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Litzi

Rights For The Mgb Songs

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Hello! I'm sure you'll know it...

 

How did Matt manage to ensure the rights on his MGB songs?

I mean: why is he allowed to put the tracks on "In A Coma" and to play the songs on concerts?

I am aware that he wrote most of the songs and he was band-leader. But there are also some songs written by Dave Genn.

 

Or am I totally wrong and Universal got the rights?

 

Thank you for some information,

~Patrick

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Guest Prosis
Hello! I'm sure you'll know it...

 

How did Matt manage to ensure the rights on his MGB songs?

I mean: why is he allowed to put the tracks on "In A Coma" and to play the songs on concerts?

I am aware that he wrote most of the songs and he was band-leader. But there are also some songs written by Dave Genn.

 

Or am I totally wrong and Universal got the rights?

 

Thank you for some information,

~Patrick

First Matt wrote all songs and lyrics. The music was sometimes co-written by Genn (and even that is arguable) but the songs themselves were written by Matt giving him the rights to play them.

 

Then, In a Coma containted the credits, songs by Good/Genn or Good/Genn/Priske/Browne or Good/Genn/Lloyd/Browne.

 

Maybe Geoff can fill us in on whether or not the band members get royalties for record sales including In a Coma because he co-wrote Rico and played on some of the songs on In a Coma. Actually, I don't know if they get royalties for co-writing and playing.

 

Universal own the recording rights but only to records after Underdogs given that Ghetto, Raygun and Underdogs were paid for by the Band. Owning the rights to the recordings give them the power go sell recorded songs, make 1 million best of's in different order, sell them online or not etc. But that is it. They're still Matt's song. If Matt was to release Beautiful Midnight recorded acoustically in his living room on his computer, the Universal could do fuck all with those version of the songs.

Edited by Prosis
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If Matt was to release Beautiful Midnight recorded acoustically in his living room on his computer, the Universal could do fuck all with those version of the songs.

Although I would assume Universal would restrict Matt's ability to release music commercially while he's under contract.

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Guest Prosis

Well I don't think they would...but given that he's not anymore (Hospital Music was his last record with Universal), I think he'd be free to do it.

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I think many Matt Good fans downplay Dave Genn's influence on these songs. Matt isn't the type to lie (he's certainly been more honest than any artist I can think of), but I think that as fans we have a tendency to forget that the only source we've really had on interworkings of the MGB has been Matt himself.

 

Although I'm sure Dave probably did get writing credits that he maybe didn't deserve, you can't deny that the songs changed markedly from before he was in the band and since he's been gone.

Edited by haircut-rabbit
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you can't deny that the songs changed markedly from before he was in the band and since he's been gone.

That doesn't have to be a causation of Genn leaving the band, though. Matt could have just changed his style, which I think is apparent with every record.

 

I agree with you, though. The lot of them were a band, so it's obvious that some things could be more of a collaboration than we've been told. Still, Matt can do what he wants in releasing/performing the old material, and I'm glad for it.

 

To Litzi: We don't prevent artists from performing covers in concerts or on cds, especially if credit is given. This is no different.

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That doesn't have to be a causation of Genn leaving the band, though. Matt could have just changed his style, which I think is apparent with every record.

I agree. I just always assume Dave had a little bit more to do with the music than the fans tend to believe (based on comments Matt has made). The Audio of Being is my favourite record of Matt's and it is the one with the most writing credits attributed to Genn. Some people say this is because he realized financial potential after a record like Beautiful Midnight (which he helped co-write but not to the same extent). I like to believe, though, that even if at the core the music was Matt's doing, Dave brought a certain creative style to the music that Matt on his own would probably never have considered.

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To Litzi: We don't prevent artists from performing covers in concerts or on cds, especially if credit is given. This is no different.

Actually, the rules are a little different for live performances of covers. You can play any cover you want live, so long as the venue has a license with the requisite publishing organization (BMI, ASCAP, SESAC, etc). If not, you're supposed to obtain a performance license and pay a royalty.

 

But, literally speaking, if you picked up a guitar, sat down on the street, and started playing cover songs, you're technically breaking civil law. Whoever controls those songs could sue you. However, that's pretty unlikely. About the only time you hear of someone suing for a cover performance is when it's a "tribute band" focusing on one artist. (The bigger cover bands often have special arrangements with the artists they're covering.)

 

As far as Matt is concerned - the other guys should technically earn a royalty each time Matt performs a song they co-wrote (assuming he hasn't already made other arrangements). But he wouldn't really need their permission.

 

You can't include a cover on a CD unless you have a license from whoever controls the songwriting for that song. In the US, those licenses are compulsory - they have to give you one if you ask (unless you record and release the song first without asking). The rate on a compulsory license is pricey, so labels will usually negotiate separately. When you hear of a band being unable to release a cover "because they couldn't get permission", it actually means that the songwriter refused to negotiate and the label didn't want to pay full-fare.

 

Along the same lines, recording a cover of your favorite song and uploading it onto your website is technically illegal. You're supposed to pay a royalty for each time that the song is downloaded in its entirety. But, again, it's unlikely that they'll bother to sue you (unless you're selling it and it's selling, ie, there's money to be made from suing you).

