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Produceragreements
Many of the lerns of a pbducefs agreement are similar to lhe
provisions oi the anist's contact witir the re@rd @mpany (see our
guideto Recordingagfeementson ihe OneMuslcsite lor more on thai.)
flowever,thee ae a few lhingsparlicularto prcduceragreementsand
lheyare coveEd here,includlng:
. Auditprcvisions
The conlract will also include practical mailers such as lhe recording
budgeland timesand placesoI €6rdin9.
Ofien prodlcerswill M.k in thek own studios.
Th s couldcountas amnging to make the €cording.As iI
youle €ad our Coptright booklet, thal @n mean lhat they oM the
'oullknow
opyright in the recordingsthat they make.
The labelwillwanllo make s!re that ihey end up as lhe oMer of this
@pyng sothere willdelinilelybe a clausestatng d.at the producer
willsign lhese righlsovef to the label.
It is commonlor mullitalenlodproduceEloalso playinst wents on
recordings,and lhis wouldgivelhen psrforders'igh6. Re@rd
@mpanieswilla so requi.erheseio be assignedrothem.
A pbdu@r may ofrenbe involvedin mlting some ol lhe songs on a
.ecordand sothey wouldds have dghtsin lhe composliion.Inthose
cases yo! will need 10agree with your @triie6 how lhe publishi.g
lncomefrom the t€cks willbe splil.
A€ wilh any Mil6r,lhe labelwili needlhe prod!@/s consenllo exploil
lhe compositons.Or ifthe pbduer has a publisher,then the bbelwill
ne€d lo obtain thei @nsent lo exploit lhe recordings.
alr of rhese wi I be negoliated and Mitten into the cont6ct.
Obligations of a Producsr
A produ@rwili be €qoired to ensurethe €drding s carnedout
withinthe allotledrecordng budget.Any overspendmighl be
rakenour ofthe prcdue/s money.
lMakesure this en on y happeniI lhe oveGpendis direcilyyou.
iaull as a €sult of your willulneg ecl or defaull in legalterms.
The p.odu@r wi I a so be requned to enslre that the r€@rdings
are of a certainst3ndard.
Usually lhe conlract w ll stale they musl be ol a li.st dass and
techni€lly salislactoryslandardand commensuElewilh lie oIa
s milarqualty tol prcviousrccordingsnade by lho produce/.
Thee wllusually be a requiremonllhal the €corls a€
'@mnerciallystisfrctory', whichcan be a bitwoollybul basielly
means that theyte suitable ior .elease and nol so we rd lhat thoy
won l sell in ths shoPs.
ll is i s a n e x a , .
A produ@rwi I be responsible
fo. c ea.inganysamples and
obtaining
onsentsiromsesion musicians forlhe useof their
alsospocilyhowmanymireshavelo b€
The@ntactshould
Withsingles.lor il is common
exafiiple, fora reord company
lo
requne3 or 4 difierentmixes.
Thedrafrcontacr mayspecifysomethinglike all easonabre
numberoi m&esrequied by the re@rdcompany'.Thats a bil loo
vaguelor comfort.Youwantto havea limiton lhe numbec oi
diilerentversionsof eachlrackyou mustdeliver,or at leasllo
havea verygooddelinition of whal'r€asonable"means
Mrkesureyoucansuppy allthemixesyou'EcontEcied lor
withinthebudgelandcandellverlhem on lime.lf youdontthink
eitherot theseis pmcli€|,thenyouhaveto letthelabelknow
befoE you s gn the ontEct You'llned to negoiialean improved
lee and€@ding costsor lewermi\es.
A very newproducerwilh no lrack €cord will probablyjuslget a fat
le lorthe €cordlngof thealbunr,Producers withsomeexperien@
andreputalionen ususlly€lsonegotrate t perce.tage or sd6
inconein addilion
lo thenfee.Thiswillnomallysianat abund3%of
PPDior a lesswell knownproducer,and goesup to a maximumof 5
nuch likeanartisi.
Produe6 willreeive an advaneon thenroy€lti€s
Typi€llyintheUK,theadvance elemenloI a p.odu@/sieewiilbe
11 500€5,000buttoppoducers@n@mmand muchnore.
Recordingcost and royarties
OftenpbduceGwillcharge onefee,whichwillcoverallthe€@ding
cosls,ncluding
sludioumeandhle oI sessionmusicians. The
prcdu@rkeps whatever'slett overaflerall lh6e expenseshave
bed paid.This€n worklo the producelsadvantageii they navelheir
ownstudioand€n €cordsomeor allofthealbumlhere.
This kindol paymenlschemeis knowr as a'RecordingCosls
Inclusivefee.In @ses likelhis,the @nlractmay specilylhal lhe
produ@/s rot€lUesarenl payableuntIthe cco.ding cosls have been
recouped by lhe recod conpany.
Thls cooldmeanthal the albummust selltensoi thousnds of @pies
before the pbdu@r starts ge(ing any royallies. The p€Ie€ble My
lrcm the produ@/s po nl of view is thal royalties are 'pald from rsrd
This neansrharyou srarrro gekoyaltiesas soon as lour own
advancehas be6r re@upod regadlecsor whateve/sgoingon
betweenLhearristand the label.otheMi$ lou wont gel paid lor a
good longwhie, and willmissoui on quitea bit oi moneyloo.
As a producer you should be very @reful aboul lhe samples you might
Ceanng sampes involveslawyersand royaliiesand lees and so @sts
This @mes from the eording budget,e !!U llneed lo makesure
lhat you €n affod to use the sampl6s thal tou want.
OtheMise you wonl be able lo use them,orwillhave lo perslade lhe
fecord@mpanyto dig deeperinto lheir pock€I.
The producer'sroyaltywill oiien be €lcubted in the same way as lhe
artist's Dyaily, with the eme fomat, ierriiorial and olher reductions.
You €n lry and negoliaie yolr way out of these but it s hard wort(.
e l oads more r h { 1,vbbL
 AuditproviiioG and dedit
You shouldatsolry and get,A side protection.you' probabtyneedlo Youwill wantto havefte nghtto inspectthe recordcompany'sbooks
be an establishedprodocertogei this but it may afteciyour royatties ora@unr,or carryouta fu[ auditil youthinkyoule beenundepaid.

