Should You Sign a Music Publishing Deal?
If you write your own songs, at some point in your career you will want to consider whether signing with a music publishing company makes sense. Music publishers are sort of like record labels, but for your compositions rather than your master recordings which embody your compositions. The right music publisher can take your career […]
Should Musicians Self-Publish?
As a songwriter, you have likely heard talk of self-publishing your compositions. You’ve likely noticed, while perusing the fine print in the liner notes of your favorite albums, that nearly all major artists have created their own publishing company. This means that they’ve incorporated a publishing company, through which the publisher’s share of income flows. The […]
16 Things Every Touring Musician Should Ask Before Going on Tour
Whether you’re a seasoned touring musician or about to embark on your first tour, there are many things to take into consideration before hitting the highway. Here are the 16 questions a touring musician should ask before loading up the van: 1) Are Your Gigs Confirmed & Contracts Signed? This might seem like an obvious starting point, […]
What Rights Do You Have in a Sound Recording You Play On?
I get many emails every week from musicians around the world asking me questions about the music business. One of the most common questions is: what rights do I have in a recording that I performed on? Whether it’s a song you played on decades ago that was just re-released by your former bandmates, or […]
How to Legally Post Cover Songs to YouTube
YouTube is full of cover songs. From indie artists to toddlers to superstars, some of the most viewed videos on the Internet happen to be of cover songs. In the past week, I’ve been listening to and watching a ton of cover songs of the man himself, Leonard Cohen. [Fun fact: both Cohen’s and Jeff Buckley’s recordings […]
The Song Remains Similar – Led Zeppelin and the Stairway to Heaven Plagiarism Trial
What constitutes music plagiarism? The line between inspiration and plagiarism is a fine one, and is the crucial distinction when it comes to music plagiarism. As I examined in my article here on the Robin Thicke vs. Marvin Gaye trial, everyone from Shakespeare to the Beatles to Sam Smith has been accused of stealing ideas […]
What is an Artist Development Deal, and Should You Sign One?
In the “glory days” of the recording industry (i.e. after Elvis, before the Internet), there was a very common type of deal offered by record labels called the Artist Development Deal, sometimes known as a “Demo Deal”. The idea was fairly simple: if a label liked you but didn’t want to commit fully with a […]
Should Musicians Give Their Producer Songwriting Credit?
A very common question I get asked by my musician friends and clients is whether they should give their producer songwriting credit on songs they’ve produced. This question brings up a key distinction to be drawn between the Songwriting Copyright and the Sound Recording Copyright. Record Points vs. Songwriting Points Rather than give their producer songwriting points, recording artists […]
Should Musicians Buy Facebook Likes?
Did you know: a lot of bands and musicians in the world buy likes on Facebook? And they do the same on their Twitter, Instagram, and Soundcloud? And they might do the same to boost their YouTube views? This comes as a shock to most people, or it’s something they hadn’t thought about. And for bands […]