The very first thing a young/old/first-time songwriter who is recording, writing with a second party or three or four additional ‘co-writers’ should do is agree the writing shares between each party. If there are two songwriters it could be agreed that the songwriting share would be split down the middle 50/50. Three writers: two at 33.3%, one at 33.34%. Four writers: 25% for each writer.

If you are financing your single/album/EP project privately you may need ‘session’ musicians to provide musical accompaniment eg; bass guitar, electric guitar, piano/keyboards, backing vocals etc You would be best served to have agreements in place that state that the ‘session’ players have been paid an agreed fee and their recordings are owned by you the owner of the ‘sound recordings’ (Master File, Audio, Metadata, Streams) and as ‘Owner’ you have the right to cut, edit, delete ‘recordings’ as and how you wish, without prior approval for the ‘session’ musician.

You may wish to engage an individual to supervise the recordings and enhance those recordings by expanding the original basic ‘composition’ (song) with orchestrations, specific sounds that he has created, developed, is recognised throughout the music industry eg: Drum ‘n’ Bass, R’n’B, House, ‘Pop’, vocal production etc

These percentages need to be agreed in advance and contracted. It is the Owner of the ‘Sound Recordings’ responsibility and should be made clear in writing, to register with the correct Collection Society (PRS, MCPS, Harry Fox, ASCAP). This should be a featured clause in your ‘Production’ Agreement.

Not in most situations. An engineer is paid a flat hourly rate and is signed off for his services. There can be occasions when an engineer will act as co-Producer of a ‘title’s recording session. This again, must be addressed before the first instrument is recorded.

This is a License/written agreement to exploit/use your ‘title’/song/words and music in the use of a television programme, feature film, commercial, radio jingle/’ident’.

All majors and a great many independent broadcasting companies pay a fee for the use of music in their broadcasts. It is calculated at a 30 second usage rate determine by the time of day the broadcast airs, what channel and which territory it is broadcast in.

There are two forms of income. The production company may opt for a straight ‘buy-out’; offering you a single fee for the ‘ownership’ of the copyright. If this is the case, you will earn nothing more than that fee. If you opt to retain your rights, you will earn a royalty rate for the amount of time the ‘title’ is used and territories it is broadcast in. For example, if you wrote the title music for ‘Eastenders’ or ‘I’m A Celebrity’, you will be paid a royalty for every time the music is played: opening credits, advert breaks, end credits, commercials to advertise the upcoming series. Sample rates for radio broadcasts:

A reputable manager will be willing to promote your music throughout the industry. Preferably, having had previous successes in the industry with artists/bands/songwriter and/or producer. Some managers will focus on a particular style of music; R’n’B, Pop, guitar-based, Soul, Funk, Indie etc. A Manager will negotiate any contracts that arise from his formal introductions to music publishers, record companies, promoters, PR companies. Everyone that you will come into contact in your pursuit of commercial success.

In the United Kingdom it is ‘common practice’ for the manager to receive 20% of all gross monies received from the exploitation of your ‘talents’ eg: songwriting, ‘live’ performances, record sales, music publishing royalties, promotional sponsorship. If your manager negotiates to engage another manager for territories outside the UK, they will receive a % based commission also i.e.: for a territory such as the United States it is common place to engage a US manager as the laws and jurisdictions across that country are different to the laws and jurisdictions of the United Kingdom.