Lisa Fitz, songwriter and founder of Pro7ect, discusses the tricky issue of royalties and understanding songwriting and ownership splits in the music industry.
The elephant in many songwriting rooms around the world is the forever question… “What’s the Deal?” This can be a difficult subject to navigate, especially if you are a new writer and you don’t want to ‘ruin the vibe’ by talking splits before anything has even been written.
Artists tell me all the time how they prioritise the songwriting whilst neglecting the business side of things, like they don’t mix. One Pro7ect Alumni spent three years writing and singing toplines for a production team only to find out that they hadn’t included her in any of the copyright splits. Their argument was that they paid her a session fee and that was the deal. She was totally ripped off, all because she was not confident to speak up, ask questions and agree to splits before she wrote over 30 tracks with them.
I have been in this situation myself and years of experience has taught me that a little conversation before the action makes all the difference. Top tip: have this chat BEFORE ANYTHING IS WRITTEN. If you don’t have management or publishing to do your deals, it’s up to you.
Here are two ways you can manage this conversation:
1) send an email to all parties before the session politely asking what the splits and royalties are. This means that you will have a legal paper-trail if there are any issues. ]
2) face up and ask at the start of the songwriting session who is collecting the split sheet agreements. If the other writers haven’t organised this as yet then you can put together a simple, clear document stating the date, all writers’ names, the Headline Producer, the studio and the artists CAE# (which is their personal writer number from their royalty collection society), the title of the song and ask all artists to sign it.
At Pro7ect songwriting retreats all our daily teams sign a simple collaborators agreement. We run our sessions ‘Nashville style’ – meaning that every writer in the room (including the headline producer) receives an equal split of the song. Our collaborators agreement also states that: additional third-party writers involved in the composition in post-production are entitled a split (up to 15%); that once a Writer has released or procured the release of a New Master of their song then the other Writers shall not release or procure the release of a New Master for 6 months after; that the Master Session is the property of Pro7ect and can be used to promote future pro7ect events; and all contributing artists will have access to the Master without fee or fine.
Communication and clarity are key, especially at the start of creative relationships. The old adage ‘start as you mean to continue’ comes to mind… ‘knowledge is power’ is another… take your pick. Any awkward discussions will be totally vindicated once you start getting traction with the songs, and who’s to say the other writers in the room aren’t as uncomfortable talking splits as you are? Be brave. Once that’s delt with you can then concentrate on the important job, writing an incredible song.
Pro7ect Songwriting Retreats are returning to Rockfield from 18th – 26th July 2023.
Now in our 8th year, Pro7ect songwriting retreats at the world famous Rockfield Studios, is the only residential songwriting retreat in the UK offering music production in the room and an opportunity to collaborate with internationally acclaimed writer/producers.
For more information and to apply for Pro7ect songwriting retreats & Masterclasses go to: www.pro7ect.com
For exclusive Headliner Reader discounts on Pro7ect songwriting events put ‘Headliner’ in the “How did you hear about Pro7ect” question on your application: www.pro7ect.com/apply