Brian Bergeron

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Once again, this article is not a criticism of Gather.com, The Decca Label Group, or the First Tracks Competition. At this time, I am ranked 38th out of roughly 400. If I am in the Top 100 at the end of March 17th, then I am moving on to the next round, which I anticipate will happen. While checking out some comments by a couple other of the entries, however, I fell upon a little bit of a dilemma.

One of the artists cited the following paragraph in the contest rules:

“By submitting a Song, Entrants hereby grant Sponsor a royalty-free worldwide license, including but not limited to public performance rights, to broadcast and transmit the Song and the underlying musical composition via the internet as outlined in these official rules. By submitting an Entry, Entrants agree to assign to Sponsor ownership to Entry (the recording, but not the underlying musical composition) and all right, title and interest to Entry and agrees that Sponsor and its designees may use and distribute the Entry and all elements of such Entry…Materials submitted in connection with the Contest will become the sole property of Sponsor and will not be returned.”

The most suspicious part of this is the following sentences:

“By submitting an Entry, Entrants agree to assign to Sponsor ownership to Entry (the recording, but not the underlying musical composition) and all right, title and interest to Entry and agrees that Sponsor and its designees may use and distribute the Entry and all elements of such Entry…Materials submitted in connection with the Contest will become the sole property of Sponsor and will not be returned.”

Now, here’s what I got out of reading this. I submit a song that I wrote and recorded and they get to use it without paying me (that’s fine). A lot of times with competitions they use music for their promo and if you’re entered in the competition then they can use it as they see fit when they feel like it. The caveat is the fact that the recordings become the sole possession of the “Sponsor” (Gather.com) and aren’t returned. Now, there is a chance (and I hope this is the case) that I’m reading this incorrectly. I just found it a couple hours ago and have gotten a bit heated about it and will check with Gather.com to confirm the wording and terms. Truthfully, with the recording of “Anna” that I did in the first round, I don’t mind potentially not having property of that. I don’t think I’d do anything with it other than promotion and I recorded it at their studio-sponsored event. As long as I keep my copyright of the composition and my ability to re-record it, consider the recording a gift.

The trouble comes with the next round. I’m considering a couple of songs (one from my new EP and one from the last EP I recorded) but the idea of giving up possession of that song scares me. I think my career is still in development and I don’t think I’ll make terribly much from those song-recording copyrights but I recorded and paid for it so it should be mine (by principal)! I’m in the awkward position where I might use a live video but they’re not as polished and clean as the studio recordings that I have and I want to stand the best chance of winning. So, this puts me in a weird position. I think the wording is ambiguous and could be taken a lot of different ways.

What do you think? Are we only granting them the opportunity to use the songs royalty-free for whatever use they want (which is pretty standard in this type of competition) or are we giving them up? After I pass through this round (barring a voting disaster), I will straighten this out (hopefully) and report back.

Also, FYI…Though Decca is predominantly known as a classical label, the Decca Label Group has at one time or another had some pretty diverse and great acts including: Morrissey, The Who, The Rolling Stones, Paula Cole, and Marc Cohn. They also had an opportunity to sign the Beatles, but didn’t (D’oh!)

Anyhow, keep voting! Preferably for me!