Royalties for band mates?

[technicalTechnical]

Hi. Longtime lurker, and I just joined. Thanks for any advice, and sorry for not knowing what forum is best to put this in. Anyway...

 

 

 

I play in a small local band. My drummer wants a contract that makes it clear how much money comes to him and the other band mates. That's not a problem.

 

 

 

The problem is: I pay 100% of the rehearsal time, recording fees, mixing fees, mastering fees, promotion, music videos etc. I do this because I'm the songwriter, and also 2 of the 4 members are broke as a joke. And it's gonna cost somewhere between $8000 to $12000 for our next album once you include a publicist and music videos.

 

 

 

tl;dr: What percentage should my drummer get when he doesn't contribute any money to the band?

[technicalTechnical]

Should I put this in another section of the forum to get more feedback?

[mbfrancis]

I play in a small local band. My drummer wants a contract that makes it clear how much money comes to him and the other band mates.

 

Not clear from this why, just because you''re the songwriter, you're paying for everything. Sounds like they want to be treated like hired hands, in which case, pay them what they're worth. Maybe dictate that funds from concerts go into the "recording account" which pays for the recordings.

 

But it's hard to keep a band together. Maybe dictate that you split everything *until* more serious money starts coming in, and then you can paid back with the first profits. Or that you save x% of all monies to the recording fee.

[rsadasiv]

Should I put this in another section of the forum to get more feedback?

 

 

http://www.harmonycentral.com/forum/forum/LivePerformanceCategory/acapella-54

http://www.harmonycentral.com/forum/forum/Music_Bus/acapella-13

[rhino55]

I hope this doesn't sound too cynical or discouraging, but I'm going to try and shoot you as straight as I can. Because your asking this question here, I think it's probably pretty likely you haven't been through this before and you're not working with a producer. Since you describe yourself as, "a small local band," the likelihood of making more money back that what you're talking about putting in is pretty slim. If you want to recoup that money first, the problem of paying others will probably be nonexistent.

 

They might not be ok with that. If that's the case, you could always set up a point system. Assign a point for everything each person contributes to a track. If you think something has more value, assign more points. That can get tricky. Divide the number of points each person has by the total number available, and that's their percentage.

 

[angelonyc]

Problems come up when the guitar player creates a monster riff, that Makes the song.. Since you're taking all the risk, you should reap the highest rewards.. Fact is a hit song is like winning the lottery... Very few songs become big money makers.. I would talk to a lawyer, cause that is another can of worms, cause lawyers specialize in interpreting it differently.. If you belong to BMI or ASCAP see if there are any lectures on it..

George Martin, got practically nothing, only his pay from EMI.. no royalties,, when in fact his brilliance may have been the single biggest influence.. John and Paul made a really bad deal at the beginning.. just being eager to get in the business. Some bands like Todd Rundgrens Utopia, made it a democacy after several incarnations of the band, Kas Kasim, Roger Powell, John Wilcox, and Todd Rundgren.. They often shared every thing equally, which made everyone work harder, cause they got a percentage of the profit.

 

You might work out a recording budget, then a writing credit, and you keep the publishing.. I've had a music projects 'blow up', when a big label, started sniffing around.. Cause the songwriter, didn't want to credit me with writing the music, he just sang the lyrics, I found the chords, and made the arrangements.. After that, I just raised my price, and became a 'for hire'.. Cause the majority of songwriters, are going to flounder around for a while, then disappear.. If you meet someone really talented make an arrangement.. I made arrangements with song writers, who were doing to do all the business, letters, CDs, introductions.. We came up with a splitting of profits, cause I supplied my own studio, equipments, and years of experience of arranging. Some of this came into fruition.. I've met other guys, ok songwriters, but didn't bring enough to table.. Not computer literate, no way to records demo vocals.. After 35 years of doing demos with semi pro's.. I decided he didn't bring enough to the project.. I tried get him to take a free Coursera lyric writing course, taught by Pat Patterson, one of the top lyrics writers, and supreme understanding of what makes a hit record.. He wasn't will willing to do that, cause he had been writing songs for 35 years.. (no action though)

 

I would carefully ascertain, what each member brings to the band.. Does the drummer have connections with booking agents, another member managers, publicity.. A successful band is like a Football team, every one has a specific skill set that is needed.. And you won't get anywhere, till you have all the components necessary to fill out the team.. A guitar player with a Rock God hairdo, is less important, than someone with viable connections which will get you somewhere.. Point out to your band members, what are they bringing to the Table..