this depends on the particular arrangement all parties concent to.
Also advances can be negotated from 'advance' to 'fee'. an advance is recouped and a fee is non-recoupable.
You are RIGHT for the MOST part....
The 50/50 WRITERS thing is correct for the PUBLISHING aspect as far as ASCAP, BMI, SEASAC & Etc. BUT there have also been deals negotiated where there are POINTS given off of ALBUM SALES...This is something TOTALLY different than PUBLISHING wherebey these (WRITERS actually calling themselves PRODUCERS) are given a small piece of the ALBUM sales too.
I think this is what he was talking about....
That 50/50 thing=======PUBLISHING
and it ACTUALLY boils down to 25% because ASCAP for instance will pay out 50% to the writer(s) of a song and 50% to the PUBLISHING Company that publishes the song. So the writers (Of the Lyrics & the Music) actually SPLIT the remaining 50% which makes it 25% apiece...
WHICH is why it CAN be benificial to have your OWN publishing company...
But once again this is only with regard to PUBLISHING not ROYALTIES paid off record sales...they are 2 different things...
LOTS of lables have their contracts set up where they can "CROSS- COLATERALIZE" Meaning they can take "re-coupable" funds from any OTHER source of an artists income....
SO if "Joe Blow" is signed to "Rip Off" Records and they give him an advance of $100,000 but he ONLY makes $10,000 off his record sales, he STILL OWES the lable $90,000. but let's say he wrote a song for USHER and received $90,000 in WRITERS royalties from ASCAP. The lable, due to CROSS-COLATERALIZATION would be able to take that $90,000 TOO...
Artists SIGN contracts ALL THE TIME like this...Often it is WRITTEN into contracts that the artist's publishing royalties will be paid to the "LABLE". That way they can deduct what they want first and THEN give "Joe Blow" the rest.....
I have SEEN this in contracts before....That's why we as "ARTISTS" have got to READ our OWN contracts!
You SHOULD get a lawyer TOO....But i STILL want to UNDERSTAND what I am signing...Don't be naive enough to think that Lawyers haven't been PAID under the table to give bogus advice...LOL
I THINK this is how it works...My Brain hurts now....I'm going to sleep...LOL
PEACE