eqipment owners agreement

T

thememuzik

New member
Have any of you ever had an agreement made as to who will own certain pieces of equipment in the event of a break up or someone leaving the group? Say 3 of us chipped in and bought a Digi 001 and a year later one of us moves away...

peace
 
Hey muze,

Do it right........do it with a lawyer. Apart from the fact that the agreement should then be watertight, if there is any disagreement the lawyer is there as a mediator.

Do it once....Do it right.

:cool:
 
My band has a list of what belongs to whom. The band itself does not own a lot of stuff (a pratice drum set and some cables). We decided that when the band splits up, we sell all of it and split the money four ways. (The individual band members can buy the stuff at slightly lower prices). If one member decides to quit, he or she doesn't get anything, so that the band can continue to operate.

EZP
 
IMO, a lawyer is a bit drastic, but that's because my bandmembers are friend and not just fellow musicians...

EZP
 
Yep, been there.

We bought a p.a system for about 2000 (powered 1K H.K. audio rig), a mixing desk, a set of sennheiser drum mics, a nice sennheiser dynamic stage mic, outboard effects unit etc.

Bear in mind that one of us was kind enough to get a loan to in their own name to finance this.

We then broke up.

What I did was ring the guys (one of whom got the loan) that were closest to me in the band, went out for a pint with them, and came to an agreement that we would pay off the two (who we knew would inevitably lose contact with us) with leftover gig money, and hire out\gig\practice\record with the equipment ourselves. We agreed to keep the loan from falling behind between us also.

I love the sound system and really appreciate what the guy who got the loan has commited to for the sake of having decent equipment. None of the rest of us have great credit records.

Know who your friends are, then think about lawyers. To me if that has to be introduced then there's a distinct lack of trust which can be unhealthy in a band.

pAp
 
You are right, lawyers shouldn't be necessary. Unfortunately it's been proven time and again that verbal or handshake agreements mean very little when money and egos come into the equation......people tend to conveniently forget what was said at an earlier time.
Pap, you had a good experience, but they are in the minority.


:cool:
 
Did you have a bad one Ausrock ?

I agree I was lucky, and I am glad the band evolved into the comfortable situation that it is now. I would never settle for less again, lifes too short you know ?

pAp
 
Personally, no.........but only because I have never put myself in that situation. But I have seen it happen within friends' bands and it nearly always results in ill-feeling between people who had once been friends.

What I have seen happening very close to home though, is where, as a band has formed, certain members taking on responsibility for booking gigs, handling money, etc with little thought of accountability to other band members. Unfortunately, this too results in (or already has) the band splitting up, etc., due to bad/dishonest accounting.

I simply believe that anyone starting or joining an existing band should do so with a written agreement covering all possible scenarios and responsibilities of members. It can save a lot of problems at a later date.

:cool:
 
In my band, there is no group owned equipment. The individuals have bought equipment that the band needs and uses, but they still own it. We try to spread it evenly around, but also stick to the obvious... ie. vocalsists own their own mics, the guy whose home we practice at owns a small vocal PA, I own a Digi001 and computer, a kit of various mics (I'm the drummer and I also do walk-in PA work) cables and stands.

Basically if a member needs new equipment to enhance their own performance, it's up to them to buy it. Nobody gets any hire fees, but if anything has to be repaired, it's taken out of gig money.
If anybody leaves the band, they simply take the equipment they own, or sell it to other band members if that is agreeable.

We are in the situation where we don't own a performance PA. We hire professional production, so there are no "large" equipment outlays to worry about.
 
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