When The Big Boys Call

[brandondrury]

Here's article about what to do when your band gets approached by a "big boy" producer.

http://www.recordingreview.com/produ..._boys_call.php

Brandon

[Ronan Chris Murphy]

$50,000 for a development deal? was that in the last 10 years? development deals like that are almost non exist these days, I wish that was not the case.

The problem with "spec deals" is that either A) the producer gets screwed or B) the band signs to a "production deal" were in a sense the label would sign the producer instead of the artist and the band gives up about half the money from the deal.

I think the B situation is fair, although I do not recommend it to artists I consult with. The problem with most spec deals is that most bands will never get signed to a major label regardless of talent. Also the producer is at a disadvantage because the band could break up or quit music even if the producer did an awesome job. Also if the band did get signed and got approached by a bigger fish producer than the producer is pretty much screwed. Unless there is a rock solid production deal the band can just dump the producer. Sure the producer could try to sue the band and the label to enforce the deal, but no producer is going to want to sue a label if he wants to ever work for that label again.


Ronan Chris Murphy
www.venetowest.com

[brandondrury]

There are certainly some risks involved. For me, the risks of just being the local studio guy my whole life knowing I didn't attempt to do better is more risky. I'm going for it.

There is a buy out clause that producers that setup that states that if a bigger producer wants to snag the band away, he'll have to pay $X for each song. It's pretty concrete and pretty simple to setup from the books I've read.



Brandon