Music Management
Music Management Lawyers London
Music Management Lawyers London explain music management agreements.
Background
Traditionally, artists’ managers had a more intimate relationship with artists, taking care of the business side of things, whilst the artists concentrated on making music. The manager would usually take a back seat, preferring to be behind the scenes dealing with the day-to-day running of artists’ business affairs.
Famous historic artist manager relationships include the Beatle’s Brian Epstein; and the Sex Pistol’s Malcolm Maclaren. The contemporary artist manager relationships that stand out to me include: Justin Bieber ‘s Scooter Braun ; Tinie Tempah’s Dumi Oburota; Katy Perry’s DMG; Gaga’s Troy Carter; and Rihanna’s Jay Brown.
Music management lawyers London ten tips for management contracts
So a great management agreement can be the key to an artist’s success. Here are ten tips from music management lawyers London to consider when signing an artist’s management agreement from a neutral perspective.
1. Make sure the parties to the contract are clear. Say for example you are signing a band and not a solo artist, then the legal provisions in the contract would need to reflect that.
2. A band should consider signing a Band Member Agreement.
3. The appointment clause will reflect the scope of the appointment. What activities will the manager be overseeing? Traditional managerial roles have changed. Will it be an exclusive managerial appointment, and if so, over what territories?
4. You need to deal with the term of the appointment. How many albums will that manager oversee?
5. You might want to create performance incentives. Say 18 months after the start of the Term the band have a small publishing deal but still no recording contract, what happens then?
6. You might want to deal with territories by itself or combine it with commission payments.
7. Expenses are another major issue. The manager may be solely responsible for some expenses and may recoup other expenses from artists’ earnings.
8. Where the agreement is with a band, then the agreement should deal with what happens when say in 3 years after the term, one of the band leaves, and starts a solo career. What happens with the earnings of the leaving band member’s solo career?
9. Going back to commissions. It is usual practice to split the management commission between publishing revenues, recorded and released during and after the term. Record royalties from previous album sales need to be calculated. Will the manager share in the recording budget from the record company; advances for video production or paying a remixer; commission on gross tour or performance booking receipts?
10. The agreement should consider what happens if for instance a band member writes a book. Will the manager be due any commission? The artists should get specialist independent legal advice as to the meaning of the terms and conditions in the agreement.
There are a whole myriad of other scenarios and issues that a music management agreement should cover. It is an important agreement that is not to be taken lightly. Lots of music careers have been lost because of lousy managers, and most music law suits are about the artists manager contracts. However with a little help from a music lawyer you could be off to a good start.
To book a face to face consultation for commercial legal advice you should contact a specialist music solicitor (charge rates may apply and may vary).