Klarinet Archive - Posting 000728.txt from 1997/07

From: "Andrew Scholberg" <ascholbe@-----.com>
Subj: Re: Composer advice/agent?
Date: Wed, 23 Jul 1997 12:46:39 -0400

----------
> From: R Tennenbaum <rtenn@-----.com>
> To: Klarinet newsgroup <klarinet@-----.us>
> Subject: Composer advice/agent?
> Date: Wednesday, July 23, 1997 11:45 AM
>
> Might not be the place for this but: An acquaintance has been
> telling me the about the travails of a mutual friend, a composer, who
> I know isn't always the best at standing up for himself. Our friend
> is a composer of operas and recently completed a deal with a major
> music publisher: my understanding (albeit second hand) is that the
> publisher retains fifty percent of the profit gained from sales of
> his scores and parts, and my composer friend only takes 25%. Seems
> like larceny to me -- I guess I'm curious, does anyone know if this
> is standard?
>
> Rafe T.
> http://www.quicklink.com/~rtenn
>
>
>
Rafe,

Everything is negotiable. It doesn't seem fair that the composer should
receive a mere 25 percent, but if the publisher is taking a big risk and
incurring significant expense, I wouldn't blame him for negotiating 50
percent of the profit (if any) against his risk. Although it doesn't seem
fair, the composer agreed to it. There are many other publishers he could
have gone to if he didn't like the deal.

Andy Scholberg
ascholbe@-----.com