Unfair contracts in the music industry? Perish the thought! We can’t believe those kinds of musician-screwing shenanigans have ever gone on in our world… Okay, yes. Yes they have.
But with ‘transparency’ one of the big industry buzzwords in 2017, at least there are some new efforts to fix the familiar faults of the industry.
The latest comes from UK industry bodies the Musicians Union (MU), Featured Artists Coalition (FAC) and the UK’s Music Managers Forum (MMF).
They have teamed up to publish a “sample, long-form management agreement” to be used as a guidance tool for new artists and managers who want to see an example of a fair contract before signing anything.
“This example management agreement grew out of the MU’s Contract Advisory Service, to which MU members submit contracts for legal scrutiny,” explained the MU’s Horace Trubridge.
“By using this example management agreement, all parties can be confident that they are using a document that is up to date and fair to all concerned.”
MMF boss Fiona McGugan agreed. “We hope that artists and managers will use this agreement to protect themselves in the early days but also to think entrepreneurially about their future partnerships as they become more attuned to the business they’re in,” she said.
The sample contract will be made available to members of the three organisations via their websites.
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