ION INDIE MAGAZINE August 2015, Volume 15 | Page 67

Deal #3: Work for Hire
Another type of job for a songwriter is called a “Work for Hire” agreement. In this type of deal, a songwriter usually gets paid
one of two ways: 1) on a song-by-song basis, or 2) as part of a salaried job. One of the most common examples of the latter
example is working as a jingle writer for an advertising agency.
This type of agreement has a very important component different from the others. In a Work for Hire, the songwriter does not
claim songwriting credit for the works. In the case of a music jingle, the song will be credited as written by your employer, not
you. You will never receive credit--or royalties--for the work.

Deal #4: Administration Deal
An administration deal is different than the first three deals, in that you are not giving away any of your rights. Instead, you are
hiring a company to do all the boring (but necessary) paperwork of managing your song catalog. This includes collecting and
distributing royalties on your behalf. The administration company typically works for a percentage of income they collect.
You can always enter into an administration agreement, no matter what other kind of deal you have. Of course, you would need
to own at least a portion of the publishing for this to be necessary.

Deal #5: Be Your Own Publisher
This is where everyone starts! When you write a new song, you are lord and master of all the rights surrounding your works
(known in copyright terms as the creator of the work). And with those rights come all the responsibilities.
You can guess there’s a lot to do when you act as your own publisher. But in order to do it right, there's still more we need to
cover. Since a large majority of ION Indie Magazine readers are doing this on their own, we're going to dedicate a future
column to the steps you must take to start your own publishing company.
But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. Before we begin, it’s important to understand more about intellectual property in
general, and how it relates to music in particular. In the October issue, we'll cover what’s known as the “Bundle of Rights”.

Paul Bordenkircher has spent the last three decades building a wide base of knowledge in the fields of studio production, live
sound, publishing, marketing and promotions. Mesa Sand Music, part of the Mesa Sand Ventures, LLC family, offers
independent artists the kind of background and knowledge gained only from hands-on experience in the challenging
entertainment industry. In addition to teaching at University of Nevada Las Vegas, he's also the developer for SongNook, an
organizational tool for songwriters releasing Fall 2015. His Music Biz Blog is at www.mesasand.com.