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"God must love stupid people; He made so many.” 

Menu: 

Am I miffed?  Yep  [The media get the story wrong]

Dining out in the World. [ This is a quiz. ]

Three exciting new products from Digidesign [ these will improve your recordings ]

Subscriber's Section [ session drummer agreement ]

The gags: .....      [You could have heard a pin drop.] 

 

Am I miffed?  Yep  [The media get the story wrong]  

Yes, like all of us, I was taken aback by Stephen Gately’s untimely death.  But hang on a minute? 

The newspapers are hailing Boyzone as the first ever boyband??????????????????? 

Hold on a second …. 

I had dinner with Louis Walsh after a TV show we recorded for St. Patricks day, many years ago.  He asked me my valued opinion on whether a bunch of guys dressed as my band did, in a ‘today’ sense, singing covers in a ‘today’ sense and with choreography and movement in a ‘today’ sense could be successful? 

I answered: “Louis…. Absolutely!”  “A Winning formula … we made $fortunes from it and you could as well”. 

Louis went straight back to Dublin and did just that … Boyzone were born. 

So, were they the first boyband?  I don’t think so.  We were the first Irish band to have an International Number One .. the first band to use choreography [produced by Ross Taylor, no less] and the first to perform in an open air arena … Longleat House! 

Am I miffed?  Yep, just a little bit …. And for the media…. Always give honour where it is due! 

PS:  U2 used to do a tribute to my band in their set … honouring us as the first Irish breakthrough band.

PPS: On that St. Pat’s show were also Brendan Shine, Twink [ the Irish star not Twinkle the UK Hitster] and Johnny Logan, twice winner of Eurovision.

 

“ The gene pool could use a little chlorine.”  

Dining out in the World. [ This is a quiz. ] 

There will come a time in your music world that you will travel a lot overseas …. It is wise to get to know the different etiquettes associated with having a meal in strange countries … this is fun. 

Click on "Dining Out In The World" below, then select your answer by clicking on the twirling utensil. 

 It will give you the correct answer, then move to the next country. http://www.fekids.com/img/kln/flash/DontGrossOutTheWorld.swf

 

"Consciousness: That annoying time between naps.”  

 

Three exciting new products from Digidesign [ these will improve your recordings ] 

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Learn more… http://app.info.avid.com/e/er.aspx?s=774&lid=1704&elq=59d3dac680844fb182636ac395f9dda3                         

Fast Track  

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Learn more… http://app.info.avid.com/e/er.aspx?s=774&lid=1723&elq=59d3dac680844fb182636ac395f9dda3                       

SBX10  

The M-Audio SBX10 active subwoofer is ideal for any stereo or multi-channel monitoring environment requiring an accurate low-frequency response down to 20Hz. Includes subwoofer bypass footswitch.  

Learn more… http://app.info.avid.com/e/er.aspx?s=774&lid=1724&elq=59d3dac680844fb182636ac395f9dda3

 

"Ever stop to think, and forget to start again?” 

Testimonials 

“Hi Dec

I have taken what I learned with your ‘Million from your Music’ course [ http://makehits.com/products090707/million.html  ] and applied it to a successful property business and a successful computer repair business with my brother. It keeps me very busy. We do Mac and PC repairs and because of you - and experimenting on my own, I learned how to sort most glitches with ProTools and the like.  In the end, experience of each type of problem teaches you something - and you can hopefully help others with what you have learned.

You experience a lot of criticism and I guess that even now, that's hard sometimes but the ones that want to listen - hear something. 

I appreciate your advice. It resonates beyond music 

take care

Mark Brockhurst”

 

"Wrinkled Was Not One of the Things I Wanted to Be When I grew up.”  

Subscriber's Section [ session drummer agreement ]  

“Hi Dec, 

Good things are happening in the F******  camp...we are about to sign 

a licensing deal for the US, Canada and Japan.

The session drummer hired for our tour is worth his weight in gold, 

he plays great, is 150% professional, looks great and is a nice guy 

to boot. 

We need a session drummer agreement with the former drummer (for his past services) 

- we will just pay him a fee for what he had done, in return he 

releases those rights.  

Do you have any such "Session drummer" contract available on-line? 

Also - I do have all the publishing contracts from your 'How to open 

your own publishing company' - but, what is a reasonable % to pay the 

writer, or, what is a reasonable % to take as the publisher. I need 

to make a contract with my husband (haha...) he is the registered 

songwriter but I am the publisher. As I am now going to register my 

publishing company once the licensing deal is signed, I need to do 

this - our manager is going to shop for a sub-publishing deal for us. 

