Donald S. Passman - Author & Lawyer - All You Need to Know About the Music Business

Okay, here’s the secret: Many of the top managers have absolutely no written contracts with their artists. It’s all done on a handshake, and the only discussion is the percentage.

You should also know what clout doesn’t do. There is only so much you can get from any particular deal, regardless of who is asking.

As of this writing, most mainstream artists still want to sign to a record company. Apart from guaranteeing you money (so you can avoid sleeping on park benches while creating your music), the record companies have the resources to get your music heard above the noise of all the other artists out there.

For example, if you’re a major songwriter who’s hiring a manager to help you become a recording artist, the manager might get 15% of your earnings as an artist, but only 10% (or even 7.5%, 5%, or 0%) of your songwriting monies.

Copyright law was originally brought in to help artists make a living. But over the past century, corporations like Disney, Sony, Universal, and Microsoft, have lobbied hard to twist those laws out of shape. Now, the vast power imbalance between rich corporations and poor artists (particularly when negotiating) allows the corporations to stripmine