r lou prodL@only lhe B side oi a s .gte and ^e oher prodLcerhas

jc s'de proredion yourroyalhesmay sufler.
ProduceBshouldreceivea c€dit on a[ e@rd deevs and prelerabty
A'side proleclionq@s tite thrs al oth€rusessuchas filmandWloo. Theymighraisowaftonave
he nghtlo emovetheircEditif somere €tse€mixesthetuneand
under nomal cir Jrslances. b' d srnotewrrlone song on each side, lhey?enol happywithlhe newve6ion.
ure prodLce'soreach sidesoutd €m ia\€ hdl lher royalies.so rf
you were on a 3% rale for the atbumlrack,youd be dom to 1.5%il il

Prcdlcerswth a b ot ctout@n oprurd lr hey Sellhen ,u[ royatry

€E r a son! hey prodJceddppeaBas thp A sde ota srngte.rhis is
Remixeragreements
usJally urder lhespctrLJ-stdnes -e F@rd @rpdnyw wanr lo
pay a rmer rarelofl-e Droduer o,.he B s,oe
-wrim isa birroLgh ,
lf youte @mmissionedto romt a iune,you needsomektndot
aqreemenlwilhlhe labelloe4sure rhatvouboh agFe q,u.vouF
So you I nelni'ety walr d ltdJse sralrnqlt-aryoJ wont gel tessrhan
vdr su"o rovJry itbd tur is ba.k ng one o@dJcedoysoreone
with A side polecton. Th6 s€clionscoversthe Mainlems oi a remixer'sagreement,

This c€n be hard io. a new p@ducer bd a rea$nabty estabtished one

shouldbe able to hang onto lhe r properrale.
. The seryices
Re€liyhuge prcduceG@n demand iu Asde protection.This is
wlrerell-ey get lhpi. tutroyatry evel !rher 5onoapp@rs04lhe B
srde.This ic probabvshy rhpvtool so s-us s[ he ii. u

