**Q - IF the record company does own the master, does it need a publisher for collecting royalties and licensing?
(Blackened Recordings, a company formed by Metallica, will now be the home of everything Metallica)
Business Types
Business Entity - INBiz
New & Small Business Owners - pdf
How to Create a General Partnership in Indiana: A Beginner's Guide
Uniform Partnership Act in Indiana: Key Rules and Requirements
General Partnership in Indiana: Formation, Taxes & Legal Basics
Indiana Business Entities and Their Pros and Cons | McNeelyLaw LLP
Some say you can start with just a name and nothing else, this is what's known as a General Partnership. It's a similar thing as a band and would need a partnership agreement. In Indiana there is NO FEE or need to register with the state. Most recommend forming an LLC because it protects your personal property from being lost in a lawsuit. We could start as a general partnership and later convert to an LLC. This would make sense to start with our only clients would be SHP and our solo albums - who is going to sue who? If and when there are others releasing on our label it would be good to be an LLC. This way we can test the waters and see how it goes. We would need a name, a partnership agreement, and then open a bank account.
Fees:
Indiana LLC filing fee: $100 [Ref.]
Indiana LLC Business Entity Report: $32 (online) every 2 years [Ref.]
An LLC can house multiple entities as dba (doing business as).
For example: "creed3 LLC dba Bloated Hog Records"
Each dba should be registered with state/county government.
The downside is all legal contracts and finances of each dba would fall under the LLC, which can get messy keeping businesses separate.
A label doesn't need a PRO.
**Q - do we need to collect state sales tax if we only sell thru another platform like bandcamp?
- bandcamp collects sales tax [Ref.]
Desired Operating Principles
- All releases by SHP, John Stewart or Scott Hampton will be handled on a zero profit basis. All costs paid up front for releases and later recouped from royalties / sales until repaid.
- Releases by other artists will be a negotiated, or possibly a fixed, 5-10% profit.
- All releases on physical media will allow for a negotiated number of copies available to the artist for personal use at 100% cost of manufacture.
- The record company will own SHP masters of each release, but all other masters will be owned by the artist.
MERLIN represents independent record labels
Own Your Sound: Master the Business of Music - video series by lawyers ***