I hope this is alright to ask, but if it’s not, I assume someone will delete it.
When it comes to composer agreements, we often live in our own echo chamber, so I feel like it might be difficult to figure out what’s “normal.”
Some agreements allow the composer to retain copyright, but I don’t think this is as common as the film keeping the copyright. If copyright is with the film, are there normally specific percentages of royalties specified? Or would it simply be that the composer gets the writer’s share, the film gets the publisher’s share, or quite possibly the composer still gets both shares? Maybe there is no norm, and all these options are equally possible?
I’ve looked at “You’re Music, You’re Future,” so I know we don’t want to give up all rights to the music. There are quite a few composer agreement templates online, and plenty of them have the composer giving up all rights. I’m hoping that’s not typical.
Hi Seth,
Great topic and an important topic for composers. Yes, Yes & Yes regarding agreements. As composers, all my collaborators and I have a written agreement that we’ve signed allowing one of the writers in the group to act as an agent on behalf of the group. That’s helpful because Music Supervisors won’t give a lot of composers the time of day unless they can make a deal quickly (often within 24 hours so a One-Stop solution is helpful and important).
If you are referring to “Composer Agreements” as one that you would sign with the Music Supervisor or Film Owner, then I would suggest that you keep both the Author and the Publisher share of the music. I realize that everything is negotiable but it is common for the composer to own his material and have the right to Publish it as well. You are LICENSING your music for their film (via a Music Supervisor in most cases). That License usually gives them all rights to use your material worldwide and across the universe as far as how it relates to their film (for a negotiated FEE). If you decide to give them the Publishing then you give up the copyright and half of your royalties for any future Performances and also give them a great deal of control. I would NEVER give up the Author share and rarely give up any of the PUBLISHER share unless there were special circumstances that were helpful to you in the future with your Music. Also, In the case where they may want to release the music as a separate album with the movie name, you should also be compensated an additional fair royalty for any of those sales. Most reputable Sync agents and Music Supervisor would support your right to keep your Publishing on any music created for the film. I wish you well in your decision. It’s tough to be strong on the front end but quite helpful to set a precedent before giving up control and the Bank. All the best. Richard Klender, Songtracker Studios
Like all things it just depends. I’m also answering from a US perspective and from my experience for disclosure!
If the agreement is between yourself and a studio to create original music for the film…it depends (again) on what you want out of it or what the project means to you. If you’re on a film project above independent, you would be correct in that in most situations (like 99.9%) the copyright of the score remains with the production company (or studio). So on the royalties side of things that leaves 50% of the music pie up for grabs which is the writer’s share (the other 50% is the publisher’s share). I’d very rarely…almost NEVER give up ANY of my writer’s share. And you have to be careful as even in top productions they will try and sneak something in to where you’re giving them more. So always have a lawyer double check the contracts. There are however exceptions like for video games for instance. Video games almost ALWAYS are a complete and total buy out of the music. I can’t even think of an exception to this, but there’re no royalties that come with music for games.
Every contract is unique so while there aren’t hardened rules for each agreement there are commonalities between two agreements that show up. For instance it’s quite standard to have a payment schedule usually in threes for: signing, deliverable update, and final delivery. Another common one is 50% upfront and 50% upon final delivery. It’s also common to see what are called “package deals” in favor of a normal fee, and music budget as separate entities. Package deals include the composer’s fee and music budget as a lump sum. This is more likely to be found on 9/10 contracts vs normal fee and music budget separate.
I mentioned the above if you’re involved with a film project that’s not independent. From my experience, indie projects are more Wild West. For the independent movies I’ve done, I’ve retained 100% ownership of the music. Now, there are plenty of indie projects where they might try and negotiate to keep that publisher’s share. This is really where the “it depends” fits in. There’s not a wrong answer or right one. It’s only right or wrong FOR YOU. If that’s a dealbreaker then absolutely walk away guilt-free or negotiate full ownership. If that’s not and the film or project just speaks to you, then go for it.
I’ll say that the only “wrong answer” would be where the writer’s share is in question. Like I said there are exceptions and some projects where it truly is a complete buy out…but not all of them. And even ones where they claim it to be, I’ll always recommend to dig deeper and find out if that’s the case. But as I’m sure you know, composers support ourselves by the royalties we make.
In short, there are indeed commonalities and things that 1, 2, 3, and more contracts share. But it really depends on you and where your goals and values are at when negotiating. Always have a lawyer help you out and do the best research as you can to arrive at the best decision that’s right for your needs!
