Pluto Moon Register Brand Name (trademark): Go to USPTO.

com > search for name (Pluto Moons) Ensure domain name is available Copyright All Material (master recordings primary / stems secondary): Technically your work is copyrighted the moment you record it in a fixed format; however, to hold up any sort of validity in court your work needs to be registered with the US Copyright Office. The 'Poor Man's Copyright' (mailing your work to yourself) is misinformation and carry's no legal weight of and sort. Your material must also be registered in order to join a PRO. This is the time to consider your splits (fractional ownership of the song). This will determine how all of your royalty and licensing fees will be paid out to each band member in the future. So in general a song split is 50/50 between the person who writes the lyrics and the person who writes the music, every song is broken down this way (Example: Three member band, if two members wrote the music while one member wrote the lyrics, those two will receive 25% each, while the sole writer of the lyrics will receive the full 50% -- the math will vary from song to song). The decision on determining the split is a group decision up to you guys, but its a big one so really consider what's best for all of you and take into account who's putting in the most work and who's taking this the most seriously. The splits going to dramatically impact the band the moment you guys join a PRO or start receiving any sort of air play, the checks are gonna begin rolling in individually with each members name on them, and with money comes conflict. An even split between everyone will certainly do a better job in eliminating all chance of future jealousy. Online filing: http://www.copyright.gov/eco/notice.html Paper form: http://www.copyright.gov/forms/formsr.pdf

Incorporate band as an LLC, Sole Proprietorship or Corporation. I suggest filing as an LLC File Articles of Organization form New York State http://www.dos.ny.gov/forms/corporations/1336.pdf Weather or not the band should incorperate as an LLC is highly dependant upon how much money youre making. If its a lot and youre paying taxes on that revenue, then its probably worth it. If youre like most musicians and you dont have two nickels to rub together, then it might not be worth the cost. LLC is short for limited liability company. As the company implies, a business entity like a corporation that is registered with the state, and as the limited liability implies, it means that the members of the company cant be sued as individuals. So lets say your lighting guy was stoned when he set up and the club catches on fire during a gig and 100 people suffer a painful and agonizing death. The bereaved family members can sue the shit out of your bands company but they wont be able to get at your personal car or the money in your checking account. Forming as an LLC also means that it will be easier to write off the bands expenses as business expenses. Assuming you already were paying taxes

on your band earnings, you can now claim guitar strings, liability insurance and the bands van as business expenses to reduce your tax liability. The registration procuder of an LLC varies by state. In New York, every LLC must publish notice of its formation in two newspapers in the county in which it was created. The company must then submit a certificate of this publication to the state, together with a $50 filing fee and an Article of Organization form. In Massachusetts, you must file a certificate of organization and pay a filing fee. You'll also need an LLC operating agreement. The operating agreement explicitly states how the company will be run. This could be your opportunity to square away those little details youve been avoiding talking about like how youre going to split up the profits and/or publishing rights and what the procedure is when you want to send the talent-less lead singer out to pasture. Spelling this all out on paper now will avoid potentially monumental conflict down the road.

Ive also heard that maintaining an LLC shows that youve got your shit together if that makes a difference to anyone who is concerned about your professionalism. Personally, I dont really see it making that much of a difference, but who knows? Sounds great, right? The catch, of course, is that forming an LLC costs money and the company has to pay at least 800 dollars in taxes every year, regardless of how much money you actually made. So unless you are making some pretty good money at playing music, it might not be worth the hassle and paperwork. An LLC also leaves a pretty sizable paper trail. There are a lot of forms to fill out and you (or your attorney) have to keep up with the annual filings and tax returns. If youve been getting paid in cash and your go-to slimy club owner wants to keep it that way because hes been telling the IRS that Friday night is open mic night, then maybe it would behoove both of you to keep things just the way they are. Generally it takes a lawyer to do this stuff and they generally want to get paid for their work, but who knows? Maybe a lawyer who is interested in music would do it in exchange for an opportunity to represent you down the road when you hit the big time or just getting to drink on the bands tab at your next show.

Register with a Performing Rights Organization (PRO): Since you write all of your own music (lyrics & background) this is huge. Independent artists have been missing out on songwriting royalties for far too long and joinng a PRO is undoubtedly the biggest channel of all when it comes to those royalties. A PRO is essentially a company that represents your best interests as a songwriter and is responsible for collecting and distributing all the money the band is owed for public performances. In more detail and complexity, PROs collect money from public performances by issuing licenses to establishments that are

interested in playing a members music publicly. After the PRO collects the license fees, the PRO distributes each member their share of the money in the form of a performance royalties check. Essentially, any time your music is played and heard in a public place it is considered a public performance. Your songs can be played in a nightclub, on the radio, on television, in a venue, in a supermarket, in an elevator, in an amusement park; basically anywhere that your music is heard publicly it is considered a public performance. Your performance does not have to be live to be measured as a public performance. Joining a PRO is the quickest way to bring in profits. Every venue is required to keep track of your performances and notify the PRO you belong to, so weather your playing The Delancey or Irving Plaza, your going to be bringing in a quick buck on licensing fees alone. Apart from these fee's, PRO's are greatly beneficial when it comes down to getting a record deal, weather it be with a label or a publishing company. They have invested interest in you and therefore want to see you succeed. They frequently alert record labels about their new artists; getting your name out there. PROs actively promote their artists and many times supply opportunities for artists to perform for publishers, music producers, and record labels. This ultimatley is what leads to bands breaking as a result of having their music licesesed in commercials and such. There are three PRO's to choose from; ASCAP, BMI, SEASAC. You can register with one and only one. ASCAP and BMI: Not-for- profit PRO's. SEASAC: For-profit PRO. Certainly the smallest society of the three holding only 1% of all performing rights; however, SEASAC works on a much more personal level with its artists and is selective in the artists the society chooses to represent -- there is an application process. To Register: ASCAP: http://www.ascap.com/join/ BMI: http://www.bmi.com/creators SEASAC: http://www.sesac.com/WritersPublishers/affiliate.aspx Another option is becoming a member of CDBaby Pro. The advantage here is they affiliate you with either ASCAP or BMI, register you with hundreds of collection agencies worldwide, while also collecting mechanical royalties (any form of online streaming such as Spotify, something ASCAP and BMI don't do). Register with Sound Exchange Register with Harry Fox Agency Social Media Stating the obvious here, the band needs to improve its presence throughout all outlets of social media; Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Vine, etc. Aswell as music media platforms; Bandcamp, Reverb Nation, etc.

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For vinyl burnside