Hi everyone,

Thanks in advance for reading this post. I have done some research but I have a few unanswered questions...

I have a plan to record friends and associates playing as quartets/trios/dixieland/etc... I am aware that I can purchase rights for 2500 copies or less by going to harryfox.com BUT, I don't know how I would handle recording the tunes and paying the musicians. I know there are at least 2 options...

1) Pay everyone upfront with a contract stating the end of the deal is at (1000 for instance) copies. That way they get paid for the performance and the recording, and if the record flops - they don't need to worry about it.

or...

2) Pay a flat rate for the performance then pay as I sell copies.

Option 1 makes more sense to me. This is hard to explain, but most of the guys I want to record are friends and family and I don't plan on making a ton of money - but capture some of these guys playing before time runs out (if you know what I mean). I do need to pay them, but I think they aren't too worried about legal issues, going platinum, etc.

Well, please let me know if you have an opinion on this. My final thoughts are this: draw up a contract stating number of copies, length of session, blah blah. Agree to number of copies and pay musicians HOURLY for their performances and another flat fee based on the number of copies.

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For Instance. TRIO, 5 tunes, recorded on one day.

3 hours @ $50.00 per hour plus 500 copies at $0.05 each ($25.00) = $175.00, and the deal is done unless more copies need to be pressed. I own the recording but need to uphold a stipulation in the contract that states after 500 copies, I owe the musician a flat rate (say $30.00 per 500 copies) or something along those lines. And if I use harryfox, I am limited to 2500 anyhow, so a contract could be fairly easy right?

Well, I will hunt around the site and look for more answers. This site is great!

DH