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By Jeri Goldstein
Here's the big secret about contracts, the one who issues the contract is
in control of the situation. A contract written for the issuer, benefits the
issuer and not the receiver. So if you issue the contract, it benefits you,
your needs and your requirements. It tells the party receiving the contract
that this is the way you want things done. The information in your contracts
stipulates your terms.
On the other hand, if you receive a contract from a venue, then that contracts,
is written to benefit them and not you. A typical situation that exemplifies
this is when a record label issues a contract to an artist about to be signed.
This is one of those situations when an artist never issues a contract to the
label. Upon reviewing a record label contract, you'll note this to be an excellent
example of how the language or the contract favors the label and not the artist.
In the case of performances though, it is always best to issue your own contract,
no matter what. At times you will play gigs at colleges, festivals, government
run events, (like city or county fairs), major performing art centers or promoter
gigs. These are situations where they will most likely issue their contract.
That's fine. In these cases, issue yours as well and insist that it be made
part of the whole contract. This way your needs will be taken into account
and your instructions followed and incorporated into the overall contract.
When you issue your own contract you are able to include clauses that stipulate
how you'll be paid, your preferred rehearsal and sound check situation, your
needs in the dressing room, how you want to be billed and who else may or may
not play on the bill. You will have the opportunity to spell out, for the purchaser,
how to best present and stage your event.
When creating your contract, it would be to your advantage to work with an
entertainment attorney. This ensures that requirements of your state or country
are included in the appropriate clauses of the agreement.
Remember, whoever issues the contract is in control of how things are worded
and who benefits from the content of the contract. Start immediately to issue
your own contract for every gig. You won't be sorry you did.
If you do not have your own contract, you may take a look at my contract forms
package and decide if some of those contract forms might suit your needs to
get you started.
And, I invite you to learn more about this and other topics
important to your career development and to sign up for my free weekly audio
Biz Booster Hot Tip! Every Monday you'll get another valuable strategy and
technique that you can put to use immediately. Plus, get my Free report: 5
Booking Strategies that Work when you sign up. http://www.performingbiz.com
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