This sample Session Musician’s Release (the Release) should be used when a musician is being hired to perform a musical work as part of a recording session and the musician will share in the net profits from the sales of the sound recordings, rather than being paid fees for the services of the musician at the time of the recording.
The Performer’s Release – Session Musician should be used when the session musician is being paid services fees at the time of the recording and will not be entitled to a share of the net profits. The net-profit sharing model is different to the royalties-based payment model that is used by the major record labels, which operates with royalties paid a percentage of the Published Price to Dealer (PPD) – the wholesale unit price of a sound recording – in respect to the release of sound recordings on different media, which royalty rates are subject to variations and reductions. The net-profit model is a more transparent model that is less complicated to calculate as compare to a royalties-based model.
The main topics that a Session Musician’s Release deals with are authorisations for recording or broadcasting the session and using it in a soundtrack, copyright interests in musical works and sound recordings of a session and moral rights in relation to the musicians performing the musical work. It is important to note that a session musician is also to be considered a performer.
