www.music-law.com takes the guesswork out of trade marking your bands name. If you have a unique name that you want associated with your music, then you should take steps to protect that name, because as you grow and succeed, that name will epitomize you.
The two key concepts involved in “protecting” the name of a band are “territory” and “priority”. Territory means the area where you use the name, e.g., Chicago, Illinois, Mid-West, United States, world-wide, etc. Priority, as the word implies, involves who uses the name first. These two concepts work together to limit the scope of protection for a name. If you started using your name first, you can prevent others from using it. However, the law allows you exclusive use of the name only in the area where you have used it. For example, if you started playing the Chicagoland area in 1989 and never played or distributed music outside the Chicagoland area, you could not prevent a band from using the name in Florida. However, they could not use the band name in Chicagoland since you were the first to use the band name there. You also may acquire the rights to your name for Chicago in 1989 and nation-wide in 1992 when you release your first record for a major. If someone started using your name in another part of the country in 1990, you could not prevent their use in their territory since they have priority in that area. A famous case involved two bands both performing under the name, “Flash”. The first was a small band in San Francisco who had never recorded a record and the second was an English band that had a major label deal. Since the San Francisco “Flash” was a prior user in that area, the English “Flash” was not allowed to sell albums in the Bay area. Before investing money in the name of your band, you should investigate whether anyone else is already using the name. If someone is already using your name, as explained above, they have priority in their territory. This Information is Brought to You By “EZ Record Deal”, the ultimate guide to getting a record deal. Visit EZ Record Deal now by going to http://www.EZRecordDeal.com
Critical Note
Let’s reiterate what Andy Cahan said about your contact info. On the CD, and on the CD jacket you should always put your name and contact info. It is quite easy for your demo cd and the press kit to become separated from each other, and you want your demo to be clearly marked with your name and the way to contact you. This way if someone sees a lone CD sitting on the desk, plays it and loves it, they do not have to go far to know who they need to contact.
Do you have a Press Kit or a Promotional Pack?
Do you have a Press Kit or a Promotional Pack? Just like an actor or a model, you need to assemble a marketing package specifically tailored for you and your music. This is like a product brochure where you are the widget to be sold. And make no mistake, this package must “SELL” you because in this arena of the music world, you are a product. Your Press Kit must present you in a most favorable light and must instill in the reader or viewer, enough interest to take the next step.
Press Clippings and Reviews
If you don’t have any of these, get some. Every local paper pretty much has an Arts and Entertainment section. Find out who the reporters are and call them. Find out exactly what they are looking for, and try and get them to come out to one of your performances. Being printed in the newspaper or in a magazine gives you another level of credibility and is just another thing that sets you apart from the other gazillions of garage bands out there try to get attention.
