Re: Production contract
Sure, no problem.
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Producer for Hire Agreement
Producer or Production company name
I. Terms
1. This is a Production Agreement this day of ____,2002,
between the Master Producer(you)(production company)______ and the Undersigned Artist_________.
This is basically a sales contract so you need to say what’s specifically being sold. Are you selling a “production agreement” or are you selling instrumental music tracks? Also, the date you sign a contract is not a term or condition of the contract. The date should follow your hand-written signature. All of line 1 is useless.
II. Artist Service and Obligations
2 . The Artist has signed a recording contract with the following Record Company
_____ Records, and the date of the contract was_______2002,
In your first line you state this is a deal between a “master producer” and the “undersigned artist”. The deal has nothing to do with whether or not the artist is signed to a record company, recording contract or otherwise. Line 2 has no relevance to this deal.
3. In this Production Agreement, the Master Producer(you or your production company) is a work for hire for only one recording.
You might see this in production contracts that involve signing a musician or producer to a company to be in-house but otherwise, work-for-hire is something that’s declared on the copyright forms.
4. Artist promises to pay Master Producer(or production company) the following payment of the amount of
$______ for the duration of one recording.
(A)song title_____________
(b) copyright #_________
(c)publishing company( affiliation )ASCAP/BMI/ or SESAC________
You never put promises in a contract. The whole point to using contracts is to *legally* obligate the parties involved. So, ‘the artist IS TO PAY’, not 'promises to pay'. Also, song title, copyright registration #, publishing company……all useless. The song title should specifically NOT be declared on ANYTHING. If it is, you could wind up in court trying to collect royalty payments if the name of the song was changed before it’s commercial release. Again, are you selling a song titled “whatever” or are you selling a piece of instrumental music?
5 Artist promises to make payments to Master Producer(or production company)
(A) 50% of producer fee shall be given before the signing of this production agreement and another 50% shall be given after the commencement of the final mix....(you can get 100% upfront if you want your call)
You never state 50% and another 50%. It’s always whatever % in advance/deposit/whatever (if you require one) and the “remaining balance”. Also, producers aren’t necessarily responsible for mixing the song. If he IS NOT then no reference to a mix should be anywhere in the contract. If he IS then would the artist pay the balance when he starts the final mix or finishes it? The purchaser should never pay a balance until the work is completed and approved.
6. This Production Agreement hereby requests, instructs, authorizes, and empowers Record Company(in your case the artist) to pay Master Producer(or production company) all producer fees agreed upon.
This is another useless line. It’s actually pretty funny too, let’s break it down. This line is saying: requests ‘please pay me’, instructs ‘you are to pay me’, authorizes ‘you have my permission to pay me’, and empowers ‘you now have the ability to pay me’.
III. Miscellaneous
7. This Production Agreement can and will be used in a court of law (city, state) in the event that there is a breach of these contractual provisions.
Remember, this is in essence a sales contract so how does this pertain to the sale of the product? Another useless line. Also, just because you write something up and call it a “contract”, doesn’t mean it has any legal ground to stand on. The conditions in the contract have to be legal as well.
8. By signing this Agreement you(artist) hereby grant our publshing designee 50% of your share of world-wide copyrights for this recording.
There is no such thing as a “world-wide copyright”. “The artist” is the purchaser here. Why would an artist buy music and then give away the publishing to someone else? Also, publishing rights are transferred from one party to another, not granted.
9.The duration of this agreement commences as of the date of the contact between the Artist and the Master Producer(production company) ____ ,2002.
Is this a stab at trying to establish a deadline? If not then this is another useless line. If so then it needs to state the final date the work may be delivered. Delivery means that the work was complete and the purchaser has accepted it. The only reason you would include a deadline is to include a condition if it isn’t met. Like if the work isn’t delivered by <date> then the remaining balance is forfeited, discounted, or whatever your conditions are.
10. In witness where of we have entered into this written agreement as of the date above,
witness signs this day of ________________,2002.
Witness:_______________________
Master Producer: (you,or production company)___________
11. You have read and understood this Agreement and by signing in the space provided below, agree to be bound by the provisions hereof.
Agreed to and accepted.........
Artist______________________
Again, this is a sales contract. No witness is required (or would really do you much good if you wound up in court anyways). When you sign a contract you ARE binding yourself legally, not agreeing to be bound. There is a difference.
People have a tendancy to write up cluttered, confusing & useless contracts. Contracts should be explicit and to the point. What’s being sold? Who is the seller? Who is the buyer? Are there any conditions that go along with the sale? That’s it.
In regards to this contract, I understand what the person is trying to say only because I understand production contracts. Realistically, most of this contract is useless or not worded correctly. I tried to keep the answers as short & simple as possible so they’re easy to understand. If chances are you are never going to wind up using this contract in court, no problem. The contract will never have to hold water. But if you really want to have your business in order though, better throw it out and have it re-written from scratch.
Remember, a judge isn't going to take guesses at what you meant...