I’m looking at making a local band compilations cd. Copywright laws? Disc manufact.? Funding?
Question by ramalamadingdong: I’m looking at making a local band compilations cd. Copywright laws? Disc manufact.? Funding?
I would like some info on how to go about with the legalities of compiling songs for the disc. I don’t beleive any of the bands in mind our bound by any record contracts, but to protect their music down the road, how would they or I go about doing so. also, what/where would be a cheap route to having the disc made. I would like them to be of at least semi-professional quality, meaning, I don’t care to do this on cd-r’s on my computer and I would like to have them printed with either a pic or at least the title. Not the sticker type you can buy at wal-mart. I’ve thought of even going with vinyl records if would be more cost effective. this would also give it a more “cult” type vibe, which would be cool. lastly, some idea’s on how to fund said project. I’ve thought of trying local businesses for a donation, and they could then be the “storefront” to sell the comp. example, if “Joe Blows bar”, (I figured the bars that these bands play in would be a good business to try), gives x-amount of $ , they get x-maount of copies to either sell/give away/promote their establishment, what have you. I’ve also considered going the donation route, “All proceeds from sales goes to ???? charity”. or should i say “All profits…”? Maybe a local charity would intice them even more? I don’t care to make any money of the thing myself, so take that out of the equation. My wife suggested just asking the bands themselves to put up the money. i dunno? what do you think? Thanks
Best answer:
Answer by TommyMc
You have a lot of considerations here. First off, if any of the bands are playing cover tunes, you’ll need to get permission from the copyright holder. Do a search at ASCAP for contact info. http://www.ascap.com/index.aspx You’ll have to pay a small royalty…a few cents per CD. If the bands are doing all original material, they may want to get it copyrighted…more of a concern to them than you. http://www.copyright.gov/forms/
As for the actual recordings, you may want to have a studio do it. Since it’s for charity, you might get one to do it at a reduced fee. You can also make your own compilation and then send the master away to be professionally duplicated. Perhaps the local studios can help you with this, or give you the info on where they send theirs to be copied. I’m not sure about LPs….how many people have turntables anymore? Won’t that limit your potential sales?
I’m a little unclear about your motivation. You aren’t doing this for profit, yet it sounds like you don’t have a specific charity in mind yet. Is this just something you want to do to promote local bands…or is the goal to raise money for charity? How are you making the master recording? Do the bands already have recordings that you’re just compiling, or do you need to record them? Studio time can get expensive, even for one band. If you have some recording equipment, you could offer to record them yourself, but you need to know what you’re doing to get a quality recording.
Another simpler way to promote bands and raise money for a cause is to hold a concert. Around these parts, we call it a “jamboree” or “jam.” You can call it a “benefit concert” or whatever you want. The bands will donate their time. You’ll need some up front money for promotion and to rent a venue. Unless one of the bands has a good sound system, you’ll need to contract that out too. If the money is for a good cause, you may get a lot of free promotion. You can approach some local businesses to donate money in exchange for advertising at the concert. Music shops, clubs, any stores that your audience is likely to shop at.
Then, you can record the concert and sell the CDs if you still want to work on a compilation. Rather than having clubs sell the CDs, why not have the bands sell them at their gigs. That’s what a lot of bands do.
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