Musician’s Code Of Conduct

© 2011 Indie Connect

Indie Connect believes that all musicians would be both more content and more successful if everyone played by a well-defined, ethically-based code of conduct. Here is our first attempt at developing such a code.

As a Professional Musician, I promise to…

1. Respect the intellectual property rights of others by paying a fair price for all music that I either download or otherwise obtain, unless I have the express consent of the owner of the recording and the songwriter(s).
2. Respect the intellectual property rights of others by refraining from file sharing any music that I do not own the complete rights to or have permission to share from the copyright holders.
3. Respect the efforts of all songwriters by not deliberately ‘borrowing’ music and/or lyrics composed by someone else and claiming them as my own.
4. Give credit where credit is due in all matters of songwriting, recording and performing, recognizing the contributions of co writers, arrangers, producers, engineers, studio musicians, vocalist and everyone else involved in the creative process of my music.
5. Always be truthful when marketing my act or my music, avoiding all lies, exaggerations or misrepresentations of any kind.
6. Always tells the truth when representing myself, my act or my music in any and all business dealings. I will avoid all lies, exaggerations or misrepresentations of any kind.
7. Always pay my agents their due commissions for all gigs they book for me, and pay them within a reasonable time period. I will never bypass them on return engagements just so that I don’t have to pay the commission again.
8. Always pay my management their rightfully due commissions and pay them within a reasonable time period. I will not sever ties with them or in any way cut them out of any deal that they were an integral part of developing or brokering just to avoid paying their due commission.
9. Treat everyone on my team fairly in all matters, including compensation, benefits, recognition etc.
10. Take complete responsibility for any and all mistakes I make or if my words or actions cause someone else any form of harm for any reason.
11. Always do things legally with regards to both my personal and business affairs.
12. Respect my spouse/significant other and family by remaining faithful under all circumstances.
13. Never mess with another person’s spouse or money.
14. Respect my friends and associates by being truthful and forthright at all times, even if the truth hurts.
15. Only pursue and/or accept gigs that I compete for fairly. I will never steal or try to steal a gig from another artist.
16. Charge a fair price. I will avoid price gouging because I can take advantage of uninformed entertainment buyers.
17. Charge a fair price and avoid seriously undercutting other competing acts of the same caliber just to keep them from working.
18. Respect, appreciate, recognize, and when appropriate, compensate everyone who has had a hand in any success that I attain.
19. Show the utmost respect and appreciation for my fans.
20. Respect and protect the reputations of others as I would expect them to protect and respect my own. I will not slander or put down any other artist, songwriter or industry professional.
21. Help other musicians be successful in any way that I can, just as others have helped me get to where I am today.
22. Be a responsible local and global citizen and give back to the community whenever possible.
23. Be a good, forthright, repected role model for children and young adults.
24. Be someone the worldwide music community is proud to call one of its own.

We welcome your comments below.