Free studio time -- legal ownership rights question...

[Roscoe]

There's a place in the Bay Area that offers free recording sessions to bands. They are a recording school, and need guinea pig bands for recording.

I'm having a hard time getting the exact wording -- but the deal is we go in for an 8 hour recording session, then they cut us a 1/2 hour cd, all for free. They keep the masters.

This is my first recording stint, so have no idea what the legalities are. By us letting them hold on to the masters, do they then own the music? What's the terminology I need to be using here when we tell them that we want the rights to this music?

Thanks,
Roscoe

[EngineGuitarist]

they'll own the rights to the sound recording. I go to SAE and they normally do this too, but if you tell them you plan on releasing, they make you pay like $20 or something, not much. but if you're recording onto tape than they may make you buy your own reel because schools generally reuse reels. a 2" reel will cost about $160. 8 hours isn't a long time, so go in there as rehearsed as you possibly can. you'll be able to spend more time on getting good sounds than getting a good take.

[Roscoe]

thanks Engine...

It went well, and you're right... My paranoias we unnecessary. It's just students, and they will overwrite the 2" if we don't step up soon. Listening to the rough CD we got from it, we're going to go ahead and pay the whopping $45/hr to have them master it. I guess it's the instructors that do it to make some money on the side... should be a good deal.

Thanks,
r