Musician Insurance

A comprehensive music pro insurance policy may include the following types of coverages:

• Commercial General Liability (CGL) Insurance: Also known as general liability insurance, CGL covers musicians and bands against third-party bodily or property damage claims during live performances, rehearsals, and studio sessions as part of your daily operations. For instance, if an audience member is injured by something you do during a live show, CGL may cover their medical expenses and lost wages.

• Commercial Property Insurance: Commercial property insurance protects you from damages to your rehearsal studio or music equipment storage space and its contents, furnishings, and inventory because of fire, water damage, a natural disaster, theft, or vandalism.

• Professional Liability Insurance: Also known as errors and omissions (E&O) insurance or professional indemnity insurance, professional liability insurance protects musicians and bands from professional negligence claims. It covers your professional services because of contract disputes, allegations of copyright infringement, breach of contract, mistakes, misconduct, and defamation.

• Product Liability Insurance: If you sell, distribute, or manufacture vinyl records, compact discs, audio cassettes, t-shirts, and other items, it’s wise to include product liability coverage in your policy to cover you for third-party bodily injury or property damage claims caused by those goods. It’s often included in general liability insurance, but you can add it as an endorsement or rider to up your protection if it isn’t.

• Music Equipment Insurance: Your transportable musical instruments and equipment, such as amplifiers, music stands, and microphones, are vital for producing the sounds you do. Music equipment insurance is designed to repair or replace them if lost, stolen, vandalized, or damaged by water or fire.

• Cyber Liability Insurance: If you or your band have a website, use email, social media channels, or have a point-of-sale (POS) system to sell albums and other branded items, you need cyber liability insurance.It covers costs associated with cybercrime, cyber-attacks, and data breaches compromising your customers’ confidential information. It includes coverage for software restoration of affected systems, crisis management expenses, and notification and credit monitoring fees.

• Legal Expense Insurance: If you need legal advice or need to retain an experienced lawyer to help deal with things like reviewing contracts, appealing Canada Revenue Agency audits, debt recovery, and contract disputes, legal expense insurance is a low-cost add-on to your policy to seek legal counsel. Legal expense insurance costs significantly less than paying out of pocket to hire a lawyer.

• Event Liability Insurance: If hosting or organizing a live performance at a third-party venue, it’s recommended for musicians and bands to include temporary special event liability insurance in their policies. It’s designed to cover third-party bodily injuries to attendees and third-party property damage to venues that may occur during the performance.