It might not be clear from the outside, but there should be contracts that make his rights very clear, and an audit should easily reveal if he’s getting paid properly. The industry is full of people who have generalized feelings of being ripped off, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they were. Going back to Levon Helm, he complained in interviews for years that he got screwed out of royalties left, right, and down the middle. When he sued Coke for licensing “The Weight” in a commercial, he was asked under oath if he received royalties from sales of the song on the album. He responded that he didn’t know.
Frank Zappa tended to treat his Mothers like employees, rather than actual mothers. More of a "work-for-hire" kind of a guy. On the other hand, he was the one who paid for the concert recordings night-after-night, and collected them in his basement. I believe the biggest dust-u[ happened when they learned he was going to "Beat The Boots" with box sets of bootlegs on CD, and wasn't considering sharing. And Gail was famously non-cooperative with ex-members who tried to do exactly what their late friend asked of them ("play my music"). More than a few nasty episodes in the storied history of the ZFT.
That’s where the lawyers and accountants come in. 1. He needs to understand whatever rights he has- lawyer 2. He may need to audit the sales that affect his payout- accountant I am reminded of the Bill Nelson ( of Be Bop Deluxe) situation who received nothing for 30-40 years due to record company error. Isn’t there a responsible adult around to guide him?
The liner notes on a record might collectively credit a band as a songwriter, but the song’s actual registration will always list the individual contributors. For example, the Evil Heat album says most songs are “written by Primal Scream,” but you can see the actual credits here: Release “Evil Heat” by Primal Scream - MusicBrainz When BMG made a deal with Gillespie, Innes, and Young, they knew exactly what they were buying, and exactly what they weren’t buying.
As a guy who’s spent a good portion of his career seeing how the sausage is made, I’m still constantly amazed at the mental gymnastics people perform when trying to apply their projected image of a band to reality. The truth is that there’s as much authenticity in popular music as there is in wrestling. Even in the OP’s scenario, the concept of that group of people as a band would have stopped existing the moment anyone (either in the band or outside) could have gained something from them and adjusted the dynamic to maximise that gain.
That's quite a succinct observation. In this case, the context is a son of a deceased band member's grieving and grievance, but the more people that are aware of how a sausage is made, vs its packaging the better. Unfortunately, unlike sausages, there is a political field within which power dynamics play out in most areas of life whether they are aware or not. Those that hold social and material capital will attempt to preservecand reomforce it, and will somewhat be at an advantage. I guess people are surprised when they find out those people,are great posturers and public advocates of socialism, or at least in a trite cartoon 'cool' version of it that bears no resemblance to their actions away from the audience or the media.
I'd prefer not to be sued! If those directly affected choose to come forward, they choose to come forward.
I just don’t think it’s a lot of money. Not enough to get a lawyer. It’s a sad story but I wouldn’t say it’s the reason for his death.
Understood. Perhaps if someone started a thread with completely bandname, pseudonyms for each person, and the caption 'The characters and names in this thread bear no relation to anyone living or dead'! Agree. We dont' have the full picture.
We’ve been given no indication whatsoever of legal wrongdoing to justify a lawyer, or even clerical error to justify an audit. When they’re saying he was “cut out of a deal,” they apparently mean only that he wasn’t invited to participate in a sale that didn’t need to include him. We can’t know how much of Martin’s resultant unhappiness was about missing the financial opportunity and how much was about feelings of betrayal. There’s not a lot to be done about the latter, but if the son has regrets about the financial opportunity, he should hire an agent to contact BMG (and other music publishers) and see if they’re interested in buying his father’s songwriting rights (assuming that he is the heir that controls them, that is).
I agree with some other people that it is really crucial for this young man and everyone else to understand how songwriter credits work. Being an integral part of a band's sound does not warrant a songwriter credit. As for songwriter credits, it is totally irrelevant if any why this person was kicked out of the band, if he was a saint or a villain, if he was nice or an awful person. Being kicked out of a band does not affect songwriter credits. So apparently this sadly deceased person and his heirs own songwriter credits. With a band of this size, there is a obviously a music publisher involved. I advise the young man to get a lawyer who is familiar with the music industry and music rights and to talk to this music publisher. There is no reason why the publisher should not offer a deal of some sort to the person who holds a significant interest in the songwriter credits. What is unclear is the question why this deceased musician did not participate in the sale of the publishing rights in the first place. I'd call this rather unusual. I cannot really imagine that he was not approached by the music publisher. The story sounds as if the deceased musician regrets that he was unable to sell his rights. However, the young man, his son, can expect income from the rights, which may be more beneficial to him than selling the music, getting a lot of money, and then spending it all. To receive the money, it is crucial that the music publisher and the collecting society have his information. I feel that there are a lot of emotions involved on the part of the young man who lost his dad at a young age. However, it is absolutely crucial for him to make informed decision with the input of level-headed people and not rush to any conclusions. This is a difficult situation for someone (like the son) unfamiliar with the music business. But the fact that his dad did not sell his rights does not have to be bad at all. In fact it can be the opposite. But the young man needs competent people to advise him and he especially needs to free himself from the resentments his father may have had. That is very hard, but necessary.
The lawyer is not necessary to force an audit or make other dubious inquiries, but (if that is his wish) to sell his father's songwriter credits or (if that is his wish) to keep the publishing rights and receive income. By the way, the last thing the music publisher wants is for the son to sell the rights to a different publisher which would only cause problems.
Collecting agencies also have databases that include songwriter credits and the like. The son needs to check those and see what songs his father wrote or contributed to. He will receive royalties for these songs, provided that he owns them.
There is also the option for the young man to receive money (essentially a loan) against future income from the songwriter credits his dad owned.
