Owning The Copyrights to Your Music - Case Study of U2
February 16, 2007 by Jo Minor · Leave a Comment
Every musician’s dream is to have control of all aspects of their music, including full copyrights on their songs.
But in reality, only a few bands manage to do this. Most bands either:
- Do not educate themselves about the music business and therefore get the weaker end of the deal, eating the scraps after the labels and publishing companies have had their share
- Simple do not last long enough, or become successful enough, to demand more from their music contracts
It doesn’t come as much suprise then, that my case study on owing copyrights is based on a band that has outlasted most other bands and achieved a scale of success people like me only dream of: U2
These are selected quotes taken from a Bloomberg Exclusive on Bono, and it really give you an idea of how much the world’s biggest band (arguably) know about the business side of their music, and how they set themselves up to mastering the music business.
“They’d have little scraps of paper with questions for me about the music business. Just basic things, like `What does copyright mean?’ or `How do records get into shops?’ or `Who decides what records get played on the radio?’ and `What do record contracts mean?” - Jackie Hayden
In 1984, as U2’s contract with Island was about to expire, the band gained ownership of the copyright of all of its songs as the price for signing a new contract with the label.
“Like most people, our early deals were strongly stacked in favor of the record company and the publishing company,” McGuinness says. “We were able to improve those deals over time because we were successful.”
Owning the copyright to the songs, all of which were written by the band, means U2 receives all of the royalty income whenever one of its songs is played.
The deal sets U2 apart from most rock and pop bands, including the Beatles, whose sound recordings are owned by EMI Group Plc. “U2’s copyright deal was what everybody in rock music wanted, and it was unusual for a newish young band to do it so early in their career,” Garfield says.
The key, however, is to be successful. Once you’ve achieved any level of success, you bring more authority to the bargaining table, and you have more influence on what you can and cannot do.
Don’t forget that U2 have been in the music business for 30 odd years now. This didn’t happen by being a one-hit-wonder.
Still, it’s not impossible to have this “ideal scenario” as the long-term goal of your band. You may want to check out The Guerilla Music Handbook for more information on surviving in the music business. You may also want to create a new account at the Music Insiders Club.