Othor UBB ofthe mGic

Podu@ls should6l& lryto a,oyaly on videos.rhiswi,l
a rGt c€rldinlvbe subied ro'e@'ve
lhe prcducjon costsof rhe vids being
recouped,blt somethingmightntterlhrougheveniua y,
r ll-e re@rd companyhds he song rem red. lhey'tlarmosr@tuinty
Mrr ro €duce rre rale ar whict-lhev pdy.oya[.es to rheonginal
podu@r of rhe l€ck.
lf it's one ot yrur l€cks lhal has ben rem xed, you may wel be abte
to prevontlhis.An inexpenen@dpbdlcerwoutd probabtyhave ro
gire up 0.5olo or so though.
Producersshoulda so .eceivea shareof flal tee income which@mes
lm organisalionsthat pay a tumpsum to ticensethesong.This kind
or ncome hprcallycores 'om rt-euseot a eng n ar aoven, ntmo,
Perfoming Produc..s
Producersmay also bo entiled to a shaE of ppL incomerom recoros
As a €mixer, you wittned to agreea lew thingswih lhe ecord
cohpanythatcornmissions youtom|kon lhe t€ck.
Fn$ o'all youneedto MowwhsLty?eof rerir s equied . yoL
teng. ior lhe tn,shed
snou|daqreegen€anda suirabte pre@.
Y@ mayaiso hav€ro provkremoc lhanone , maybea ctubfllx wittl
theodginalt€cksvocalanda dobor instrumenlat
veBron.
Youwill also needto agreeon oetiverytems - lhe technicatand other
cntena|hatlheEmixshoutd tutntbetorether@rd companywitl
acceptyourfinishedrecording.
The€willusuallybea clausestatinglhal mixmustbeofa simitar
standardto any previousremixesthal you've
'ourdoneand rhe@maybe
somelhing star'ngthatir shoutdbeof a '@mmerci€ly ac@prabte
srandard."Tharc€nbe a bittoovaguefor@mfortbLnyoumayhsve
ltuublepeBuading lhetabe|lodopitfom lhe conrracl

A produer who has ptayed insrrunents on a re@rd wil quatify for lhis
asa ranerofcolrse Bd rhereisatsoa ren pertoro,ngprcducer' The rord companywill needio detiverlhe bits ot the originaltunelo
Mcn @nru\rngly,@vers olduceB who havenrallua y pe.tored
on the re@.d buthayctaim PpL in6nelDm it.
Youneedto specifythe tormalin whichyouwantlhis sourcena@na
l.efe6 to p.odo@lswho have m6de a @ntributjonbeyondsimpty
supervisno tire ?@rdng *rs,or ' 1 s 6L,o be th.gs ti<e@achrnqa
sr.gerlo @rror a re$ $no or:Jggecnnq new deas,ul Ofien_a labelcommtssioning s €mixwil havelhewhote,ras@r 6pe
afangemenrsor an arristswn hatetut. run ofi trackby trackonlo DAT,wilh lhe originatpartson one channel
andlrmecode on lhe other
The actua delin bon is a bil grey so rhe botton ine s lhal ilhe aftjst
agces li€lhe prodL(e.qJa' re: as a oe/oFrng p@ducer.then ThalwayyoucanecEale lhewhotet€ck in a harddiskedilo. Butit's
-ey
ata one. Th's el op dor rl lhe srudiodr fe seas,on.Akerrdhve,y prcty boringit youlust w€nlto [n a tew vo€t phraseswith a smptef
he prcduce.€n apptyafrerlhe.ecord s fnished and rhe adistwiltbe aid addeveryahing d* rou6etl.
noMed and askedfor lhe r consent.
Inffeasingly,
lab€lsaresupplyinglhesongetemenls
on CD.Make
Perforir! DodJeB dre entitt{ to up to b", o, oD. from eavr uach sureyou agreerhe fomst beforehand.
wher^ lhevquarry -he erall sptr deperdsol he nLmbero.othef
nonjealured perfomersonthelrack. For moE infomalionon this,
see the ou.guide to PPLon lhe Onei,4usicsite,
in HMTo...

fais is rn exampleof a oneMlaicguide.Thereare r..,s mr.. aawwn.ara.co.uklradio1/o.€,usr.