 

But all of that is kind of neither-here-nor-there in this instance. Greatest Hits are generally included in major label contracts - labels are free to use whatever tracks are under their control. (Hence why EMI is releasing a Radiohead greatest hits without the band's involvement.) And, as far as I understand - the MGB contract and MG's solo contract are the same contract - from Universal's (legal) point of view, it's the same band.

 

Honestly, kudos go to Universal for letting Matt put together such an awesome GH package. They actually didn't have to.

 

I assume that the other guys get mechanical royalties for album sales - they should also get a cut for the In a Coma tracks they play on. Normally, the only reason they wouldn't would be because the label hadn't recovered the band's advance for each album, but I assume MGB is well past that. There was some controversy a few years ago because Sharon Osborne had Ozzy's live band re-record the bass and drum parts on Blizzard of Ozz and Bark at the Moon because she'd had a falling out with the guys who performed them originally and didn't want to continue paying them the mechanicals for album sales. (Any new copy of those albums you buy - in the US, anyway - is remixed with the new performances. Good thing I'm not an Ozzy fan.)

 

I don't know what Canada's radio rules are, but in the US, radio only pays songwriting royalties for airplay. (They're exempt from paying mechanicals.) So the other guys would only get those royalties for the songs they co-wrote (eg, Geoff for "Rico").

 

And so ends an absurdly long (and boring) post about music law. (I toyed with the idea of doing music full-time a few years ago, then realized the fuck-mess that came with it, and realized that a day job was a far better way to go.)

Edited by uglyredhonda
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But how do we know they AREN'T getting royalties? They probably are.

 

I know of a dude who has a cameo in X-men 2 and he gets $2000 checks every time it comes on TV. The movie industry is probably a little different, but I'd wager there were agreements made, even if everyone was pissy back then.

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Well I don't think they would...but given that he's not anymore (Hospital Music was his last record with Universal), I think he'd be free to do it.

My bad, I thought he had one more. Didn't realize HM was his last one with Universal

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I know of a dude who has a cameo in X-men 2 and he gets $2000 checks every time it comes on TV. The movie industry is probably a little different, but I'd wager there were agreements made, even if everyone was pissy back then.

i can almost guarantee you that his residual amount claim is an exaggeration, as is your choice of wording with regards to his role. cameo - 'single scene, big name'.

if his role was in fact one scene, he would have been paid rack rate ($600 or something... if he's a sag member). if he was a big name, he would have been paid more... but regardless, his residual should be something in the neighbourhood of $250-$400. unless his name is zac penn or bryan singer.

Edited by Snatch Catcher
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I agree. I just always assume Dave had a little bit more to do with the music than the fans tend to believe (based on comments Matt has made). The Audio of Being is my favourite record of Matt's and it is the one with the most writing credits attributed to Genn. Some people say this is because he realized financial potential after a record like Beautiful Midnight (which he helped co-write but not to the same extent). I like to believe, though, that even if at the core the music was Matt's doing, Dave brought a certain creative style to the music that Matt on his own would probably never have considered.

I'm sure you are right to some extent. I mean, the guys in MGB certainly weren't whipping boys where Matt would write all the guitar/drum/bass parts and then tell the other guys to play what he wrote. They were a BAND, im sure Dave came up with tons of riff's and guitar parts on his own that added to or even were the hook of many songs.

 

As for Matt, i'm sure he was responsible for the main contruction of the majority of songs and wrote virtually all the lyrics.

 

It would be interesting to know which (if any) songs Dave or the others had a majority of influence on. I mean you can't be a guitarist in a band for that long and not come up with a few cool riffs that lead to becoming a song.

 

P.S. i can't stand Dave's style of electric guitar playing. There's lot of parts from Ghetto through BM where it just sounds like there's a sick duck attached to his guitar.

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i can almost guarantee you that his residual amount claim is an exaggeration, as is your choice of wording with regards to his role. cameo - 'single scene, big name'.

if his role was in fact one scene, he would have been paid rack rate ($600 or something... if he's a sag member). if he was a big name, he would have been paid more... but regardless, his residual should be something in the neighbourhood of $250-$400. unless his name is zac penn or bryan singer.

It was more than a cameo; I just couldn't think of a word to represent a few small scenes. I've never seen the movie, and all I know is that the character is often called "The Kid."

 

As for the amount, I don't really care. The point is, he gets money, like the members of MGB probably do at times.

 

Thanks for the information, though. It does help to have a gf in the film industry..

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Maybe Geoff can fill us in on whether or not the band members get royalties for record sales including In a Coma because he co-wrote Rico and played on some of the songs on In a Coma. Actually, I don't know if they get royalties for co-writing and playing.

Sorry, I don't mean to be rude but it's really nobody's business but the band members.

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Guest Prosis

Fair enough ;)

 

Edit: It ISN'T our business indeed, but I was trying to answer his question. Please don't take this as an attempt to put my nose in your personal lives.

Edited by Prosis
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