agents
secure employment, and get % of the agreed upon money
agents have 2 client bases
1.) roster of artists 2.) talent buyers (promoters or venues)
managers
long-term career advisement/development
record deal
is not considered employment it is a venture
california law
as much entertainment happens there, california law is generally abided by
can a manager directly secure employment?
many union juristictions and laws in certain districts prohibit this. (hiring an agent indirectly secures employment)
agent becomes
a legal representative of the act the act must fulfill agreements that the agent enters into
agent payment
they get a % of the gross= they want high ticket prices and sold out. generally 10-15%
to be an agent
states require licenses for legal representatives
agencies
agents work within companies though acts will generally have a “keyman” clause in contract, contracting them to a specific agent within the company
attorneys
specialize in entertainment law they maintain relationships with all entities in the music business. work out agreements between publisher/writer, record cont/artist, promoter/artist/agent, artist manager/artist. they must discolse of relationships that may pose conflict of interest.
attorney payment
1. get paid hourly rate (plus expenses)
2. set fee (no incentive to see it through)
3. contingency agreements-
contingency agreements
lawyer will not be paid unless or until there is money(this is more often if they are negotiating a deal) (though you will have to cover additional expense- so you insert “floors and ceilings” as far as spending goes here
termination
you can fire your lawyer at any time, though this is more difficult with a contingency agreement in place
lawyers “shop”
get songwriters with publishers ‘solicited”
unions
secure employment, regulate labor
gulds
work for creative rights
AFM
American Federation of musicians (musicians union)
-recording sessions- rates
-live music (contracted musicians (work/break time periods)
-broadcast performance.
AFM
American Federation of musicians (musicians union)
-recording sessions- rates
-live music (contracted musicians (work/break time periods)
-broadcast performance.
AFM rates?
300 to 900, 3 hr increments with 15 minute breaks (if you step into one 3 hour session you pay for the whole thing even if its only 5 minutes)
artist contract
royalty artist, non-union
Taft-Hartley Act
unions cannot prevent people from getting work, meaning non-union members @ union recording sessions are paid a union rate and work under inion conditions.
AFTRA
American Federation of TV and Recording Artists (vocalists)-not considered musicians. higher rates for feature vocalists including residuals (royalties from broadcast) as it is considered higher risk to use voice.
AFTRAs forms
2 forms.
1.Phonograph Recording Session-documents services and times
2. Production and Wage form- documents personel and wages
doubling
play two instruments=you get paid twice.
residuals
from broadcast
royalties
from sales
contracter
works for the union. responsible for hiring union members (may sit in on session to document it)
leader
one of the musicians on session who presides over the session. they earn double.
Union benefits
healthcare and pension plan (record companies pay union small payments to support these)
personal managers
cannot directly secure employment- often employ assistance from office assents, tour/road managers, and business managers.
Tour Manager
-responsible for collecting money
-getting the act to the venue
-all employess on the tour
-responsible for merchandise
-lights and sound
-travel/lodging/meals
components that must be in place for manager to work
1. belief in artist talent
2. wll organized
3. honest
4. effective communicator
5. willing to hire in areas outside expertise
6. assembles/maintains industry contacts
7. share visiona nd goals with artist
termination of manager
you can fire your manager but they are usually under contract.
what does a manager technically do?
takes potential-devlops and offers resource
managers payment
commission %rate
base
what the commission is taken out of, ex. income from recording, performance, publishing, merchandise
gross or net?
standard practice is gross, exceptions are the recording budget
exclusivity
artist has sole manager, generally unless artist is very powerful, not vice versa
company manager
then you are working with that “keyman” and if he leaves you are no longer contracted to company.
is artist management contract transferable?
no
key to success
control expense=why you have a business manager
management termination
manager is often entitled to (some or all) income derived from contracts established during the management agreement)
de-escalation
is established, over time the managers commission decreases steadily to 0
terminated one manager, hired another one typically
an escalation period will go into place for new manager. 1st manager is not entitles to work of manager 2, including renegotiated contracts
things the manager thinks about
what kind of performer is the act? who is the audience? can the audience be expanded? what can be done to fully exploit the artist potential?
things the manager thinks about
what kind of performer is the act? who is the audience? can the audience be expanded? what can be done to fully exploit the artist potential?
develop the act
writers? choreographers? musical director?
programming the act
Headline-set length, (headliners management is in charge of the show), techincal issues, Billing, (marquee etc.)
advance career
radio, print press, web ( those with no news sell “the story” of the band)
“focus tracks”
“sounds like”
press kit
one sheet
image
audio
contact info
tour dates
record release info
press clippings
artist management contract
1. appointment
2.employment
3.assignment
4.term/termination
5.power of attorney
6. artists responsibilities
7.managers commission rate
8.managers commission base
9. accounting, payment structre
10. default/cure
11.arbitration
appointment
parties, services-“best efforts” and “reasonable” should be in there for this one. Manager offer advice and councel. any [subsets] -busness mgt.
-represntaion, designating manager as artist representation
employment
attempt
assignment
limitations/prohibition of transfer of the agreement where you might give permission to let manager hire people to take care of subset type work. exclusivity is here. keyman clause here too.
exclusivity
mgr is the sole rep of artists, artists also want vice versa but most managers will not go for that.
term/termination
initial time period, and any options at the discretion of both parties. options often include income plateaus be reached and escalations for managers.
standard agreements
3 year periods with 1 year options
termination
de-escalation periods
power of attorney
right of the manager to enter into agreements on behalf of the artist (time and money limitations are put in place here)
concert promo business startup
register co. name with local/state offices and obtain a business license and get a bank account
startup capital
needed for-security deposits for venues
-advances to performers
-potential losses
-promotion advertising expense
reduce risk?
co-sponsorship:
local radio
-record companies
-papering the house
-venue
-corporate sponsorship
local radio cs
provide free or low cost ads in exchange for billing/rep dj
record company cs
negative tour support meaning the rec. co. pays money to promotor to put on the show-eventually comes out of artist royalties
papering the house
record company buys a block of tickets-very commmon for up and coming acts.
venue
reduction in rental for participation n ancillary sales (primarily merch)
corporate sponsorship
(fly a banner for few thou sort of thing)-venues may have ties to competitors=show may not be able to happen there
corporate sponsorship
(fly a banner for few thou sort of thing)-venues may have ties to competitors=show may not be able to happen there
scaling the house
ticket pricedeterming the value of seats v. draw v. what audience will pay
colleges/NACA
college sponsoring-no ticketing, are in many cases closed events=unpublicized (restricted) meaning you can have another publicized event in area.
budget
venue rental, liability insurance, security, promotion
venue rental
-flat fee
-flat fee and or % the gross
four walling
venue just provides the room
things venues can provide
personnel, stagemangers, lights and sound, box office
where must you break even?
at 60% of seats sold
percentge breakdown
5-10% rental, 15% for promostion expense, 10% for unforseen expense
technical rider
document, part of contract specifying what promoter must supply in terms of audio/lights
personal rider
personall needs, this is part of contract
promoter contracts
agent, they work out ossible dates (artists will have a standard fee, guarentee-may be tiered to venue size)
guarentee
fixed amt of money due to artist no matter what, (will need a deposit of 50% of guarentee. percentage, based on ticket sales
often contract is guarentee vs. percentage
whichever is higher
to book a venue
promoter must put a Hold on it often 50% of deposit
SRO
standing room only, not actually a thing anymore cause of fire code, but means sold out
packaging
agent will have a opener with a headliner, promoter can offer agent a number of shows.