Fin6lly, you wi I want to know when the masler lapes will be delivered
UsefulLinks & Resources
lo you end, the deadlineby whichyou shoulddeliverlhe linlshedmix

Howto...ManagementandMoney
htlp//ww.bbc.@.uk/€dlol/onemusi.,hanagemenv
Nomally,a emixerwillbe paid a sngleree.
HowTo...LegaandContEcls
Basicallyyou get to kep wlrats left over once youle paid lour htlp:/rw.bbc.co.uk/hdio1/onemusic/legal/

hnp:/ /onemusidslarlingoov
Th€twillincludelhe cosl ofcleanng any samplesthal yo! ue, so ^w.bbc.co.uVradiol
yo!'llneedto budgelcarefullyand be carelLlwhomyou sample.lts
unommon lor anyoneotherthan a big-nane DJ or prcdu@rto get
HNTo... GelYourMoslcOut
any iom ot .oyahy for the lrack, which keps remixing agr66me.ts htlpJArw.bbc.co.uk/radiol/onemusic/distdbutiorv

l XMusic:PromoteYourMusic
hltp://M.bbc.@.uk/1xtra/1xnusicJpromolion/

Ofien, the labe w ll wEnl lo pay half lhe f€o up-ftont and the olher haff
whenlhe @mpletedrenlx is delivered.

Thafs why agreeingdeliverytermsis so imponantas you ll needto Helpwithlindinga lawyer, s€€rchengine

includinga
meet rhe labels lerms before you gel tully paid for the job. awsociety.org.uldchoosingandusing/linda$licilor.law

some labelsmay evenwant a €mixerto work iof l€e and onlypay "if
lhey ikelhe mix'and releaseil.
UKmusicans
RepEsents

Thatsnolan idealwayro e.ter into a conlractbut it may be soflething

thar you have to do li youte just daning out and have yet to eslablish
a reputationas a remlxer
02075825566
info@musiciansunion.or9.uk
ww.musiciansunion.org.uk

A le lor a re.r\ €n be as lowas1500'orar unknNn remirer TheMusicProdu@rs Guild

rci<ing ior a smalllabel. The proiessionalbodyfor UK musicproducers
PO Box32, Harow HA27ZX
Yourfewilllhen indeaseas you. narnegels aroundand wu should 02073718848
be ablelo chargea few ihouend poundson@ you ve had some

You may expect to receive !1 0 000 or nore if youte @mmissionen by TheMe.hanlcal4opyright Sodely(McPs)
Prolection
a majorlabelto remlxa successtulaftist.
Allian@,2+33Berne6steet, LondonwlT3AB
The[,iCPs-PRs
lf you ieelas thoughyour fee shouldbe largerthanlhe bbelis oifering, 02073064801
you mayq ano negot6l6a lunherpaymell rl lhe teleaseis
successfuland sellswe L
Phonographic Perlomance Ltd.(PPL)
Thal can bea bitofa9€ya€a, as a rcmixis uslallya B sideand il collect pertomerroyallies
may be hard to eslablishwhai proporiionoIa b g-selling.ecordwas 1 UpperJamesStreet,LondonW1F gDE
doM to your mix ratherthan the'A side. o2075341234

Yo!'llwantlo makesure that you havelhe nght to be dediled on lhe

sleeveand labelolthe e@rd wnen your remx is released.
forlhe conientoIe*ernalstes
TheBBc is nolresponsible
(c)BBCRadio1 OneMusic2005

This seclion was pul logelher with lhe help oi enbnainmenl lawye.
MartinOellerol Nofthop McNaughtanDellerelicto6. lt is ntended
as gene.alinlomat on onlyand is not to be lreatedor reliedupon as
specilic egal or conmerc al advice.Specifc professionallegaladvie
shouldbe taken beloreanv cou6e of aclionis pu.suedin relalionto
lh6 infordation.NeithertheBBC nor NofthroplMcNaughtan Deller
acceptany responsibilLty for any lGs ordafrage arisingfrcm any
infomation on the website.

fhls is an exrii:rla a:r lirevusic guida.larae::re loadsnrre atwww.bbc.co

uUradiol/onemusra