Recordingbudgets..

[Horhe]

A question for you who know the musicindustry well.
Is it common for a manager to take his cut directly from the recordingbudget of the band? Like let's say the band is given ten grand for recording and mastering by label and the manager takes 2grand directly and so the band has only eight thousand left for the purposes of musicproduction.

 

[vespiz]

Doesn't sound ok to me, but it really depends on what kind of a contract has been made.

 

[Loren Littlejohn]

Sounds like shit to me.

20%? Man they got screwed on the contract with the manager. I though 10-15% was standard?

 

[Trevoire520]

If I'm right the manager takes his cut from the advance, and the advance is used to fund the recording.

If the money has specifically been given for recording then I don't think the manager should be taking a cut... I could be wrong though and as has already been said it depends on the contract.

 

[Suicide_As_Alibi]

The label pay the band; the band pay their management. The exact workings depend on the contract, but the difference between "recording budget" and "advance" is just semantics.

The important thing is that unless that band have a contract specifically saying so, the management shouldn't be touching the money, that should be down to an accountant - they definitely shouldn't be helping themselves. Paying for recording is a necessity for a professional band to function; management is not. Recording costs take precedent, so that gets paid first.

Steve

 

[egan.]

The label pay the band; the band pay their management. The exact workings depend on the contract, but the difference between "recording budget" and "advance" is just semantics.

The important thing is that unless that band have a contract specifically saying so, the management shouldn't be touching the money, that should be down to an accountant - they definitely shouldn't be helping themselves. Paying for recording is a necessity for a professional band to function; management is not. Recording costs take precedent, so that gets paid first.

Steve

This is correct although I'll add that management percents are usually on net profit (after expenses) not gross profit. If it's based on gross it is the worst contract ever.

 

[Styvo]

I don't think he should be either.......hence the name Recording Budget = 10 grand.
Good reason for concern.

 

[smy1]

It really, really, REALLY depends on the contract. And not always is the manager the evil part in this.

What if the manager has had a very important role in getting the band signed (to those of you who think that bands mostly get signed for their music: you are sadly mistaken) and there is such thing as a percentage taken from the advance for helping to get signed? It's actually rather common and will be specified in the contract.

What if the manager has had considerable expenses/worktime put into the band before this and there was very little return on a band doing gigs for promo and getting ready
to record their album. It'd only be fair to let him take his share out of the advance.

20% is also a very common percentage for managements/booking agencies. I actually have rarely heard of 10-15%.

It all needs to be specified exactly, so don't be too quick in jumping on the "management is evil by default" bandwagon. This is coming from a guy who self-releases and self-books and wouldn't mind paying 20% of gross income to a REALLY good management that gets shit on the way properly ...

 

[egan.]

It really, really, REALLY depends on the contract. And not always is the manager the evil part in this.

What if the manager has had a very important role in getting the band signed (to those of you who think that bands mostly get signed for their music: you are sadly mistaken) and there is such thing as a percentage taken from the advance for helping to get signed? It's actually rather common and will be specified in the contract.

What if the manager has had considerable expenses/worktime put into the band before this and there was very little return on a band doing gigs for promo and getting ready
to record their album. It'd only be fair to let him take his share out of the advance.

20% is also a very common percentage for managements/booking agencies. I actually have rarely heard of 10-15%.

It all needs to be specified exactly, so don't be too quick in jumping on the "management is evil by default" bandwagon. This is coming from a guy who self-releases and self-books and wouldn't mind paying 20% of gross income to a REALLY good management that gets shit on the way properly ...

10% is pretty standard for a booking agent state-side.
Paying 20% of gross may be ok to you at first but what happens when your expenses exceed your net income? This is hardly a rare occurrence particularly if you are a new band. It's also not like $10k is a huge recording budget to begin with.

 

[C_F_H_13]

20% is retarded.

15% is the average and the highest I've heard of. You got fucked. Second off, manager's USUALLY aren't supposed to take a cut of the recording budget cause that's not actually income or revenue for the band...that's a loan.

 

[Executioner213]

Yeah, sounds like your manager is a snake in the grass and you need to figure something out because thats some bullshit.