This is part four of a series of posts on how to set up your band for business.

Set Up Your Band Legal Entity.

This may sound like a formality but is actually very important when you are a band of musicians running a business to create a corporate entity through which all of the band’s business flows.  The band will own the name and may own copyrights in the songs depending on whether the band writes the songs as a group or if one member writes all the songs and retains the rights to the songs him or herself.  A simple corporate entity should be set up which will own the trademark and other intellectual property such as copyrights in songs and recordings and will be the entity paying taxes on all of the band’s income.  Usually an LLC is appropriate for most bands and is convenient for filing tax returns.

Next Step: The Band Agreement

Or, Back To The Beginning

Todd Murphy is a Music and Entertainment Lawyer based in Jersey City, NJ.  He represents musical artists in all genres such as rock, dance, electronic, pop, hip-hop, punk, new wave, jazz and classical. Click here for Artist Inquiries.