lawyer:
sorry guys that i wasn't online, been a lil busy. Thanks for the shout out! but seriously, for any budden artist , you have to be very careful when dealing with record labels. It's always a beautiful thing whenever you believe you have a hit record or song that you want to unleash to the public but you know it's going to be difficult without you getting that required publicity thru a label, so i'll give you 5 more tips for you to know starting from the top.

1. Starting from your demo tape, you have to protect it very well and not unduly distribute it to a record label or radio station because that demo could be your key to sucess. Today i met an artist who gave his demo tape to a record label and signed off his rights to that demo and the song became a hit, ( sorry i won't tell you the song or artist but for the last 5 months, he has not recieved a dime and the demo song in the album has sold a couple of thousands album for the label.

The key to beating this trap is for you to go to the studio with your own funds and not with the backing of a label if your doing a demo. An average studio time is not more than N12,000 at most for 8 hours in an above average studio. Spend at least 2 or 3 studio sessions on that demo single to perfect the hit track. After wards, find money and design an album jacket and design an album sleeve+ standard c.d cover and agressively promote it through radio stations. Now the stations may be hostile to to you and expect you to settle them to play it. N5,000 at most most do the trick for air play for 3 or 4 times in a week.

The trick is that, if you just dub the single on an empty c.d or burn it, the stations won't take you seriously except they see it it an album form. Dont worry, when people begin to enjoy the song and their request shows begin to ask the stations to play your songs, they would be forced to pay back that N5,000 through royalties because your now in demand. So you win in the long run.

2. If you decide to produce your demo through a record label or you have done the demo before and you have presented it to the record label, be wise enough not to ask the record label to add it as one of their tracks in the album because you own the copyright of that song and you are not obligated to release it on that album the label is producing for you, because the momemt it gets on the album, the contract will stipulate that it was so so and so label that produced that demo and they get most of the royalities and you get very little or nothing.

If you decide to give it to them, remember you have to draft an agreement stating that you own the copyright of that song, because that song could be remixed a million ways in future and that could be your gold mine. Example see P-SQUARE and the (busy body) remix. That song was their demo that has turned them to millionaires. A demo is the hardest work an up coming artist devotes his time and money to, so you should guard it with your life.

3. Now i know you might say you dont have money for this, but it's for your own good in future. The rule is if you write a song or lyrics of a song, you get royalities for that song you wrote. If you then double as the writer and producer of that song, you get double the royalties. Now you might ask how do i get my royalties and what is a royalty?

A royalty, is a stipulated amount of money that should be paid to you any time any body uses your song or lyrics. The rule is that you must have given who ever wants to use that song a licence to play the song unless they would have infringed on your rights and you can claim either damages from that person or account of the profits which they have made from the use of that song. The people you can get royalties from include:
a. radio stations

b. T.V stations

c. Night clubs

d. Jingles ( such as when ever someone wants to introduce a product and they use your music in the background)

e. Home videos or movie soundtracks

4. How do you calculate Royalties Generally the standard practice is between 10 to 14%.

E.g, if you have a good music lawyer, it should go like this example:

Let's say kennis music wants to sign 2 face and there is a song called "african queen" which they assume is going to be a hit, KENNIS MUSIC would have offered 2 face say N2million to sign him up. That 5 million will be divided thus:

1. Studio time N10,000 x 3 studio sessions=N30,000

2. Kennis music producer who does the mixing and sychnronization=N5,000 per day x 3 days =15,000

3. Packaging of the song which includes the design of the sleeve jacket for the c.d=N50 X 10,000 copies=N500,000

4. Promotion and tour for 6 months which includes radio, hotel, transportation, feeding and marketing =N500,000

5. Video + casting and dancers =N150,000

6. the rest miscellaneous money for your extra expenses unforseen

Now, that 2 million is called a record fund advance which has to be paid back when Kennis decide to distribute those 10,000 copies of c.d's to say ( a big boss jigga man) at N50 each. Big boss will now sell it to Alaba boys at N80 to N90 per c.d and the alaba boys will sell it to the consumer at N150. You know, Kennis has just recouped only N500,000 remaining N1.5 million. So when they draft a contract for you the musician to sell of your rights and licence African queen to them, when there is a show, let's say Star quest and Nbl is going to pay at least N150,000 for the show, you get nothing and subsequent shows you get nothing till they get their N2million back in full. Let's also say MTV bASE decides to pay you for playing African queen, the momey goes to Kennis music until they get their money in full because you have already collected the N2million advance before and how you spend it is your business not theirs. Music labels live on the greed of up coming artists who want to see the money first before thinking.

5. So how do you collect your royalties Firstly, you negotiate that you collect a lesser sum for the so called " sign up fees" and you draft it into your contract that, " for every c.d sold at N50, you get 10%" Imagine how many N5 you will collect as long as they produce a c.d. You simply gain! and you do nothing! Because of you wisdom, Kennis music won' t sell the c.d's at N50 to big boss jigga man but push to at least N70 because they need to make profit and you still get your 10%. Also for every live show you do, you negotiate that you get at least 30% of the fees. You still gain because Kennis Music needs to make a profit, it's their duty to shop for more shows. You still gain. Also for the the royalties MTV base pays, you still ask for 30%. The bottom line is that is that royalties are being paid for life and even after your death, 70 years on, your grand children benefit from it as long as your songs are being played whenever.

Next time, i'll tell you who is the group of enforcers that makes sure your royalties are being paid and how to make money off your songs without you doing anything and waiting for one idiot to use your songs without your licence. Trust me, it's what oliver de coque and sunny ade do that makes them rich without them releasing an album except every 3 years.

for a personal consultation, holla me @ 08077943514 or email me @ barrister_matto @yahoo.com. I do this for a living and the labels hate me to death cos i know their tricks and always bargin favourably for my clients.

Disclaimer: Kennis MUSIC AND 2 FACE were just used as educational examples to make things clearer. In no way did any thing of such happen between them before, during or after.