trademark, copyrights, business ?'s

[earthboundrec]

I'm sure it's been asked and answered here before, but whenever I do searchs I usually end up getting to involved in reading stuff other than what I was searching for... anyways,

I'm planning on opening my studio for paying customers, not a big operation, but there's enough of a market here that I can make a supplemental income off of recording...

Questions: Do I trademark the name of my studio, or do I copyright it? Do I get a dba for my business? How is that obtained? How do I set this up with the government to be a business and pay the necessary taxes for this? I would like to start writing off business expenses for income made in the studio, how is this done? Do I set up the bussiness as a sole proprietorship or as a corporation, (or are there other options?).. which option would be the best and how would I do that?

I'm sure a google search will answer some of these questions, but I thought I would ask here b/c the answers will probably come from people who have done this same type of thing..

Thanks for any help!

[bigwillz24]

Do I trademark the name of my studio, or do I copyright it?

neither...

Do I get a dba for my business?

Exactly

How is that obtained?

about 20 bux and a trip to the court house...

How do I set this up with the government to be a business and pay the necessary taxes for this?

File for a tax license wile your getting your dba at the courthouse. I wouldn't worry aboutr this part till you start hiring people or bringing in oodles of cash...

I would like to start writing off business expenses for income made in the studio, how is this done?

Talk to an accountant...

Do I set up the bussiness as a sole proprietorship or as a corporation, (or are there other options?).. which option would be the best and how would I do that?

Only you can answer this one... But my guess would be sole proprietorship or joint venture if your going in with someone. If your thinking about corporation get a lawyer and a lot of money to do it right.

I'm sure a google search will answer some of these questions, but I thought I would ask here b/c the answers will probably come from people who have done this same type of thing..

You're probably right...

Go check out the Would you start a record company thread it will answer some of your questions with a little more detail
Thanks for any help!

[FALKEN]

I've looked at doing this for my band...basically incorporating a record label, which signs the band, so that I can write off expenses for the studio as well. the reason I haven't done it is because I haven't received any income yet to write off any expenses against. I am curious how far going back you can do this though.....

I looked at starting a subchapter S corp. which is a sole proprietorship. you pay personal income taxes instead of corporate income taxes...you put all of the business stuff on your personal return..I think. not sure how the taxes are done exactly....

but yeah I think some people do "John Johnson d/b/a some studio" or you can just incorporate a company without a d/b/a. (it probably depends on what it has to say on the checks)..not sure about this one either.

dang why did I even post this....read about an S corp.

[Fieva]

As long as you do a dba, you should be ok (about $20 and a trip to the courthouse, like willz said). However, I would suggest getting copyrights of your material, but that was a given. As for the question of which way to go, I personally would go the sole proprietorship route. I'm assuming that you're either doing all of this yourself or you may have a partner who helps with some of the work while you bought all of the start up gear. If that's the case, going sole would be the best way to protect yourself. About 5 years ago, I went that route in Texas when I started a label/promotion team. I had most of the equipment and know how, my best friend had the charisma and connections (so he did most of the outside hyping while I did the studio work). He knew I was going sole proprietor and was okay with it because he knew the whole plan was set forth by me and that I knew where he'd best fit in and told him exactly how to go about getting word around (plus I'm an unsocial type cat, unless I'm just that cool with you or it's about the evil dollar).

You should also write a business plan for yourself and keep notes of things that happen in your business that work as well as things that fail. Jot down your business' general purpose for existing and making profit, how you intend to make the profit, ideas and methods, in addition to what could possibly go wrong. It helps keep you focused on task, since most musicians I know (including myself) tend to get lazy on some days.