Colorado has enacted the Colorado Artist Company Act, a law that lets artists form a limited liability company (LLC) with a stated artistic mission.
The statute applies beyond music to anyone creating “works of authorship or artistic expression comprising written, oral, visual, graphic, literary, musical, audiovisual, digital, or performing art in any medium.”
Law firm Armstrong Teasdale has published a primer on the legislation. It notes that an artist must own at least 51% of the resulting A-Corp, and that these entities can be structured around multiple artists in a band or group.
The Artist Corporations website describes how the companies could be used to fund work by selling shares.
“A-Corp Shares let collaborators, supporters, and investors participate in the value of the work while artists keep voting control and creative authority.”
“A-Corp Shares can be issued to artists in exchange for their creative contributions, and be structured as fractional units that let collaborators share in the upside of work they helped create. Plus an artist’s creative work is recognized as a capital contribution with real value, not just sweat equity.”
