Creating an Ideal Artist Performance Agreement Template

An Overview of Artist Performance Agreements

An artist performance agreement serves as an essential understanding between a performer and an event organizer. It not only acts as an artist event contract but also sets the stage for mutual obligations related to the performance, such as sound checks, meals, accommodations, and clean-up. Essentially, it protects both parties from an imbalanced event relationship. Without an artist performance agreement, an organizer may find itself unprepared to accommodate an artist or an artist may be surprised to find the expectations of an organizer are not what was discussed .
There are dozens of legal aspects to every artist performance agreement, such as licensing, insurance, and intellectual property rights. Artists need to know their event organizers have adequate insurance and licenses to protect from accidents or public liability. Event organizers need to know that the artists they hire will provide performing services as specified in the agreement while maintaining the privacy of their proprietary information. Additionally, intellectual property, or IP, needs to be covered to ensure both the artist and event organizer are free from liability if an accidentally infringement occurs, such as with presentations containing trademarked or copyrighted material.

Essential Components of an Artist Performance Agreement

When creating an artist performance agreement template, consider including the following elements:
Performance details. Of course, every artist performance agreement should contain the basic information about the performance, such as the date, time, location, set length, audience size, and any access requirements.
Payment terms. The compensation for the artist’s performance should clearly be explained. If payment will occur after the performance, conditions for the payment, such as submission of an invoice or receipt of a tax form, should be detailed in the agreement.
Rider requirements. The standard rider contains requests from the artist that the venue accommodate, such as what food and drink will be provided in the green room. While some artists don’t have riders, many do. If the performer uses a rider, that rider should be attached to the agreement.

Tailoring the Template to Your Specifications

It is not enough to simply have a blank template and insert the names when the time comes to hire an artist or a musician. You need to go through and modify the template to ensure it fits with the details of the performance you are hiring for. Additional terms and provisions may need to be added as well. You should also think about if any terms should be removed or changed. Certain terms may make more sense for a small, intimate performance in a bar or club. Other terms may make more sense for large festival or stadium performance.
When it comes to customizing the performance agreement template there are certain provisions that you can likely keep as they are. You may also have some terms that you find yourself changing from time to time based on the circumstances of the performance. However, you need to go through the entire performance agreement template carefully and thoughtfully make changes that need to be made. You don’t want to simply change terms arbitrarily because it is the easiest thing to do.
The most important thing is to state all of your requirements for the performance. Will there be special setup that will need to happen? Are there special effects that will be needed for the performance? What kind of music is going to be performed? Are there instruments involved? Are there specific pieces that need to be performed? There are endless things to consider when it comes to a performance. Even a short performance may have a wide variety of requirements that need to be discussed in your performance agreement template. Each event or situation will be different, but if you have a comprehensive performance agreement template it will allow you to customize the specific performance agreement you need to sign with the artist’s representatives. The performance agreement template will be a good starting point to find the terms that you need to include.

