Are you serious about a career in the NEW music business? If so, you’ll be making key decisions as your journey progresses but however great your creative talent is, you’ll need to think and operate like a business. To this end, you’ll need to understand key principals of music law. After all, the ‘music business’ is comprised of 2 words – “music” and “business” and to succeed you’ll need to master both. You can have all the talent in the world but if you don’t have a proper understanding of the common pitfalls of the music industry, sooner or later you’ll run into problems.

 

This course is for savvy creatives who want to take control of their career and provides a framework to navigate tricky legal waters associated with the music industry.

 

Learn how to protect your creative work and your brand. Understand how to insulate yourself from legal risks and avoid making costly mistakes - from co-writing a song without discussing splits or working in the studio with no agreement to signing a contract without fully understanding its terms or inadvertently infringing a copyright resulting in legal action.

 

You’ll gain a clear understanding of the various relationships between artists, producers, songwriters, DJs, managers, agents, publishers, production and record companies. This course will break down contract negotiations, copyright law & ownership, the use of samples - permissions that may be needed and how to go about getting them, licensing, remixing, music publishing, contemporary recording agreements including ‘360’ deals and music producer agreements and we’ll also look at agreements made ‘in the studio’ with vocalists.

 

By taking this course, you’ll see examples of the main legal issues facing the modern music maker and how to deal with them.

 

This won't be another boring workshop or lecture. Instead, walk away with the knowledge needed to catapult your career successfully into the ever-changing music business landscape. Suitable for budding artists, DJs and producers to seasoned professionals, this is the ultimate course on Music Law.

 

 

      Overview

 

• The importance of music law

• Verbal and written agreements

• Rights & copyrights

• Key players

 

     

       Recording Contracts

 

•  ‘360’ deals

• Recording commitment & option periods

• Advances & recoupable costs

• Royalties and fees

• Exclusive & non-exclusive agreements

• Licensing agreements

 

     

      Music Publishing Agreements

 

• What is music publishing?

• Comparing the different types of agreements

• Cover recordings

• Synchronisation rights

• Moral rights

• Exclusive agreements and single song assignments

• Royalty accounting

 

     

      Music Producer Agreements

 

• Roles & responsibilities

• Assignment of ownership in the sound recording copyright

• Royalties & fees

• Producer agreements & production agreements

• Artist development

• Inducement letters

 

     

      Other Agreements

 

• Management agreements

• Agency agreements

• Label deals

• Distribution agreements

 

     

      Contract Negotiations

 

• Advances

• Duration of agreement & options

• Territory & exclusivity

• Bestseller clauses

• Royalty rates vs profit sharing

• Master transfer vs license

• Auditing rights

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      In The Studio

 

• What’s my role?

• Songwriting splits

• Producing, engineering and re-mixing

• Agreements with vocalists

• Session musicians

• Using samples

     

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      Protecting Your Brand

 

• Options for protecting your rights

• Registering your artist / band name

• Trademarks

• Copyright Infringement

• Remedies

 

     

      Music Revenue Streams

 

• Sales & streaming

• YouTube monetization

• DIY labels

• Publishing & licensing

• Neighbouring rights

• Performance royalties & Performing Rights Organisations (PROs)

• Master use / Sync licensing fees

• Merchandising

• Live performances

• Session work

 

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