Looking for perspective and sharing a lesson learned. I didn't pay attention to great articles on here regarding copyrights so now our band is paying the price. We have been writing songs and peforming as a foursome for 2 years now. Our songs have come to pass in a variety of ways. Most time some basic riffs are brought in and we flesh it out as a group, sometime the music changes dramatically from the original, sometimes not. Our singer writes most of the Lyrics, but there are several instances of others writing lyrics and passing them on to him. Most times he will change up the Lyrics, sometimes only keeping the song name and a few words. We just recorded 10 tracks for a CD. There had been some discussion about how to credit the tracks and we had all thought we were in agreement that we would just credit the songs to the entire band regardless. Our singer has suddenly decided he wants to be credited with the songs he wrote and changed. In some cases he changed it extensively, in others just a few lines. The rest of the band is now upset because they were under the impression this was a team effort, now all of sudden we have to fight out who did what. I do respect the fact that our singer has indeed contributed most of the Lyrics and he certainly has the right to claim what is his. But this whole way of working doesn't encourage anyone else to contribute as it is likely the singer will change the Lyrics anyway and claim full or partial credit. Now we are stuck with people wanting to quit right when we have an album getting made, and gig's coming in the door. Any thought's on how to deal with something like this. Also advise, make sure you get these things talked about up front. I suspect our problem has a lot to do with the fact that singer wants to make a living doing this, and the rest are working hard and want to take it as far as we can but aren't counting on making a living at it, especially since we are all in our early 40's all-ready. :?: :(
Sounds like the ego has landed.
So, your singer deals with words and music or just words? If he's not writing the music and words combined, he can't claim sole credits.
Sack him. Re-write and re-record the words. Make minor tweaks to the music.
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Ever wonder how so many rather untalented folks end up sharing songwriting credits on so many hits? There's a saying among the cutthroats in the music biz: "change a word, take a third". It's true. If you made ANY contribution to a song, you can demand a share of the rights. I've even heard stories about producers and labels that want to avoid having to do all the work involved in changing a word, and demanding a share of royalties as a requirement to strike a deal.
Stick to your guns with the singer. They are NOT his sole creation from what you've described. And if he wants to play hardball, I'd do the following:
1. File for copyright on the songs - IMMEDIATELY - listing all of the creators (including him). First filing is proof of claim, which puts the burden on the singer to sue the rest of you... and since they're not yet released, there's no proven value in them (which means no attorney is going to take it on contingency; when he gets an estimate of legal fees, you'll have effectively won, and treated the singer fairly at the same time - and if they ever do become hits, he'll get a share)
2. If you don't do that (or if he's already filed sole copyright), dump the material and start from scratch. I know it's hard to start over after all the work you've done, but you'll be better off for it in the long run. And this time, start with a clear understanding - in writing - of how any future royalties will be split.
3. If it was my band, I'd start auditioning singers. Personal greed just ain't compatible with team music-making.
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In reply to Alan. Music and words. In fact Originally he wanted to only put the names on Lyrics (conviennt since he contributed most of those) and list the whole band name for the music portion so essentially it would show his name and the band name and very few instances of our names. We did end up telling him if the lyrics get written up seperately then so will the music.
On a related Question, If the we had to sack the singer, say after we get the CD together with the credits on it. Can we technically continue playing any of the songs so long as one of the members have their name on the lyrics and one has there name on the music. I assume if the singers name is the only one on the Lyrics they would need to be re-written.
Sure, you can continue to play the songs. Once the recording is done, the publishing company, mechanical rights organization, and label (all of which might be you) do their thing and collect royalties, and he'd get his split.
Let's say it's your own label. He's entitled to the slice of songwriter royalties from sales. But labels do accounting tricks all the time to keep 'expenses' pretty high in relation to sales (and if you're an indie, they probably actually are), so there's not much money at stake there. Mechanical rights come into play if you get significant airplay, synchronization rights if you get picked up for the soundtrack of a movie or TV show. Lawyers & rights organizations would probably handle all of that for you. And as far as playing them at live shows, that's performance rights - sign up with one of those organizations (like BMI or ASCAP) and they'll collect fees from the venues, and divvy up the money.
If you're in a dispute, I'd make sure you get rights representation now. Won't cost you up front - they take a share of any earnings. If you go completely on your own, you're more vulnerable (if any of the songs actually make money), because it's his lawyer vs yours. If you've got rights representation, they have battalions of lawyers on staff, which has a lot of deterrent value in a dispute over royalties.
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It all sounds pretty complicated for a bunch of guys who just want to go out and play our own songs. We are pretty much doing this all on our own as I suspect a lot of bands out there are doing. We don't have a record contract or anything we are funding this all ourselves with the money we make from gigs. We've recorded 10 songs that are being mixed as we speak. We will then have it mastered if neccessary and send it out to be printed. That is where the rub came in, and all-though I think we've finally settled on who's name is going to be on everything there's definatley some tension and mis-trust now. As I understand though the CD and Jacket willl more or less become the official record as we haven't officially copyrighted anything, and the odds of any of these songs going big is probably slim, but I'd hate to see our singer run off and end up in the right place at the right time to make a bunch of money of our songs while we see nothing. Also if he leaves or we axe him, we want to be able to continue to play our songs out as the rest of us are doing this strictly for our own sense of accomplishment and the joy of rocking out and entertaining people. We do work hard and promote and do the right things to make it grow, but none of us expects to make a mint or become famous.
Yep, it's a good idea to have this conversation before the music gets recorded. We just credit all our songs to the entire band, no matter who writes what. We don't really collaborate much, with the exception of the singer having some lyrics and me or the guitarist coming up with music for it. I've written both words and music for about half of our songs and about half of the other songs, I wrote the music. But everyone brings a little something to the table, so I'm fine with sharing credit.
I did have a moment on stage one time when our singer was introducing a song that I had written words and music for. He said something along the lines of 'I wrote this song about blah blah..." and I looked up thinking "YOU wrote?" Later I realized, it really doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. I doubt the audience really cares.
We do have one song that is going to be on our upcoming full length that makes me nervous. Our guitarist collaborated with a friend of his on a song and we've been performing it and recorded it. I just worry that we'll sell a few CDs and all of a sudden his friend will start demanding royalties. Personally, I never liked the idea of an outsider writing one of our songs anyway. Our guitarist just doesn't like writing lyrics, so got the guy to help him. But our singer is a great lyricist and can rattle off lyrics very quickly. I thought he should have collaborated with the singer instead of some guy none of the rest of us even know.
I did have a moment on stage one time when our singer was introducing a song that I had written words and music for. He said something along the lines of 'I wrote this song about blah blah..." and I looked up thinking "YOU wrote?" Later I realized, it really doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. I doubt the audience really cares.
That would be what Keith Richards describes as LVS or Lead Vocalist Syndrome in his autobiography :)
I've wondered if he caught my look because now there's one song he always introduces saying "this is one our bass player wrote..."
I'm pretty lucky, no one in my band really fits the stereotypes of their particular instrument. There are a few minor things that bug me sometimes, but mostly they are a cool bunch of guys.
