The short answer: Yes. The long answer: Very little for most users. Let’s examine why. How Does TikTok Pay You? Your music will generate royalties from both the master recording and the songwritng (publishing), as it does with any usage. If you are a member of a PRO (Performing Rights Organisation) in your territory (SOCAN in Canada, ASCAP or BMI … Read More
TikTok For Musicians: What You Need to Know
One of the biggest developments in the music industry in 2020 was TikTok. While the app was definitely big in 2018 and 2019, it truly blew up in 2020, surpassing over 1 billion users across 150 countries and establishing itself as a bellwether in the music industry. Many of the biggest success stories in the music industry in 2020 were … Read More
Producer Royalties: How Should Your Producer Be Paid?
For some reason, the last week has seen me drafting or negotiating a ton of agreements between Artist and Producer, outlining what percentage of record sales the former will pay the latter. And yes, records do sell sometimes, so this can be important. If your record “goes Adele” and sells 25 million worldwide, you’ll rue the day you coughed an extra percentage point to your producer without reading this first.
For more on whether a producer should receive a percentage of record sales and/or songwriting points (or neither), read my previous blog post on the topic. Once it is determined that they will receive a % of record sales (which is normally the case), the next question is: what amount does that percentage apply to?
SoundExchange Royalties: How Much Should You Pay Your Producer?
In recent years, one of the questions that I’ve been asked most by my artist clients is: how much of my SoundExchange royalties should I give my producer? As we examined in my article here, it is industry standard for music producers to be paid a percentage of an artist’s record sales (known as “points”). Industry norm is between 2-5% … Read More
5 Things to Look for in a Music Producer Agreement
So, you’ve found the perfect producer for your upcoming recording project. Great news. Now the producer sends over a 10-page contract full of legalese regarding record royalties, songwriting splits, SoundExchange revenues, producer advances and more. Before you enter the studio, here are some key points to look for and understand: 1) Who Owns the Masters? First and foremost, you should … Read More
100 Episodes of KD and Me!
Two years ago my friend Gary from my local rock station had a little idea to call me and chat on-air about what was happening in my world. Very casual. We had a load of fun so he called me the next week and we did the same thing. Then listeners started sending in questions and requests and next thing … Read More
Free Legal Program Completes Third Year!
Three years ago, I relaunched a program with the help of SaskMusic to provide free legal advice to musicians in the province. It’s the only program of its kind in Canada and in those three years, we’ve provided over 180 hours of free legal advice to Sask musicians!! It’s an absolute honour to do it and maybe someday we’ll take … Read More
We’re touring the USA with Sebastian Bach!
The biggest tour of our career kicks off in a few months with Sebastian Bach!!
Two of My Clients in Rolling Stone today!!
Feeling like a proud papa!! Two of my clients were in Rolling Stone Magazine today!! Huge congrats to Colter Wall and Black Mountain Whiskey Rebellion. Celebration time gents