[QUOTE=Spectre of Pithecanthropus]
Can you clarify this arrangement? Do you mean you are performing your songs onstage, and you pay the other musicians in the same way an old fashioned bandleader (like Ray Charles) would pay out a salary to everyone? Or do you not perform and just get a band to perform your songs for the club/bar audience? It’s not all that germane to my OP, but it probably wouldn’t be bad for me to understand more about how these things work.
[/QUOTE]
In a situation where a band forms because the four guys want to be a band, there is a contract (even if just a verbal agreement) that that band is defined as those four guys. If they get a record deal, it’s the four of them together that are signed. The songwriting credits will reflect all members of the band- this may mean that the four guys sit in a room together and, from scratch, create a new song together through equal contributions, but often (more often probably) the situation is one guy sits at home alone, writes the song from start to finish, then brings it to the band so the bass player can “write” the bass part, the drummer can “write” the drum part, the lead guitarist can “write” the lead guitar part.
I don’t put “write” in quotes to trivialize the contributions of the band, but if the initial guy brought the same song to a different bass player, drummer, and lead guitarist, those three guys would possibly come up with different parts than did the other three guys but certainly none could argue that it wouldn’t still be the same song.
The reason you see all four guys in the songwriting credits, when in fact the song was written by only one of them with the others adding their parts, is that with a songwriting credit there is extra money to be reaped from publishing. With all four members of the band credited as songwriters, they all get paid the same. This arrangement is based on the agreement that these four guys are the band as that band is defined.
So when four guys agree to be a band, they reap the benefits of success together and they take on the cost of the pursuit together. If they don’t draw enough of a crowd to get paid from the door, then none of them gets paid. If the take is $20 they each take $5. If the rehearsal studio costs $60 for the afternoon, they each pay $15 of it. If the self-released CD costs $8,000 to record mix master and press, then they each pay $2,000 (and at their gig when they sell 4 of their self-released CDs for $10 each, they each take $10). But then when the record contract comes and they make it big, they all reap the rewards.
It’s rare to find this arrangement in L.A. or New York- when you do find it, it’s usually that the four guys started the band together in their hometown, then moved to “the big city” together.
In “the big city” the situation is usually more like this:
[ul]
[li]Songwriter/Frontman moves to the big city to pursue a career performing his own original material.[/li][li]Guitar Player moves to the big city to pursue a career as a guitar player.[/li][li]Bass Player moves to the big city to pursue a career as a bass player.[/li][li]Drummer moves to the big city to pursue a career as a drummer.[/li][/ul]
The first paying work that the Guitar Player, Bass Player, and Drummer start to book will be from their peers- “peer” meaning that they will be hired by a Songwriter/Frontman who is at a comparable point in his career path as they are, still working a “pay the bills” square job like they are, probably close in age.
When the Songwriter/Frontman finds guys who he likes, he’ll want to keep booking the same line-up. So when you go to a club to hear the Songwriter, you’ll most often see the same guys backing him up.
But when the Songwriter is signed to a major label, it is only the songwriter who is signed. He is the only one who will receive writing credits and therefore the only one who will see money from publishing. The band that had been backing him up in the clubs may appear on the album, but they would simply be hired as session players and paid a one-time recording fee- and there’s no guarantee that they would appear on the album at all.
So, for the songwriter, “making it big” includes significant rewards that would not be shared by the band. Because of this, the band are not in it for a possible longterm pay-off, and they are not helping the songwriter advance his career simply out of the goodness of their hearts, rather they are working “for hire” and collect their pay in the short term.
For each gig, the songwriter will pay each band member for rehearsals (per rehearsal) and for the show- an unsigned songwriter will pay anywhere from $20 to $50 per rehearsal per band member and $80 to $120 per show. He may have given each of the guys a rough acoustic demo of the songs and would then allow each player a certain amount of freedom in coming up with their own parts- they don’t, however, get a writing credit for coming up with their own parts. A writing credit would be given in lieu of an upfront payment for their services. These guys are doing “for hire” work.
So, on the low end, let’s say, at $20 per rehearsal and $80 per show: Johnny Songwriter has a gig coming up- he wants a bass player, a drummer, and a lead guitarist. He books the three guys for one rehearsal plus the show- so he’s committed to paying out $300. He’s also paid $60 for rehearsal space and, let’s say, $40 for flyers and posters. Committed to paying out $400 total.
At the gig the cover charge is $6. The songwriter has to have have 20 people who, when paying the cover, say that they came to see Johnny Songwriter before he gets paid anything at all. After he draws at least 20, he gets 50% of the take while the promoter takes the other 50%.
It’s a small venue, fits about 40 people, but let’s say Johnny Songwriter packs the joint. 40 people x’s $6 = $240, promoter takes half, Johnny Songwriter gets $120 while paying out $400. Johnny Songwriter is down $280.
Still, he spends the money, and doesn’t begrudge the guys in the band for taking his money, because he knows he is investing in his career. And when he gets the big record deal, and goes off and becomes famous, the band that was backing him up in the clubs don’t feel left behind- they’d been paid well for their contributions- they know all the time effort and money he had put in his career and they are happy for him.
The hired guys don’t begrudge Johnny Songwriter his success, because they know that Johnny Songwriter’s success was a longshot, while they are booking paid work regularly. Prior to success, unsigned Johnny Songwriter would play a full band gig once every month or two- filling the between time with solo acoustic shows. The bass player, drummer, and lead guitarist are playing (if they’re good) 10 to 20 band gigs a month because in addition to playing with Johnny Songwriter they are also playing with Susie Songwriter, Bobby Songwriter, Jimmy Songwriter, Jenny Songwriter, etc. etc. etc. Once they’ve built up enough contacts, they’ll also be booking session work for recordings.
So, to finally answer your question, I’m in Johnny Songwriter’s position. When I do a full band show, I’m paying each of the guys in the band- paying them a pre-agreed upon amount regardless of what my take from the door may end up being.
So, you see, that is why any Johnny Songwriter would be thrilled to have a guy in the band who just wants to be in the band “for fun”- provided that guy has talent and is not likely to flake out when it comes to learning the songs, making the rehearsal, being ontime for the gig, no last minute cancellations and so on and so forth.
