Contracts

Contracts and agreements are necessary in managing the relationship between publishers, lables, producers, venues, managers etc. They can be used for any number of purposes from commissions, event booking, recording, teaching and publishing. A contract can be for an individual project, simply outlining the share of the revenue of an event and responsibilities, or it can be a long-term, legally-binding contract that signs away the rights to your materials.

This section provides links to examples of contracts for various uses. There is no standard contract and these are only intended as a guideline. It is important to seek advice before signing any binding contract. Below are a few links that may help you get advice with handling your contracts.

Vocalist.org.uk
This site provides a range of free example contracts for musicians from band agreements, booking contracts, invoices and receipts, management contracts and more.

Musicians' Union: Contracts Advisory Service
The Musicians' Union will offer advice and any amendments they feel might be suitable free of charge to members. A free Live Music Kit, available to download from their site, includes contracts for bands and venues plus information on the Music Licensing guidelines with fee structure. The site also includes a range of teaching contracts for teachers.

A2Z Contracts
A2Z Contracts offer user-friendly legal forms and contract agreements. US-oriented, but you can create your own drafts by inserting or deleting suitable legal jargon sections from various documents to develop the perfect legal contract for your needs.

British Academy of Songwriters and Composers and Authors
BASCA have a standard contract which is used by many UK Publishers.

Musicians Assist
Musicians Assist has several free printable US contracts online including: backing band agreements, performance agreement (basic and advanced), publishing agreement, sound contracting agreement etc.

Production Services Association
The Production Services Association represents the professional interests of both freelance technical production personnel and service companies. Their website contains an explanation of the differences between being self-employed or freelancing with tax liability distinctions and a sample contract for self-employed production workers.

Writers Copyright Association
UK copyright service with prices per registered work ranging from £25 for 5 years to £80 for 20 years. Also contains sample contracts (Life Story, Screenplay option, Standard Release Form, Writers Collaboration, Licensing Rights to an Article).

Music for London
Includes a wide range of sample terms on a variety of contracts including management, publishing, record label, music producer plus online and downloadable example contracts.