Artists finally have the technology to protect their ideas (without hiring a lawyer) Protecting...
Music Contracts & Law
Learn more about legal topics in the music industry like copyright law, royalties, and performing rights organizations.
How to Read the Fine Print and Get a Fair Advance Deal
Knowledge in Advance With all the legitimate criticism of record deals we’ve heard in recent...
How to Maximize Your Digital Mechanical Royalties Through The MLC
As an independent artist, you are probably all too familiar with the issues that have long clouded...

Best Practices: Insurance Do’s and Don’ts for Musicians
We know that we’re living in uncertain times, and I’m sure now more than ever many of you are itching to get back on the road. Live performances are the lifeblood of the music industry, and where...

Here’s What You Could Face Without Liability Insurance
Do You Know The Risks You Run Without Proper Insurance? We’ve written numerous articles on insurance for musicians, covering everything from basic terms and phrases, to specific details about...

Split Sheets, Getting Paid and You
An Interview with SongSplits CEO Todd Wright If you read this fine magazine, you have read about split sheets. As a songwriter/producer and someone who does music licensing for a living, I...

Why Do Venues Require Bands to Have Liability Insurance?
We’ve written numerous articles on insurance for musicians, covering everything from basic terms and phrases, to specific details about liability coverage and policy requirements. We’ve also asked...

How to Treat Your Band as a Brand
If you truly want to make a living in this industry, you need to ask yourself, "what am I selling?" Here's a hint: it's not music. Music is not your product. It can't be. Consumers simply won't pay...

How Much Liability Insurance Does My Band Need?
We’ve spoken at length about liability insurance for live bands, especially touring bands and those performing at large outdoor events like festivals, fairs and the like. A while back we discussed,...
Split Sheets or It Didn’t Happen
Scenario: You come to rehearsal with a new guitar part and some lyrics for a song, but you don’t quite have the chorus worked out yet. You play it for the band, the bass player adds her thing, the...

SCOTUS, Copyright, Sex, and Beer
Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, I do not play one on TV, but like Jay-Z, I know a little bit… You know you can’t mail yourself a recording of your song to get copyright protection, right? I mean,...
INSURANCE BASICS: What’s The Difference Between a Claim and a Lawsuit?
A few months back, we posed a question to our readership, asking if they had any entertainment insurance-related questions that they wanted answered in the pages of Performer. In our last two...
Collaborators and Copyright – What You Don’t Know Could Cost You
“Help! my music was used in a production without my permission and I haven’t been paid for it!” “I hired a producer to complete my album and now they won’t give me the instrumentals because they...