An independent artist is practically required to sign up with an aggregator in order to have your works serviced to many online outlets–some aggregators service hundreds of different retailers. (So one example of a pre-existing contract under Question #10 may be a band member’s contract with a sound recording aggregator.)

There is a bit of strategy involved with affiliating with a performing rights organization in the United States. All the societies have a creative staff. The decision to affiliate with a particular society should be made after the artist/writer has taken some meetings with the performing rights society and decided if there’s more love coming from one than another.

Ask your band mates for copies of any music industry contracts the band, or any of you, have previously signed before you formed or joined the band. Whether it be a credit card, management agreement, publishing deal, previous band agreement or a production agreement, it is important to understand the band’s current rights and restrictions.

It is a good idea for one band member to take responsibility for keeping track of the papers and information relating to the band’s business, such as receipts, bank statements, credit cards, payments, approvals for licenses, etc. This is especially important if there is no manager involved with the band.

Many bands overlook the importance of insurance, often until it is too late. Even if you don’t overlook it, many artists don’t fully understand why their coverage may be lacking.

There is a bit of strategy involved with affiliating with a songwriter performing rights society in the United States. PROs license and collect royalties for the performance right in your songs, such as a performance on television or radio or live music venues (including in some cases your own performances of your own songs).

A common mistake that bands make is to have all income paid to one band member, which usually results in unnecessarily complex adjustments at tax time not to mention general distrust should disputes arise.  This can be particularly vexing if the band wants to “fire” that band member whose got all the bank records–much better to have the band’s income and expenses paid from a neutral source.