The music business is notorious for poorly written leasing contracts that are also not really understood (or read?) by either buyer or seller. Whether you\u2019ve created an instrumental that you want to earn from, or you can\u2019t yet afford to buy a beat outright, when you get involved with beat leasing there are several important things to bear in mind.<\/p>\n
When you buy a beat outright, copyright gets transferred to you forever. When you\u2019re leasing, no matter if it\u2019s an exclusive contract or not, the beat is only yours for a specific period or for an agreed number of streams or downloads (or a mixture of the two: often, one download is considered equivalent to a number of streams). After you\u2019ve reached your time or stream limit, the beat is not yours to use anymore, period. The length of time for which the beat is leased is known as the term.<\/p>\n
Creators must be aware of the length of the term. You don\u2019t want to still be streaming or selling works containing the beat you\u2019ve leased after the agreement has timed out. This contravenes the beatmaker\u2019s copyright.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re the one who produced the beat, staying on top of the term length means you can be ready to lease your beat again as soon as possible \u2013 whether to a new creator or as an extension for the current leaser \u2013 or indeed take action against a creator who has overrun their lease period. None of this means that terms should necessarily be short. Artists need to know they have time to create and exploit the tune that features your beat, so they can recoup the money they spent leasing it in the first place.<\/p>\n
Alongside the term of the lease is the scope, which details how the beats may and may not be used. Many leases stipulate that the beat must not be used purely as an instrumental. Significant additions \u2013 most often vocals \u2013 must be added. Another common requirement is that only one track be made with the beat; this generally includes remixed versions as well as separate standalone tracks<\/p>\n
You may not only be limited in scope, but also regarding where you can release your tune. There may be a territory clause in your lease agreement. In virtually all cases, it\u2019s crucial that you have the right to worldwide use, as the internet respects few geographical boundaries!<\/p>\n
Just because your agreement may not mention publishing, it doesn\u2019t mean that you won\u2019t have to pay royalties to the beat producer, and they\u2019re likely to be at least half of a tune\u2019s royalties.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s important to know the difference between the two kinds of copyright. The publishing rights (aka the copyright for the musical work) includes the lyrics and melody. Separate from publishing are the master rights. These are for each individual version of a piece of work. You can have a classic song whose tune and lyrics are credited to one composer \u2013 that\u2019s one single instance of copyright \u2013 but that has multiple recorded versions and hence multiple sound recording rights.<\/p>\n
Each new artist recording of a song means the artist has to pay mechanical royalties to the original creator of the work that their version contains. Leasing beats isn\u2019t much different: Generally, whoever made the beat used in your tune is due mechanical royalties. Sometimes this is not explicit in the lease agreement, but make no mistake: You\u2019ll likely be paying at least half of the tune\u2019s royalties to the beatmaker.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s wise to get ahead of these potential issues, either by negotiating a royalty split between you and the beatmaker, in the same way record companies do, or by creating your own bespoke contract, whereby the beatmaker may waive royalty payments up to a specified maximum number of exploitations or if you\u2019re self-releasing (i.e. if you get a record deal then royalties kick in).<\/p>\n
The key thing to remember is to read the contract carefully and make agreements about all issues, from the beginning. You don\u2019t want your track to blow up, only to be hit with unexpected royalty demands thanks to a sneakily-worded lease agreement.<\/p>\n
All kinds of beatmakers want to receive credit for their work wherever possible. It can be especially important for new talents to get their name out there. Your lease agreement will detail in what circumstances the credit should appear and how exactly you should word it. There are often several stipulations as to where credits must appear, including on album tracklistings, in metadata, and in marketing materials.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re the artist, try to make sure that there\u2019s a clause in the contract to allow you to correct any mistakes you make when crediting the beatmaker, otherwise you may face legal action for even a minor slip-up.<\/p>\n
Unless it\u2019s a very low-price deal, artists will expect the stems of the instrumental (individual tracks for each instrument). It\u2019s tough to mix a decent track without stems, unless perhaps you\u2019re only looking to add vocals and make no other changes. Instrumentals may be priced with and without tracked-out content (i.e. stems). Make sure you get what you want.<\/p>\n
In terms of the beat that is supplied, artists expect a certain level of sound quality. Only those super low-price deals will be for MP3 beats. The usual (minimum) standard is a WAV file that does not come pre-mastered.<\/p>\n
The contract should be clear as to whether you\u2019re paying for exclusive or non-exclusive rights to use the instrumental. If it\u2019s the latter, you may end up hearing multiple other tracks using exactly the same beat as you have the license for, and there\u2019s nothing you can do about it.<\/p>\n
Even if you think you\u2019ve got exclusivity, the license may still allow for the use of the beat by previous artists who have non-exclusive agreements. And there\u2019s also the possibility of unscrupulous producers lying about their having ownership of the beat at all!<\/p>\n
Try to avoid these pitfalls by asking the producer if, and exactly under what circumstances, they have allowed the beat to be used in the past. Search for the beatmaker\u2019s credentials online. Shazam the beat. And, crucially, read the contract in detail, multiple times. If you\u2019re up on the law, you\u2019ll know to add in extra conditions to the license agreement that act as a warranty in case of something going wrong.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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