I have considered selling CD's but am wondering if it's really worth it. I thought it might up the tip type income. But, one thing that concerns me is I do a lot of ballroom gigs and duping CD's among members is one thing, but I actually wonder if they would ever end up playing my CD's at a dance instead of me playing live.

I'm thinking that small time CD sales is not going to be a legal problem??

Wondering what thoughts or experiences you have on this.

Scott

I don't think you'd lose business to your CD's at live dances..

Not sure what you mean by "legal problem."

Do you mean selling such a small amount that you'd not acquire a local sales permit or vendor's license?

Do you mean not paying for the rights to record/sell the songs you use through Harry Fox?

Clarify, ok?



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Bill in Dayton

on second thought...

[This message has been edited by cassp (edited 02-04-2010).]

"Legal problems"... I would certainly take it that he means copyright violation. And, yes, you would be violating copyright laws. Getting caught is another thing. I seem to recall that to be legal, you must get a license for $90 per song. Which covers 1000 sales? Now, if you did 10 songs, that would be $900 for licensing alone. Add pressing 1000 CD's and you're in for, say, $2000 total. $2/CD, not including any recording costs. So, if you sell them for $10, sell 200 and you are at break even. I would think it would be a stretch for many entertainers to sell even 200 cd's. It'd take awhile.

As for "selling" them and worrying about sales tax issues, why not say "I give them away but there is my tip jar."

OTOH, if you do these things, you would be without worry.

Or course, I guess you could record only public domain songs and if you write, those written by you and you're good to go. Whether anyone would buy one is another thing.

You can always say that the monies received were for disaster relief. Just make sure the title of your CD is 'Disaster Relief'.

chas

Scott, Don’t spend too much time trying to beat the system, give the CDs away and have your name known. The effort to beat the system is not worth the small dollars that you might make.

Think big dollars!!!!

John C.

Actually, it might be worth looking into trying to find ten public domain songs that you like and can arrange in a unique way. Make a fast one slow, make a slow one fast, etc. These public domain songs are old but some could be made contemporary sounding.

Google found this:
http://www.pdinfo.com/list.php

Sounds good, except... I don't know for sure... but that might not be allowed even if he gives them away. It might be considered "distribution." If you really want to know I can probably find out.

EDIT: It's not legal. If he gives them away for promotion or sells them, it comes under the compulsory license copyright statute. If you manufacture a CD, you cannot sell it or give it away without a license. As I said, it's 9.1 cents per song and I am pretty sure the minimum is 1000 units but something sticks in my mind about 500. Like, maybe they reduced it to 500 minimum. I'll check.

EDIT 2: I think the 500 minimum applies to licenses obtained through the Harry Fox Agency. If otherwise, you can pay monthly.
http://folkhop.com/cover.html

[This message has been edited by SemiLiveMusic (edited 02-04-2010).]

I give mine away; usually to someone having a birthday, or in case someone wants to hire me for another job.

CDs are cheap to make.

This is good advice. You will be suprised how many contemprary songs are reworks of traditional music.

From a legal point of view (in the uk anyway) if the original composition is still covered by copyright it makes no difference wether you give the CD away or sell it, even if its your own arrangement. Also the law is the same for MIDI files as audio tracks.

You can buy an annual license, but most artists that only distribute small numbers pay per track on how many CD's they make ina run. Its not a huge amount of money to do that in the UK, but makes giving them away uneconomical. Most artists here with charge around £10 per CD.