How is the singer paid when they just perform the song?!
Question: How is the singer paid when they just perform the song!?
This is about back end payments on music!. I will state what I THINK happens and would appreciate it if someone would please clear this up for me:
In general, a song has two parts 1) music (production) and 2) lyrics!. When claiming copyrights for the entire song, then 50% publishing belongs to the producer + 50% belongs to whoever wrote the lyrics = 100% of the song!.
My question is IF I understood the above right then what happens if the singer didn't produce or write the song!? Like if I'm a singer and I buy music tracks from Kanye West and then get lyrics written by Justin Timberlake then sing the lyrics myself and with the music I bought from Kanye, then yes they still own their parts of the song - 100% of the song!. So if I'm only the performer, what claim would I have as the artist!? Are the artists just paid upfront, do they only collect from live performances after the recording or do they negotiate a cut of the pubishing in addition to - or some combination of the above!?Www@Enter-QA@Com
In general, a song has two parts 1) music (production) and 2) lyrics!. When claiming copyrights for the entire song, then 50% publishing belongs to the producer + 50% belongs to whoever wrote the lyrics = 100% of the song!.
My question is IF I understood the above right then what happens if the singer didn't produce or write the song!? Like if I'm a singer and I buy music tracks from Kanye West and then get lyrics written by Justin Timberlake then sing the lyrics myself and with the music I bought from Kanye, then yes they still own their parts of the song - 100% of the song!. So if I'm only the performer, what claim would I have as the artist!? Are the artists just paid upfront, do they only collect from live performances after the recording or do they negotiate a cut of the pubishing in addition to - or some combination of the above!?Www@Enter-QA@Com
Answers:
The publisher of a song may be neither the songwriter or the performer and may well have had nothing to do with writing the song!. Some songwriters also own their own publishing company and can publish their own material!. The composer and the lyricist are jointly considered songwriters!. Each will earn songwriting royalties whether a song is performed as a vocal or an instrumental (or even just sampled)!. A record producer usually is paid a salary by the record company and does not share in the royalties!. A recording artist earns a royalty on sales and airplay of a record based on his or her contract - 5-10% is common in the record industry (some major stars earn higher rates)!. The songwriter(s) typically earn another 5-10%, while the publisher earns the rest of the royalty (you can see why many songwriters set up their own publishing companies)!. This, of course, is taken AFTER the record company gets its share of the net sales proceeds of a record!.
In your example, you are recording a song written by Kanye West & Justin Timberlake!. I don't know what sort of contracts West & Timberlake have, but they are major stars; let's say they earn a 20% royalty share!. Ignoring record sales proceeds to the record label, your record royalties would be split like so:
West-Timberlake songwriters: 20% (10% to each), you (a newcomer to the business): 5%, publisher: 75%!.
If West & Timberlake, who each own their own publishing companies share the publishing (that's 75% divided by 2, or 37!.5% for each), the royalty split now looks like this:
West: 47!.5%
Timberlake: 47!.5%
you: 5%Www@Enter-QA@Com
In your example, you are recording a song written by Kanye West & Justin Timberlake!. I don't know what sort of contracts West & Timberlake have, but they are major stars; let's say they earn a 20% royalty share!. Ignoring record sales proceeds to the record label, your record royalties would be split like so:
West-Timberlake songwriters: 20% (10% to each), you (a newcomer to the business): 5%, publisher: 75%!.
If West & Timberlake, who each own their own publishing companies share the publishing (that's 75% divided by 2, or 37!.5% for each), the royalty split now looks like this:
West: 47!.5%
Timberlake: 47!.5%
you: 5%Www@Enter-QA@Com