Jake Hartsfield is a songwriter, producer, touring sound engineer and a new addition to the TuneCore Marketing Team.
As a TuneCore user, there's a good chance you're a producer as well.. You may have an Mbox or you may have an entire Pro Tools HD rig with an analog console. Maybe you have a bigger budget and like to lay down tracks in a professional studio away from home. Whatever the case, if you’re producing yourself, and especially if you’re producing other artists, there are some basic things to keep in mind when starting a new project. Some of the most important steps you'll take happen before you even enter the studio.
Below is my own "Producer's Checklist", though I'm sure you each have your own. Do you do anything differently? Let me know!
Work Out A Budget
• Will you be renting studio space?
• Are you renting any microphones, amps, or other gear?
• Schedule dates for tracking, overdubs, editing, mixing, and mastering
• Are you hiring musicians other than the artist?
• You need to pay them even if they are “your friends”
• How much will you charge for your production fee?
• Even if you’re client is “your friend” they should be paying you too
• For larger projects, food, housing, & other living costs could be included in the budget
Write With The Artist If You Can
As a producer, I like to write with the artists I produce whenever I can, because there simply is not enough money coming in from production advances (for most independent producers.) By writing, you can get royalties (which can be substantial if you’re writing with a successful artist/writer). If an artist comes in with most of their album already completed, a good producer will sit down with them to help polish up the songs, offer directional advice, work out arrangements, or even write a few new songs with them. During this process, you should be creating a track list of songs you know you want to record that will most likely be on the album. If you – as a producer – are writing with the artist, you should be given a percentage of the copyright to each song you help write – but its negotiable between you and the artist whether you should get 10% for writing a key lyric, or 50% for re-writing most of the chorus melody and changing the song completely.
Songwriter Split Agreement
This is an important contract to write up (you can do it yourself too) that stipulates what percentage of the copyright you own to a song you co-write with another writer (or writers). Writers usually take an even split – if there are two writers, each writer gets 50%, if there are three writers, each writer gets 33.3%. If no split is discussed, but all writers are in agreement that they intentionally co-wrote the song together, then the split is legally assumed to be even between all writers.
What Are “Producer Points?”
Producers can often negotiate “points” on an album for their creative input into the process, which equate to the percentage of sales they can receive from album sales. However, it’s not often that a producer sees back end (producer royalties) from albums they produce – this is why songwriting is so important! If you think you need to brush up on your songwriting abilities…read one of Cliff Goldmacher’s articles
Contracts
If you get to a stage where you have artists that you produce that are doing more with their music than slapping it up on MySpace and playing local gigs, you probably should consider getting an entertainment lawyer to write you up a producer contract. Just sitting down and talking with a lawyer can give you an idea of what sort of things you need to discuss (legally and contractually) with your clients before any tracks get laid down. A producer contract should address your rights and the artist’s rights to each other’s work, ownership of sound recordings, the production fees & budget, a pay schedule, your commitment to providing the artist with the best possible product, and all that fancy lawyer jargon.
Encourage Your Client (the Artist) to Practice!
Below is my own "Producer's Checklist", though I'm sure you each have your own. Do you do anything differently? Let me know!
Work Out A Budget
• Will you be renting studio space?
• Are you renting any microphones, amps, or other gear?
• Schedule dates for tracking, overdubs, editing, mixing, and mastering
• Are you hiring musicians other than the artist?
• You need to pay them even if they are “your friends”
• How much will you charge for your production fee?
• Even if you’re client is “your friend” they should be paying you too
• For larger projects, food, housing, & other living costs could be included in the budget
Write With The Artist If You Can
As a producer, I like to write with the artists I produce whenever I can, because there simply is not enough money coming in from production advances (for most independent producers.) By writing, you can get royalties (which can be substantial if you’re writing with a successful artist/writer). If an artist comes in with most of their album already completed, a good producer will sit down with them to help polish up the songs, offer directional advice, work out arrangements, or even write a few new songs with them. During this process, you should be creating a track list of songs you know you want to record that will most likely be on the album. If you – as a producer – are writing with the artist, you should be given a percentage of the copyright to each song you help write – but its negotiable between you and the artist whether you should get 10% for writing a key lyric, or 50% for re-writing most of the chorus melody and changing the song completely.
Songwriter Split Agreement
This is an important contract to write up (you can do it yourself too) that stipulates what percentage of the copyright you own to a song you co-write with another writer (or writers). Writers usually take an even split – if there are two writers, each writer gets 50%, if there are three writers, each writer gets 33.3%. If no split is discussed, but all writers are in agreement that they intentionally co-wrote the song together, then the split is legally assumed to be even between all writers.
What Are “Producer Points?”
