FACTORS TO CONSIDER IN FEATURING AN ARTIST IN YOUR SONG
Collaboration is a necessity in the music business. As such, an artist will always need to work with other artists at different times in their career. This can vary from songwriting to actual recording performances etc. Features serve as a marketing tool that helps increase your fanbase, build relationships with the featured artist, leverage their brand, and open a new door of possibilities that may have otherwise stayed close to you.
Features also serve as a way of entering into a previously untapped market. As such, we have seen cross-country collaborations where top acts in various countries have featured themselves. This has led to some hit songs such as Kiss Your Hand (R2Bees x Wande Coal), Soweto Baby (DJ Maphorisa x Wizkid & Dj Buckz), Coming (Naira Marley x Busiswa). The list is endless.
Before picking an artist to feature though, it is advisable to consider certain factors. Although collaborations are essential, it is necessary to ensure that the collaboration is suitable for all parties involved and is a good fit. Not all features are good, leading to loss of money and potential problems (legal or otherwise) between the parties. Different factors have to be considered, including your audience, the cost, royalties, and accounting etc. As such, it is best that a feature/side artist agreement is signed. This article highlights the factors to consider in the feature artist agreement.
- Fee
The music business runs on money. Featuring an artist will most times come with some financial cost, borne by the main artist seeking a collaboration. This fee can be structured in various ways, including a one-time fee, an initial fee with royalties, or only royalties with no initial fees. These are the most common payment structures for feature artists. It is best to discuss the proposed fee structure and conclude on it before the production of the song begins. This will enable the main artist to determine the financial cost and implications of featuring the artist. Where it is above the planned budget, or such a feature does not make economic sense for the artist, it is best to pull out.
- Rights
You should consider the rights that the featured artist will be assigning or granting to you. It is advisable to ensure that the featured artist assigns all the entire copyright in the sound recording to the main artist. This assignment will enable you to have complete control over the exploitation, performance, and use of the song. Failure to have the rights assigned may hinder your exploitation of the rights.
- Split Sheet
This is an agreement that determines the ownership of the composition/musical work of the song. Remember, a song has two copyrights – the sound recording and the musical composition. The composition includes the lyrics and the underlying music (beat, instrumentals etc) of the song. The split sheet agreement details the ownership of the musical composition. It reflects the contribution each party made, including the performers, producers, and songwriters. Where the featured artist contributed to the song’s writing, he/she will be entitled to a percentage of the ownership. It is best to decide this before or immediately after the music has been made and have it in written form.
- Promotional Services
As stated earlier, one of the benefits of featuring another artist is leveraging that artist’s brand and fanbase. It is therefore essential to ensure that the featured artist is heavily involved in the promotion of the song and its release. If the featured artist does not actively assist in promoting and leading his fanbase to the song, then it may reduce the impact of the song, particularly when the artist was featured to help the main artist break into new territory. Promotional services and activities may include television appearances, live performances, and interviews.
- Video Recording
This is necessary, especially if the artist intends to release a video recording of the song. Where an agreement is silent on this, the featured artist may decline on appearing in the video recording of the song or demand an extra fee for doing so. Rather than assuming, it is best to include it in the agreement and iron out any discrepancies and discussions regarding it at the beginning. That way, if both parties cannot reach a compromise, they go their separate ways instead of reaching disagreements after the song has been made, promoted and released.
Although there are other factors to be considered (such as warranties that the feature artist contribution is not infringing on anyone’s right, an indemnity clause etc), the above encapsulate key issues that the parties should consider to ensure a smooth collaboration between both parties. Other factors to be considered include the governing law, jurisdiction, credit to the featured artist, accounting statements, audits etc.
Lastly, stay up to date with all you need to know about African music at SOA, right here.
