The Deal… or ‘The Sting?’
You’ve completed your latest song. You’ve messed with it, tweaked it, cut out this and added that, done the demo, mixed and remixed it… and it sounds great. You love it. Everybody you let hear it loves it.
You’ve submitted it to a Music Publisher or Record Label. They love it. You’ve got a Music Industry Exec on board, excited – why? Because they have the exact match for the song – the latest Boy Band, the latest Girl Band, the latest ‘X-Factor’ Runner-up, the gal who didn’t win ‘American Idol’ but the public loved, the latest, hottest Singer on the Scene, the next Beyonce or the next Michael Buble…
The Music Exec is absolutely sure you’re talking guaranteed Nº 1 here. Internationally.
You’ve written a lot of tunes but you’ve never seen a frenzy like this. You can feel the tingle, the tension, the excitement, the expectation.
As if you’re drowning, you see your ‘Songwriting Life’ flash by in an instant – the hours writing, composing, struggling with lyrics, being called ‘a dreamer’, the weeks recording demos, the hope, the disappointments…
And in an instant, you’re back to reality – the Exec is ready to sign, and they’re ready for YOU to sign. A major, potentially life-changing contract – on the table. The Exec hands you an expensive, gold pen. It’s Your Moment.
What do you do? There are 2 possibilities:
Either… You sign the contract. You instantly, in a split second, sign away AT LEAST 50% of the profits. It could be A a lot more. (For example, did you know that just using a snippet of your song as a ringtone could put $50,000 a month in a Publisher’s pocket? And maybe not in yours? That’s happened and it sucks.)
Or… You say, “Yes! Let’s do it! Give me the contract, I’ll have my lawyer check it through and I’m sure we can agree that you’ll get 10% of the Publishing…”
At this point the Music Exec’s jaw drops and he/she starts to sweat. He/she is thinking… “This isn’t right – this is a Songwriter, songwriters don’t think like us, they’re not ‘in business’, they just sign whatever we put in front of them… how do I explain this to the Boss? He loves this dang tune, I can’t go back without it! I’ll lose my job, my BMW, my expense account… I’ll have to fly economy!”
Which of these 2 choices would you prefer?
If you don’t own your own Publishing Company, then you don’t have a choice. Your only choice is option number 1.
But if you own your own publishing, you own your songs, you own your copyrights – and you hold all the cards. You have the power to negotiate. And what the majority of songwriters just don’t realise is that any music publisher will negotiate when they know they have a possible hit on their hands.
Author: Norman MacLeod
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Canada duty