Producers can often negotiate “points” on an album for their creative input into the process, which equate to the percentage of sales they can receive from album sales. However, it’s not often that a producer sees back end (producer royalties) from albums they produce – this is why songwriting is so important! If you think you need to brush up on your songwriting abilities…read one of Cliff Goldmacher’s articles
Contracts
If you get to a stage where you have artists that you produce that are doing more with their music than slapping it up on MySpace and playing local gigs, you probably should consider getting an entertainment lawyer to write you up a producer contract. Just sitting down and talking with a lawyer can give you an idea of what sort of things you need to discuss (legally and contractually) with your clients before any tracks get laid down. A producer contract should address your rights and the artist’s rights to each other’s work, ownership of sound recordings, the production fees & budget, a pay schedule, your commitment to providing the artist with the best possible product, and all that fancy lawyer jargon.
Encourage Your Client (the Artist) to Practice!
Make sure your artist & band is prepared before you start tracking, especially if you are renting studio time. It’s a good idea to have a rehearsal session scheduled before tracking – just like you’d have a rehearsal before a live show.
Thoughts, questions, comments? Share them here on the TuneCore Blog!
This is a good article on musical relationships!
Check out Soulja Soulja and RapSpire @ www.rapspire.com for all of your 'RapSpirational' needs!
It is great music!
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Posted by: Terry Clark | September 29, 2009 at 08:07 PM
Hey how's it going, I have written a song with mzvokalz singing lyrics fron Jagged Edge/Alicia Keys, so it's a kind of cover, well it is a cover.The arrangement is totally unique, it's currently number 14 in soundclicks gosple charts. http://soundclick.com/share?songid=6070842
Someone told me that the original song writers would be due 6% royalties, I thought that it would be more like 50% does anyone know the exact amount they would be due ??
Posted by: Zapp Royce | September 24, 2009 at 10:48 AM
Good article.
Posted by: info@loveiswarmusic.com | September 23, 2009 at 04:31 AM
In Jamaica things are a done a lil bit different, both upcoming artists and established artists like to work with multiple producers, its rare that a contract is even mentioned by producers to an artist...
the key role of the producer is to make the baddest beat and get the hottest established and upcoming acts to sing on it.
Posted by: CD-Max | September 22, 2009 at 09:37 AM
I find UMS is not as good as J.P. Masters - At least this is the case with my tunes. Too much bass and one song actually peaks! Do they even listen to it? Is it a problem with my original recording? I was excited about Universal until I heard it.
Posted by: Scott | September 22, 2009 at 07:06 AM
VERY GOOD!
Posted by: E.ROBINSON | September 21, 2009 at 02:25 PM
Thanks for the great comments!
Christopher,
I'm right with you on that. It's especially hard when you're working with new artists that might not understand the way royalties work or who are intimidated by contracts. I try to educate everyone I work with and gauge their experience level before introducing them to contracts.
Some young artists are just looking for a few good demos and probably won't sell anything at their current stage...In this case, it's probably in your best interest to work for cash and not scare them off with a contract.
Working with a larger artist or recording an entire album definitely requires a contract.
I tend to value building a relationship with the artist rather than scaring them or squeezing money out of them. Honestly, money is something I'm not great at asking for from artists. If I could, I'd do an entire record for free and be happy, but the reality is, I need to be making money :)
It's great if you have a manager that can address the legal and financial side of things. That way, you can focus on the creative part of producing and less about the business.
Anyone with more experience, feel free to speak on this!
Posted by: Jake Hartsfield | September 19, 2009 at 01:55 PM
Unlike most of the many periodic emails I get from various music sources, I have found that the articles from TuneCorner are nearly always worth the time to read - this one in particular.
thank you
jc
Posted by: Jim Crozier | September 19, 2009 at 11:06 AM
Sometimes it can feel awkward or uncomfortable to talk about percentages, points or splits for a produced work, but if this is sorted before any work begins it really does consilidate the working relationship & power up the focus on the creative process. This should always be addressed before any production work begins. It certainly helps to weed out any potential issues relating to fees & arrangements before you put your heart & soul into the project!
Posted by: Dino Jag | September 17, 2009 at 10:17 PM
Good article, it's things i've heard before, but, it's 'fresh' perspective. So, hard to get unsigned artist that work with multiple producers in-line, but it is absolutely a necessary evil....
Posted by: CalKutta | September 17, 2009 at 07:27 PM
Excellent Jake! You captured the spirit of what a producer does beautifully. And thanks for the mention!
Posted by: Cliff Goldmacher | September 17, 2009 at 07:00 PM
Nice entry, nice complement to the "Role of the Producer" section in my book, Indie Rock 101 (www.indierock101.com).
Posted by: Richard Turgeon | September 17, 2009 at 06:49 PM
I find it daunting to bring up the issue of percentages (contracts, business, money) with some artists. Do you ever feel this way? It's hard for me to introduce issues which may get in the way of a musical and emotional relationship. Can you speak to this?
Posted by: Christopher | September 17, 2009 at 06:46 PM
Really valuable insight. I've been producing several artists recently, and though I have a pretty thorough understanding of contract law and royalty structure it's still fantastic to hear about the practical side of it all and keeping interactions with the artist positive and upbeat. I'd love more on the topic here!
Posted by: Josh Cumbee | September 17, 2009 at 06:42 PM