Sometimes it is hard to do the right thing. The music industry is struggling to find ways of reigning in modern technologies to ensure that everyone gets the royalties to which they are entitled. I would like to think that if any of my songs were covered on someone’s album, I would see some benefit.
With this in mind, I was keen to pay the appropriate royalty when I recorded and launched a couple of albums which, although predominantly my own compositions, did include a few covers.
Like most people who self produce, I wanted to invent a name for the label. Cast Iron Recordings is what I came up with. Obviously this is not a “Company” as such. Just part of the design work of the CD, and a way of making it look more professional.
So I approached MCPS to ask how I go about paying the appropriate royalties for the included songs. It’s all quite easy, and starts with the “exclusion” form so that I don’t pay the royalties on my own songs, which I would otherwise have to pay so that they could be paid back to me. Therein lies the snag. The modern world has to be so careful to ensure that a person is who they say they are. Security is all. I am required to produce a letter from my bank (or solicitor) to say that Cast Iron Recordings and I are one and the same. There is no bank account for Cast Iron Recording, nor any legal issues, so the bank has no way of knowing that I am Cast Iron Recordings. I am a sole trader. I don’t have a solicitor. In fact, the only way someone would know if Cast Iron Recording and John Cee Stannard are one and the same, is if I tell them. There is no “proof” as such. This means that regrettably, I can not register. So, equally regrettably, I am unable to pay the royalties for the covered material. My apologies to the writers.
John Cee Stannard www.johnceestannard.co.uk
July 2014
