Indie Bible - zankMusic.com

to the labels or to the publishers. The manager’s attorney is going to
negotiate for as high a commission as possible. Their position will be that
there is a lot of talent out there — especially in the major music centers
like California and New Yo r k .
Money talks
So what’s the range of the amount of the commission? It can generally be
anywhere from 10% to 25% of your gross income. The amount that is
settled on may very well depend on the circumstances. Again, the art of
compromise may bring new life to a negotiation that is at a deadlock on the
issue of the commission amount. Regardless of the particulars, the concept
here is that the lower percentage rate should be satisfactory to you, while
the manager is also given an incentive to make a bigger percentage if he
can get you to earn in excess of a certain amount of gross income. And, of
course, getting you over that amount, whether it’s $25,000.00 or whatever,
will be to your benefit as well.
The manager
Your manager will likely try to apply their commission to every
conceivable entertainment-related activity from which you could possibly
earn an income. Examples of such money-making activities would be live
performances, record sales and the sale of promotional merchandise such
as t-shirts, posters, buttons, programs and pictures. If you feel that the
commission rate the manager is asking for is too high, you can try to
compromise by proposing that you’ll accept the commission rate, but only
if certain activities are excluded from the commission.
After the contract ends
Another touchy subject is whether the commission on gross income earned
by the artist continues after the contract has ended. Your response will
probably be “of course not!” After all, once the contract is over, neither
party has any further obligation to the other. Once the contract is over,
there should be a clean break, but it is not always so clear- c u t
You may be fortunate enough to have signed some money-making
deals. As agreed, the manager gets his percentage and you keep the rest.
But it may be that your money-making contracts will still be in effect for
quite some time after your management contract has ended. Since you will
continue to profit from a deal he helped you obtain, the manager may feel
that he should also continue to profit even after the artist-manager
relationship legally ends.
When you get a new manager
If you enter into a contract with a new manager, that new manager will
probably be no different from your former manager on the question of
compensation. The new manager’s attorney will probably demand that the
commission apply to every conceivable entertainment- related activity
from which you could possibly earn an income. And this would include the
money pouring in from deals your former manager obtained! You wouldn’t
want to be stuck paying two commissions on the same money.
Conclusion
There are many aspects of the artist management contract that will be
subject to negotiation. An issue may be made of as to who collects the
income: the manager, you or maybe a third party like a business manager
or accountant. Another traditional sticky point is the extent of the
m a n a g e r’s authority to sign contracts on your behalf. There may even be
some negotiating points that to you and the manager don’t seem crucial,
but to the attorneys seem to mean everything. The personal circumstances
surrounding any given artist management contract can be so unique, that
the art of compromise expands the parameters of the so-called “standard”
c o n t r a c t .
An NYU Law graduate, Richard P. Dieguez has over 16 years experience
in entertainment law. He has re p resented hundreds of clients across the
U.S. and several nations in music, film, television, publishing etc., Mr.
Dieguez is also the founder of The Circle, a monthly music industry
seminar held in New York City. Contact: www. R P D i e g u e z . c o m
♦
THE WRITTEN AGREEMENT AMONGST BAND
MEMBERS
by John Tormey III, Entertainment Lawyer
© 2008 All Rights Reserved. Used By Permission
A A B M
I have seen references to the above-mentioned document as both “Inter-
Band Agreement”, and “Intra-Band Agreement”. Rather than initiate any
a rgument with grammarians as to which term is correct -let’s simply call
this all-important document the “Agreement Amongst Band Members”; or,
“AABM”, for short. If one is a musician playing in a multi-member band,
is an AABM needed? A b s o l u t e l y, yes!
The agreement
There are some parallels to an agreement amongst band members, and a
pre-nuptial agreement between prospective spouses. But I actually find the
case for having an A A B M more compelling than a pre-nup. A m a r r i a g e
should be a function of love. A band formation, on the other hand, is often
a commercial exercise.
Written agreements should be required for any collaborative
commercial endeavor between 2 or more people. Maybe it seems easier
N O T to make it official, but no band member should skip the A A B M , if the
band member takes his or her band or career seriously. It may not be
realistic to operate on blind trust, in place of a good written agreement.
If the band formation is not viewed as a commercial exercise, then I
suppose the band members can simply agree on a handshake, and then gig
for free in the subways. However, the majority of bands that I hear from,
are concerned about their financial, as well as their artistic, futures. Many
are trying to find a way to become economically self- sufficient on music
alone, while preparing to quit their “day jobs”. It is best to have an
agreement in hand, rather than, to put it off.
When to begin?
No one wants to be required to negotiate and close the AABM once the
band is already successful, or once the band has already been furnished
with a proposed recording agreement. The optimal time to close the A A B M
is while the band is just being formed or while it is still struggling. A g o o d
A A B M should also be flexible enough to contemplate future changes, such
as changes in personnel and, Artistic direction. It is also likely one of the
members may have more of a hand in the writing of the words or the
music of the band’s original songs, all the more reason for creating the
A A B M as early as possible.
Band members
In the average 4-person band, each member may play a diff e r e n t
instrument. Some may have been in the band longer than others, or more
experienced in the business of music. Maybe one of you has “connections”
to clubs and labels, or more free time to invest in the running of the band’s
business. Each member can perform a different function in business.
Why a contract?
The real value of a contract - any contract, including the A A B M - is as a
dispute-resolution and dispute-avoidance tool. By dealing with things
ahead of time, it may be best to discuss things now; and put the results on
p a p e r. Resolve things before having to pay litigators thousands upon
thousands of dollars to do it in the courts later.
What happens if…
All of those “what if” questions, may not be the focus at the beginning.
Band members may not want to think about, what m a y happen if the bass
player departs to raise kids in Maui, or the singer-songwriter front man
decides to join the Air Force. If all the other band members all value their
investment of time, sweat and money in the band, then they should know
and have fully thought through - in advance - the answers to these types of
questions. Who owns and administrates the copyrights in the songs? W h o
is responsible for storing the masters? Who has final say in the hiring and
firing of a manager? If the band breaks up, which member or members, if
a n y, may keep using the band’s name? And these are just s o m e of the
questions that should come up.