We got the band back together—and it’s getting serious. Now what?
We’re treating this article more like a cheat sheet than a proper in-depth discussion. At Triumph, we get music-related questions fairly frequently (rock on) and we’ve started noticing some that come up frequently. Like copyrights. Everyone wants to know about copyrights. And rightfully so. Ugh, that was terrible. Please accept our apologies, and if you do have a question about copyrights you can find answers here. No puns, you have our word.
Now, back to the musical matters at hand. While none of these are exhaustive discussions (though we do have some of those coming down the pipe), here are the cliff-notes answers to the questions on inquiring garage band minds everywhere.
My band mates and I all wrote a song together, who gets the ownership rights?
Ah, the boys found their groove and finally wrote that hit song. We can’t wait to hear it, but, when we do, who should be getting the royalties?
As to be expected, this is a fairly common situation for musicians to find themselves in. And for once, the process is reasonably straightforward. By law, if there is no prior written agreement in place, each member who contributed to writing the song will receive an even split of ownership rights. For example, if you joined Big Time Rush and helped them write a new chart-topper (as if they need any help), that would put five minds behind the song (for the sake of the example, let’s assume everyone pitched in to the writing process). So five minds, divide 100% of the ownership rights five ways, and each of you is enjoying a 20% cut of the magic.
Now, it’s not hard to see how that sort of calculus could become unfair rather quickly. What if you and Carlos put in the majority of the work and actually wrote 95% of the song? Shouldn’t you two get paid more? Well, yes, and that’s why there’s a remedy to provide slightly more equitable ownership.
Enter the tried and true method of the written agreement. During or just after the writing process, bands will often enter into written agreements to properly divvy up ownership rights. These deals are quite flexible and can pertain to a single song, an album, or a whole collection.
What if there are musicians on my song who aren’t quite at the threshold for ownership rights?
It takes a village to make a successful song, and sometimes not every villager deserves ownership rights. For meaningful but less substantial contributions, artists have the option of entering into “Work for Hire” agreements. In these cases, an artist or label agrees to some contributors a fixed sum for their efforts. In exchange for this payout, the copyright is not shared. This practice is also occasionally used with professional stand-in or studio musicians.
How do I get onto professional streaming services?
We seem to get this question everywhere, so we are giving it the aforementioned full-article treatment. You can find that piece right here. Happy hunting.
Thus concludes our Cliff-notes musical question roundup. Don’t tell your English teacher.
As always, feel free to Ask Triumph with any additional questions and consider Supporting the Team.
All views expressed in the article are opinions of the author and should not be misconstrued as professional consulting or legal advice. Users are responsible for verifying all information before taking action, and Triumph Group LLC is not responsible for any outcomes. Pursue subjects at your own risk. Seriously, man. It’s your life.
