Navigating legal aspects of the music industry isn’t easy to do on your own. Additionally, getting great legal representation will cost you a lot of money. Even getting legal representation just to draft a single agreement for a potential business dealing is costly.
Here’s what you need to know about Booking and Live Contracts for Musicians:
There are about 5 contracts musicians should know about when it comes to booking live shows…
Live Promoter – Artist Contract
This is an agreement where a promoter engages an artist to perform at an event on a particular date for a specified length of time.
- The promoter agrees to pay the artist for the satisfactory performance of the engagement and to help arrange transport and accommodation if required.
- The artist agrees to perform the engagement to the best of his/her ability and to provide promoter with materials, photographs, biography, CV and recordings for the promotion of the engagement.
Both parties agree to pay their own tax contributions and to comply with all rules, regulations and agreements relating to health and safety. This agreement is useful for promoters looking to have a document in place that comprehensively covers all of the most common issues related to live engagements.
Merchandising Rights Contract
This is an exclusive agreement where an Artist grants merchandising rights to a company which allows the latter to use the Artist’s name, logo, likeness, picture, artwork, trade marks etc., throughout a defined territory in connection with the manufacture and sale of products of any kind.
The company accounts 50% of the income to the artist after recouping manufacturing and transport costs. This is useful for labels or manufacturing companies looking to get an exclusive license to artists’ intellectual property for the manufacture of these goods.
Promoter-Venue Contract
This is an agreement where a promoter hires a venue for a particular date in exchange for payment. The venue will guarantee the promoter certain capacity and opening times, as well as reasonable technical equipment required by the artist performing at the event.
With this, the promoter agrees to be solely responsible for all costs related to the promotion and marketing of the event and to be liable for any fines imposed on the venue related to said promotion.
Both parties agree to act in a professional manner at all times and to not act negligently or recklessly resulting in the impossibility to carry out the event. The contract can be customized to allow the promoter to provide his/her own bar stock, sound engineers and security for the event.
DJ-Promoter Contract
This is an agreement where a promoter books a DJ to perform at an event, at a particular date and for a specified length of time. The promoter agrees to pay the DJ for their performance and to meet certain requirements as requested by DJ (including a safe performance area, electrical outlets and crowd control personnel). This agreement is useful for promoters looking to have a document in place that comprehensively covers all of the most common issues related to live DJ music engagements.
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Learn more about contracts:
Legal Contracts for Artists and Bands
Starting a Band is Starting a Business
Legal Contracts for Music Producers