THANKS Dec 

A**** 

PS Off on tour tomorrow....can't wait” 

My Reply:   

Our rules are "one short reply to ONE question on music FOR NON-MEMBERS, Members of 'The Serious Writers Guild' have unlimited personal access to Dec by direct telephone, Fax and Email, apply at https://secure.mistral.co.uk/makehits/swgappsecure.htm ".     

[Any advice given here shall not be deemed as financial or legal advice under any existing or future laws of any country] 

A**** 

A session contract with a drummer would be per session payment or per day or week. 

The receipt you would get him to sign would say:  "full and final settlement re. sessions as drummer relating to  

Songs:

1

2

3

4

5

6  etc. 

On ... dates

For ... Band and/or producer and/or copyright holder of the recordings. 

The legal concept is that whoever pays for the making of the recordings owns the copyright.  That is the law.  You could add a simple statement: "this payment precludes A.N Other from any claims of royalties of any kind for the tracks mentioned above" 

If you intend to deal him in on mechanical royalties [a bad move!] then the norm. would be to split the mechanical royalty [from shop sales, downloads, leasing of any kind] into the number of members of the band playing on the tracks.  A usual mechanical royalty would by circa 12% -15% for a first release. 

<<<<<<<< The American lawyer advised us to get this 

drawn up, to avoid any potential future problems like lawsuits...>>>>>>>>>>>>> 

Fraught with danger! 

American lawyers will say in fifteen pages what can be said in two paragraphs ... in the UK the system is based on 'plain English' and not 'legalese' as practiced in the USA.  We also understand the concept that any contract can be argued to be flawed in court. 

The main point to understand is that you must continue to talk and be friends ... "keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer" 

<<<<<<< what is a reasonable % to pay the writer, or, what is a reasonable % to take as the publisher>>>>>>>> 

The standard percentages are Industry standard despite what novices and amateurs may claim.  The suggested percentages are included in each contract in the manual. http://www.makehits.co.uk/publishing.htm  

The normal split is 50% Publisher 50% writer/writers, composers. 

The assignment contract states the split between any various co-writers and stipulates that the publisher will retain 50%. 

Sadly, in recent years Newbie Publishers have been offering writers 70% of mechanicals .... in other words, the publishing revenues emanating from shop sales and download sales.  This has proved to be a nightmare for genuine publishers as novices simply do not understand the various writers royalties and expect 70% of everything ... "because my pal Charlie signed a contract etc......" 

<<<<<<<<< our manager is going to shop for a sub-publishing deal for us.>>>>>>>>> 

The time to do that is when you are Number 3 in the chart .... 

Finally, I would worry that the material is ten years old ... I consider material six months old to be "past its sell by date"! 

Regards

Dec [Cluskey]  dec@makehits.com <mailto:dec@makehits.com>  

2 Gold discs in 2008!  Decca have relaunched their ‘World Of’ series on the back of those hits.  Readers Digest are now promoting a triple album set …. Do you think I can help your music career succeed?  

Check out 'How to Make A £Million From your Music' at http://www.makehits.co.uk.  Secure purchase at https://secure.mistral.co.uk/makehits/swgappsecure.htm or fast cred*it card line: +44 1323.728005 or UK 01323.728005  

 “How to Make A $Million From Your Music”. To see the course go to http://makehits.com/products090707/million.html   fast cred*it card line: +44 1323.728005 or UK 01323.728005 

To purchase go direct to: https://secure.mistral.co.uk/makehits/swgappsecure.htm 

“3 Minutes on the Radio with Dec” ….

Available immediately at http://www.myspace.com/makehits

 

“Procrastinate Now!” 

The gags: .....      [You could have heard a pin drop.]  

There was a conference in France where a number of international engineers were taking part, including French and American.  

During a break, one of the French engineers came back into the room saying "Have you heard the latest dumb stunt Bush has done? He has sent an aircraft carrier to Indonesia to help the tsunami victims. What does he intended to do, bomb them?" 

A Boeing engineer stood up and replied quietly: "Our carriers have three hospitals on board that can treat several hundred people; they are nuclear powered and can supply emergency electrical power to shore facilities; they have three cafeterias with the capacity to feed 3,000 people three meals a day, they can produce several thousand gallons of fresh water from sea water each day, and they carry half a dozen helicopters for use in transporting victims and injured to and from their flight deck. We have eleven such ships; how many does France have?" 

You could have heard a pin drop.

===================================

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