Master Ownership? & #IAOTW - Victor VC Caldwell

Hey, it’s TJ Miller, you want some game? Let's Tip Unda The Hat!  

First Happy New Year - again 😆. For some of the best independent music from artists you need to know, click and follow https://spoti.fi/3td3Xol. Know Indy artists that need to make the list? Send them to me and they take the number one spot.  

This week Should you own your masters? - Let’s go -  

The Master recording is the official original recording of a song, sound or performance. This means that this is the most authentic superior sonic account of your song. Anything else is a copy and after that, especially in the digital world, a copy of a copy. That song is a whole made up of two parts, the Master and the Publishing, but today we will focus on the Master and ownership. Ultimately the Master Rights are usually owned by whoever finances the recording. Sometimes this is the record label, an executive producer, or you the independent DIY musician. 

Traditionally in the big machine of the record labels, deals are structured so that the label, not the artist, owns the masters and ALL songs created during that deal. 🤢  Yeah makes you sick huh. Yes, the artist does get an advance and a royalty percentage for all PROFITS, not all money. In other words a percentage off the net not the gross. Meaning the artist doesn’t see a dime until AFTER the label has recouped on that advance and all expenditures. So all money ain’t good money right? ......I guess🤷🏾‍♂️  

Many artists like Tayler Swift in their early days of recording don’t realize that signing away the masters means selling the rights to not only their work for that project, but sometimes their future especially for the length of that contract. And what if your best work is your first group of recordings? So when you hear it on commercials, movies, sampled etc - guess who’s getting paid? 

Here’s the simplicity of this, by owning your master recordings, you keep the creative control of your song, your sound, and your vibe. You have the right and the control to release your music however, whenever and wherever you want. The issue then becomes, do you know how or have the contacts to get your music to all the places you want it to go? 🤔 

This week's #IAOTW - Independent Artists Of The Week is Victor VC Caldwell - arranger, producer, synthesizer, bass player and grammy winner.   

For more information or to hire Unda The Hat as your brand or label consultant send a message via undathehat.com. See you next Tuesday.

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