Q&A : Collaboration Agreements

Actual questions I receive from people

across the U. S. and abroad.

QUESTION:

I am an unsigned singer/songwriter, and am often contacted by artists requesting that I write and/or sing a hook on their song. I am often hesitant to do so because I am not sure how I should be compensated, or what rights I have once the song is recorded and put out there. Often times these artist will make it seem as though they are doing me a favor by allowing me to be on their track, as though that should be compensation in itself. I have already once had a situation where I wrote a hook for someone who asked that I "collaborate" with them, and since have never heard from this person. What are my rights in this type of situation? And how I do prevent from being taken advantage of?

ANSWER:

Rest assured, you're not alone in wondering about this, as I get the same question from many folks all over the world. Collaboration in music is good thing, as it usually leads to a better result than when working alone, but it should only be done when you fully understand the business and legal implications, not just the creative benefits. If either party is not aware of the business aspects of collaborating, it is likely that unpleasant disputes can arise.

The first thing you have to clearly understand is the concept of Roles in the creation and production of a song, and the rights that go with each. The rights and expectations are different for writers, performers, producers, arrangers, and all the other roles. In addition to the Roles there is the format of the agreement between the parties – there is joint ownership collaboration, where income and expenses are shared according to some agreed arrangement, or there is work-for-hire, where one person pays another a set fee up front in exchange for ALL future rights, or there are spec deals (speculation) where you do something for free with expectation of seeing income later on.

I discuss this at length in "Songcrafters Coloring Book" and to read my online articles on this topic, go to my Songwriter Tools and look at the articles entitled "Role Call: You Are Bartholomew Cubbins", and also "Taking the Labor Out of Collaboration".

Once you understand the different roles in the life of a song, you'll have a better handle on what to realistically expect from different kinds of collaboration. Remember that there are no set rules for collaboration – it is whatever the parties agree to. The one golden rule of collaborating is to always get the agreement in writing BEFORE you actually do any work with or for someone else, and know what is reasonable to ask for and expect.

In your question, you describe two different situations: "artists requesting that I write and/or sing a hook on their song"

If you write any part of the song, you have a whole different arrangement than if you just sing on the song. If you do both, you have two different agreements for that same song. As a writer, assuming you are not paid up front as work-for-hire, you are a part owner of the copyright, and are entitled to a portion of the writer's share of the song (based on a percentage you both agree to). You also need to decide who will administer and control the copyright (i.e. act as the publisher). The publisher always gets 50% of all royalties, and the writer(s) split the other 50% . Thus if you are a co-writer with a 50/50 writers share, and the other person is the publisher, they get 75% and you get 25%. Ideally, you want to be co-writer AND co-publisher.

Whether you contribute one word or most of the song, the percentage split is whatever the parties agree to. Generally, business etiquette would be a 50/50 split, or if you collaborate only on lyrics but not on music (or vice-verse) then it's generally a 75/25 split of the writers share (50% of the income).

These are only guidelines, as you can negotiate any arrangement you want, but ALWAYS get it written down, signed and notarized UP FRONT!. It's up to you whether you want to ask for a fee up front as full payment and not have any claim on later earnings (work-for-hire) or whether you want to retain some percentage of ownership. The work-for-hire arrangement is clean and simple and is probably best when you don’t think there is much potential for the song down the road. If you want to retain part ownership, then you have to address the question of who pays for expenses of recording/promoting the song. If you have a share in the potential royalties, it is not unreasonable for you to pay a share of the expenses. However, also know that whoever pays MOST of the expenses is really the one who controls what happens once the song is written – the major stakeholder has the final say in how the song is produced, recorded, promoted etc – UNLESS you have a specific written agreement stating otherwise.

You want to avoid a situation where you are responsible for any portion of costs without having some way of controlling those costs, and the way they are being spent. Be careful about painting yourself into a corner with this type of arrangement. It may sound good initially but is a very bad situation to be in.

As a writer, you get royalties from 4 sources: (a) CD's/downloads sold (currently 9.1 cents per copy, split between writer/publisher as above) (b) live performance (only if monitored by ASCAP, BMI,SESAC, SoundExchange, and only if you are a registered member) (c) Licensing for movie/TV/Videogame/Ringtone placement (whatever deals you negotiate) (d) Sheet music (not as relevant today as many years ago).

All of the above has to do with collaboration as a writer. As an artist you have less leverage. Artists do not automatically share in royalties that the song generates. (There is legislation being considered to give artists some compensation from airplay, but as of right now, there is nothing). As an artist, you have to negotiate your own deal, based on whether you think it's best to be paid now and nothing later, or nothing now and a percentage later on, or something in between. I usually recommend that artists take some up-front amount and opt for less, if anything later on, unless the label has a good track record. You can try to negotiate an up front payment along with a specified, reduced percent on the back-end.

You wrote: Often times these artist will make it seem as though they are doing me a favor by allowing me to be on their track, as though that should be compensation in itself

This is essentially giving away your service for free. If you want to be compensated, negotiate terms up front and get it in writing. Anyone who does not want to do that with you is not someone you want to work with. Don't things based on the promise of "exposure". If you record for someone for free, it should be strictly because YOU want to and you're willing to donate your services. There should still be an agreement which governs what the person can do with the recording, and which stipulates what happens if the recording does generate income. As a recording artist, you generally have no legal say in how the song is used – that is controlled by the publisher.

You wrote: I have already once had a situation where I wrote a hook for someone who asked that I "collaborate" with them, and since have never heard from this person. What are my rights in this type of situation?

You are technically a co-owner of some portion of that song. If it generates any income, you are entitled to a share, BUT -- in the absence of any written agreement , and if the other person did not list you as a co-writer on the CD or on the copyright form, you may not have much recourse.

Bottom line of the whole thing:

-- Understand what you can reasonably ask for in a particular situation, and the different kinds of possible deal arrangements

-- Decide within yourself the value of your services

– Make any deal you want

-- GET IT IN WRITING UP FRONT

Besides the articles I mentioned above, get the book "Music Law: Managing Your Band's Business" by Rich Stim, Nolo Press. It will help you with a lot of this stuff. (See my Recommended Reading list)

Good luck to you in all your music pursuits.

For more, visit http://www.songcrafterscoloringbook.com

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