Have a Band Partnership Agreement
These agreements are so important to have. The reason why is because a lot of times working with a group can be a challenge. Even if you gel really well, laugh a lot, and everything is great. You never know what could be a problem later on. Sometimes it’s good to have a clear vision when difficult decisions need to be made. What needs to happen is prevent disputes and legal issues with a pre-made agreement that is decided upon and signed by all band members. It’s really to take care of everyone in the band, not just taking care of one person.
Register with a PRO
Here’s another thing to take care of in the music business. Something that you need to do is first, of course, is copyright your songs (Read the blog about that!). And second, register your songs. You may be asking, “What in the world does that mean? Register them with who?”
Well, for example, there are certain ways to get royalties for your songs that are being played on the radio, and also on the perhaps the television. What you need to know is that you can register you song with a Performing Rights Organization (PRO).
Here are some examples of PROs. We’ve got American Society of Composers, Authors, Publishers (ASCAP), Broadcast Music Inc (BMI), Sound Exchange, and Society of European Stage Authors and Composers (SESAC). Figure out which one works best for you, and DO IT. Just DO IT!
Form a Business Entity
This is necessary to do for very good reason. If you make your band into a limited liability company LLC, you can protect yourself from people trying to perform legal actions and debts. So for example if a band incorporates itself as an LLC, then only the assets that belong to the LLC can be taken, not assets from individual band members. Worst case scenario, if someone sues your band, they can only sue the LLC, not you personally. Does that make sense?
You need an experienced manager
That is so important to have because if you don’t have a good manager then really, you are in big trouble. What does that mean? Well, you can be taken advantage of, because it’s so true that managers can be bad people. That’s why you need to find a reputable, non bad-people. They will know how to handle the business issues of your career. Especially if they have the experience and the character. Sure you could have a pal do it, but it’s going to be much more effective if you have someone who has done this longer, and can help you further along.
