bknot1
Hustle Magic!! We Got It.
This is a real good read..and everyone sellin tracks should read it
http://www.alexandermagazine.com/recordingeq/weeklytip/05tip09-2c.asp
http://www.alexandermagazine.com/recordingeq/weeklytip/05tip09-2c.asp
Khalil Hassan makes beats in his basement production studio and then offers them up to the rappers frequenting the clubs he attends. He sell some of his beats--a 4 minute track-- to a rapper called B Smooth for $500. B Smooth utilizes the track in his Detroit release called “Smooth All the Way” which sells about 2, 300 records over a 6 month period.
At the end of the 6 months, “Smooth All the Way” goes cold in sales and B Smooth moves on to other material. One day, a call comes in to his office from General Motors requesting permission to use the song in a nation-wide TV commercial for a new line of cars. It seems the director of marketing at GM had heard B Smooth’s song being played on the radio and like it instantly. When a new line of GM cars was being introduced that targeted the urban market, the director immediately thought of “Smooth All the Way”. A meeting is quickly arranged and B Smooth, his manager, and—most importantly—his attorney meet at the GM headquarters in downtown Detroit the next week to discuss the details of the deal.
At the meeting, representatives of GM lay out their plans for the marketing campaign for the new line of cars. The campaign will hit every major market around the nation GM has a presence in and may, they hint, even spread to their foreign territories as well. For the privilege of using “Smooth All the Way” they propose offering B Smooth $375, 000 annually for the next 8 years. In addition, if the commercial expands to their foreign territories, GM proposes to add an additional $1.5 million to the already sweet deal.
B Smooth readily agrees and just as he is about to sign the contract authorizing the song to be used, the door opens and Khalil Hassan steps in, lawyers and managers in tow. He protests loudly that he, not B Smooth wrote the tune, and he therefore should be the one GM makes the deal with. B Smooth’s lawyer quickly douses any chance of that happening.
“Mr. Hassan”, we readily acknowledge that you created the material, but did you receive $500 from my client for that work?”, he asks. Hassan nods yes.
He continues, “Did you have any paperwork stating that B Smooth was limited in his usage of the song?” Hasan shakes his head.
“Did you have any documents that stated the song would remain yours for publishing, synchronization, and/or mechanical rights purposes? Did you have a contract that would direct all inquiries on the song for sampling purposes to you or your publishing company? Did you even place time limitations on the usage of the material by my client, meaning that after a specified amount of time, the song would automatically revert back to you?”
Again, Hassan shakes his head no.
“Then”, the lawyer concludes, “we have nothing further to discuss. My client is well within his rights to make this deal with GM and not you because you basically made a work-for-hire situation with your original transaction and my client legally owns all rights to the song you composed”.
With that , B Smooth signs the deal and the money is all his.
One area of music licensing that goes woefully neglected in today’s music industry is in the area of the music tracks used by hip hop artists and rappers. Many of today’s rap producers got their start by providing the musical bed in which rap artists would compose their rhymes to. For a fee, these producers would compose original music and allow the rappers to record the music on CDs or use the material in concerts and performances. An inherent problem in this method is only now coming to light.
When a producer of rap tracks—or “beats” as they are commonly called--completes his material, what usually happens in today’s rap industry is that the producer begins promoting the fact that music tracks are available for use. Upon finding a client, these producers then negotiate a fee for use of the material. The problem is that the fee these producers negotiate — from as little as $50 to as high as a few thousand dollars--unknowingly allows that client to own and control the composition forever—with no further compensation to the producer, the creator of the tune. Copyright law clearly states that the creator of a song has a vested interest in their original work of art for the rest of their life plus an additional 75 years after their death, and the right to license the use of that material is one of the most important. If a movie or TV show was being produced, the original music used in that production would have to be cleared via a synchronization license. For the music to be used in a CD, a mechanical license would have to be granted. For use as a sample, a clearance fee would have to be negotiated for the music. For distribution and performance, the creators of the music would also have to be compensated accordingly. The total of the money that could be earned from the various licenses granted could range in the millions over the lifetime of the author of the music in question—unless that author signed over his work for a lump sum of money, thus making his music a “work for hire” situation.
Most producers of tracks are unaware that by taking a one-time payment of money for their material, they are abdicating all rights to their works.
As indicated by the scenario at the beginning, producers of beats should have in place a contract or other paperwork which specifies that the music they are providing to the rap artists is for usage over a limited time and that ownership and decisions of other potential uses rests in their hands and not the rappers. Many beat producers today, however, have found out the hard way that this was a matter they should have addressed earlier.
When money exchanges hands for a track, this deal should be similar in scope and content to that of renting a car at the airport. The amount paid by the customer only allows that customer to drive the car all over the city or state, but ownership of the vehicle still remains with the rental agency. A track could therefore be “rented” for a set fee, but the ownership and rights inherent in the piece would stay with the producer and allow him or her to broker any and all deals associated with it.
Rappers should also only be allowed to use “beats” for a limited time. A producer, for instance, may tell the rapper that for the fee negotiated ($50, $300, $1,000, etc.) the track would be utilized by that artist exclusively for a period of about a year, meaning that the producer promises not to license the beat to anyone else during that time. Once that time is up, the producer is free to offer the same track to another artist. Returning to the rental car analogy, if a customer rents a car, he is assured by the contract he signs with the rental company that, for a limited time, he and he alone has possession of the car in question, but once the agreed upon time is up, the rental company could then rent the same car to someone else.
Another provision that beat producers should have in their in their contracts with rappers is that the price they are negotiating for usage of the track will go up if the sales of the finished product reach a certain plateau. For instance, a producer may state that the fee negotiated applies to sales up to 3,000 units. If sales reach between 3,001 and 10, 000, the rapper promises to pay an additional percentage of sales. If the song sell between 10, 001 and 50, 000 an even higher percentage is owed, and so on. This stipulation has the added incentive of prompting the producer to make the best possible beat he can for its appeal will directly translate into added consumer interest and sales.
Beat producers should have an already established publishing company to allow them to more readily broker deals for situations that may occur such as granting permission for the track to be used in commercials, TV and movie soundtracks, ring-tones, etc. At the very least, with a publishing company established, the beat producer could enter into a song writing collaboration with a rap artist who is unable to pay the amount of money asked for in a licensing deal. In such a situation, the beat-maker still has all rights in the music, but any money received would take the more traditional route of earned income from the success of the record.