Legal Implications and Considerations

When constructing an artist performance agreement template, the following factors should be considered:
Intellectual Property: Your agreement should address the ownership of all intellectual property rights in the materials to be used in and for the Event. If, for example, the Artist will be performing songs from his most recent album, he should have the right to include any CD artwork that you may be using to promote the Event (or that can be used to promote the Event) in any materials, such as programs, that you may be producing in conjunction with the Event. Likewise, if you are producing a DVD of the performance, you may want to limit the use of artwork that is included on the DVD to avoid having to pay additional licensing fees for artwork that may have been provided for other uses.
Insurance: You may require insurance in order to protect yourself and/or your organization from liability arising from any claims or causes of action brought against you in connection with the Event. The amount of coverage will vary depending on the nature of your Event and whether you are selling tickets to the public. The particular type of coverage you require will also depend on the nature of your Event. For example, if you are producing a concert, you may want to require that the Artist have general liability insurance (to compensate any members of the general public present at the Event who allege they were injured or sustained property damage through no fault of their own, required by insurers in order to get paid if you are sued in connection with the Event), as well as liquor liability insurance in the case that the Artist intends to serve alcohol at the Event (to compensate for any damages that arise from having served alcohol during the Event) . Alternatively, if you are holding a fundraising event, you may want to require commercial general liability insurance, event cancellation insurance (for sponsors in the event the Event is cancelled due to circumstances beyond your control) and/or event nonappearance insurance (for sponsors keeping track of artists’ performances such as record labels and PR representatives if the Artist cancels for any reason other than "acts of God" or an event beyond the parties’ control). Alternatively, if the Artist is assuming liability in connection with the Event, you may need professionals and pollution liability insurance (to protect the Artist in case a member of the public sues him for property damage or personal injury in connection with the Event). Regardless of the type of coverage you require, you should be prepared to furnish a copy of the policy, and/or induction certificates, to the Artist (if you are seeking to be named as an additional insured) and/or the insurers (if you are obtaining coverage on behalf of the Artist) within a specified time frame.
Compliance with Local Laws: You should be familiar with (and recognize) any applicable laws or regulations in the jurisdiction where the Event will take place. To this end, the following specific areas should be addressed:
Disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure that the information provided in this article is both current and accurate, you should consult a legal advisor upon preparing an artist performance agreement template for your own use.

Pitfalls to Avoid with Templates

Misunderstandings can occur at virtually any point, but in terms of crafting an artist performance agreement template, you should be particularly vigilant when it comes to the following:
Payment Schedule.
Make sure that the payment schedule is clearly spelled out beforehand. If the artist is not receiving their full fee until weeks or even months after the performance, you will likely be hard pressed to find anyone who is willing to take that risk without first securing some form of deposit. In a nutshell, don’t expect the artist to show up for a gig without first being compensated for their costs of travel up front.
Length of Performance.
The length of your performance typically depends largely on the size and scope of the project. However, no matter how long you envision the performance going, use quantifiable terms such as "X number of hours" instead of vague terms like "a while".
Expectations.
Artists are looking for opportunities to perform just as much as you need someone to fill the spot at your event. It is imperative that you clarify and even over-clarify what you expect from them (and what they should expect from you) so that your time working together can be as efficient as possible.
Choosing the right performance venue can be a complicated and stressful process, but if you take the time beforehand to draft a precise artist performance agreement template to work from, you can save yourself a lot more time and trouble than you think.

Template Resources and References

There are a multitude of resources available online to help guide you in the process of drafting a performance agreement template. Websites that focus on the business side of the music industry tend to be a good resource. Websites like the Independent Musician’s Indie Musician-Tools page and the Future of Music Coalition’s Guide to Music Contracts provide detailed information about common contracts requested of independent musicians.
When it comes to performance contract templates, there are many options available online. The Entertainment Attorney provides a take-it or leave-it performance agreement that can be downloaded and completed. The website also offers a wide variety of other free downloadable performance contract templates.
Another website, LawDepot.com, is a paid service that offers a free 7-day trial. Through its trial, you can view all of their contract templates, save and print up to 3 contracts a month, and can view up to 300 of their other legal forms for free. Among their contract templates , they offer performance agreements for both musicians and performers. These agreements, often used together, cover the business basics of an artist’s performance, including compensation, equipment, cancellation, material and services, and copyright and ownership rights.
Other free websites that feature artist performance agreements are E-LawContractTemplates.com, In-House Attorney Blog’s Legal Templates, and RocketLawyer. RocketLawyer offers an Artist Performance Agreement as a premium contract template. For a low fee per document, you can enter information into a form; then, they format and generate a contract for you.
While all of these resources are useful when drafting your performance contract, they cannot replace the advice and counsel of an experienced entertainment attorney. We recommend that once you have prepared a contract that meets your needs, consult an entertainment attorney before signing any legally binding agreement.