RECORDING Where’s my money? Steve Tveit shares some tips

Paperwork

Please make sure the session is on the card and that a signatory is in place. An employer becomes a signatory by signing the required agreements and making pension payments. Without a signatory, we have little leverage with the employer. A signatory also means the pension payment will be allocated to each musician properly along with new use and upgrades in the future. Having the proper paperwork has the potential to create multiple sources of income: Special Payments, AFM SAG-AFTRA, New Use, etc. For example: Because a contract was filed in 1969, we recently got musicians paid for a song they recorded over 50 years ago that was used in a current TV commercial.

Get paid direct at the session

If the project is for an independent artist — especially one from out of town — don't

Please call with any questions or concerns. The sooner we know about a potential problem the sooner we can try to sort things out. Where’s My Money?

Here’s a session to-do list to help you get paid faster.

BY STEVE TVEIT

be afraid to ask "the question" about working on the card. You can use the Recording Scales Summary on our website to make sure you are all getting the right amount, especially if you are getting paid direct at the time of the session, which we suggest, as there can be issues after the fact. If they don’t have the money at the session they probably won’t have it later. Trying to sue people from out of town is both difficult and nearly impossible. If the call to book players is instigated by a studio or producer, they ultimately are responsible for getting everyone paid. We’ve had multiple issues with the blame being passed around for the session not being paid on time or at all.

Alert us immediately before or after a session with any potential concerns

We’ve seen and heard it all: the financial backer goes missing, producer ends up in the hospital, a 20- year-old artist claims she’s too young to understand that musicians need to be paid for their services. The father of an artist goes bankrupt immediately after the session and claims he will pay everyone once his son sells enough CDs — still waiting.

Remember who initially called and booked you on the session

If the session is for a major label or publisher, then we know payment will be forthcoming. Making sure the time cards are turned in within 72 hours of the session really helps. We now email most of the label and publisher contracts and that speeds up the process a lot. We hope this information is helpful and as always please call with any questions or concerns. The sooner we know about a potential problem the sooner we can try to sort things out. TNM