The Business Aspect of Music Production....

[Big Tyme]

It seems as the days go by, I get more and more interested in the business aspect of music production. I would like to make this post kind of like a reference point for all the questions dealing with the legalities of music production.

For, example...

1)How do you protect a band name???

2)What is BMI??? ASCAP?? (I personally wanna know)

2)How do you copyright a song???

3)Do I need a Trademark or Servicemark???

4)What is the process of registering a business??? etc...


It would be appreciated if anyone on the Board could help tackle some of these questions. Feel free to bring up any questions that I might have left out. Remember, we are here to help each other. So lets share the knowledge!

[Vegadark]

These are some good questions that I'm sure others here would like to see answered as well, myself included.

[Big Tyme]

Hey, thanks KCmCg. Anyone else?

[Carl Fuehrer]

As for the business end of it, you could just set your self up as a DBA (doing business as) which is a fictitious name you use. If you are in with other members you can form a partnership or LLC (limited liability company) such as a production company. Checkout some of the For Dummies books like Small Business for Dummies, http://search.dummies.com/s97is.vts?Action=Search&Collection=DUMMIES&ResultT emplate=d.results.hts&Qu eryText=business&ResultStart=1&ResultCount=25&Sour ceQueryText=type%3DPRD

For more information or websites like: http://www.businessstarters.com/
Checkout the Small Business Association, and the IRS now has CD-ROMs you can get for free about small businesses along with great info on their site too.

If you want even more personal info, e-mail me at: [email protected] I am not in the mood to type everything out here and waste bandwidth.

[nukmusic]

Hey Big Tyme, it's always a business first. a very political business. I link a lot of folks to this page:
click here
It's a lot to read so save it in "My Favorites"......Wendy knows her $#!+

let my know what you think.

[Phil O'Keefe]

Go out to your nearest large bookstore and buy a copy of "This Business Of Music". That should answer all of your questions. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Big Tyme]

Originally posted by nukmusic:
Hey Big Tyme, it's always a business first. a very political business. I link a lot of folks to this page:
click here
It's a lot to read so save it in "My Favorites"......Wendy knows her $#!+

let my know what you think.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Funny. I peeped that link when you posted it an older thread. I already have it in my favorites. Excellent link. Thanks anyway.

[Allen Hallada]

This could be an awesome thread and invaluable for newbie songwriters like me.
I'd like to see a list of links for getting people headed in the right direction. Things like www.bmi.com and www.ascap.com and www.mp3.com and how about a link to getting your song copyright.
I still need a copyright number for two of mine as BMI requires it on their site. Anyone?
Thanks
Allen [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

[nukmusic]

Here ya go [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

http://www.loc.gov/copyright/

[nukmusic]

this may help too:

http://www.mbsolutions.com/