THE LAW & LIVE MUSIC - CONTRACTS & GENERAL LEGAL INFO

This section is meant to give general information and an overview of how the law relates to musicians and technicians working in the live music industry. It is not intended as a substitute for independent professional legal advice.

The law affects you as an individual with regard to your contract(s), or lack of, of employment and your responsibilities to third parties with particular regard to health and safety issues. There are also various agreements which bands and artists enter into for the provision of their services such as contracts for performances, agreements with agents and managers and so on.

We will be adding more info. To this section soon but please log on to “Ask A Roadie” or the forum if you have any questions or comments in the meantime.

Below are some sample contracts for artist management and live performance.

They are US contracts but the form is pretty much the same in the UK.

In use the terms of the agreements will be varied to suit the particular circumstances of the parties involved.

1 Artist Management contract

2 Concert performance contract

3  Artist's Technical Rider, this is appended to 2 and contains all the specific band information, what kind of lighting system, what they want in their sandwiches etc

4 Agency agreement, contract between the artist and their booking agent, this relationship has become increasingly important since the recent growth of the live sector

The contracts above are legal documents that, as a band or crew, you are likely to come across frequently. It is very important to choose your lawyer wisely. Take time to ask other bands, find out who they use, research legal firms. There are many that specialise in music business affairs, and some will be sympathetic to your bands status i.e. you are not a multi platinum band raking in the money, you are starting out and therefore may charge you less for their services. Remember there are many more unscrupulous managers out there, and these lawyers can protect you from signing your rights away. The information on this site is not intended to constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon in lieu of consultation with appropriate legal advisors. If in any doubt, please consult a legal advisor.

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