Trading work for points on a record

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megajoe
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Trading work for points on a record

Post by megajoe » Wed Oct 24, 2012 7:16 am

I recently started up a small studio with a partner. He owns the space & handles booking. I provide the gear & the ears.

He's also an independent professional recording artist. We started working on material for his new album. He's my bro, so I just started working without any sort of payment arrangement (there's very few people I'm comfortable doing that with) and agreed that he would work out a percentage of album sales. this is a first for me, so my question: What would you do to come with a number for this?

I'm thinking I look at his past album sales, then come up with a percentage that would cover how much I would have made upfront over a period of six months or a year. Is that too much or too little to ask for?

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Gregg Juke
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Post by Gregg Juke » Wed Oct 24, 2012 11:41 am

That's fine, but I'd definitely get it in writing ("bro or no"), and I'd also consider some points that could back-end you long-term if the album is an unlikely hit (meaning, you still get paid after you have been "recouped").

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vvv
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Post by vvv » Wed Oct 24, 2012 5:17 pm

Yep, "bro"-age is fine.

But get it in writing.
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kslight
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Post by kslight » Wed Oct 24, 2012 6:00 pm

Being realistic without alienating your "bro" I generally think that in this type of situation if you are not taking payment upfront that you should "round up" your salary plus interest...otherwise you are really just giving him a good deal and not benefitting yourself.

Personally though not to expect that your "bro" would screw you, but I'd also put in some kind of contingency plan that even if the record does not get released in a certain period of time (or at all), you by default get paid a fixed amount.

I understand the logic of investing your time in your "bro," but unless you can comfortably ask for a percentage that would pay your salary+interest and expect to come out at least even, you may be better off working out a negotiated salary for the project if its something you really want to do, but can't afford to get screwed on. For example maybe negotiate a reduced rate and then base a small percentage on album sales and licensing.


Above all, get it all in writing.

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Post by cgarges » Thu Oct 25, 2012 10:11 pm

kslight wrote:Being realistic without alienating your "bro" I generally think that in this type of situation if you are not taking payment upfront that you should "round up" your salary plus interest...otherwise you are really just giving him a good deal and not benefitting yourself.
That's what I was gonna say. What do you get out of this besides not being able to book other (paying) work during his sessions? If you're gonna get paid later, get paid more than what you would have if he'd just paid you.

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