Band Agreements

"Musketeer Properties"
Boston attorney David Herlihy uses this term to refer to properties typically created by all band members--masters, live performances and merchandise sales) as compared to song writing/music publishing, which is not necessarily created by the band as a whole.

Some bands want to share revenue from all 4 sources, and while that's understandable, Mr. Herlihy (a former recording artist himself) recommends making the distinction between (a) songwriting and ownership of the music publishing and (b) the mere allowance of non-writing members to share in the revenue stream generated by the songs the band records (i.e., a commitment to share publishing revenue doesn't need to deem non-writing members as songwriters).

Entity/partnership issues
Capital contributions,
Profit participation
Leaving members issues

Work for Hire
Since much of what the band deals with is in the nature of copyright, band agreements should specify that all recordings embodying the band's performances are works-made-for-hire for the band entity--having the group company own the sound recording copyright avoids difficult post-departure problems. In the absence of a written agreement, any band member who contributes copyrightable subject matter to a master would probably own an interest in the sound recording copyright--this can be a real problem if the departed member leaves on bad terms.