Seeing that you are a musician, there is a good
chance that you are not a lawyer as well. This definitely puts you at a
disadvantage when it comes to reading, reviewing, understanding, agreeing
to and signing music contracts . Music business
contracts can be complicated and confusing if you are not trained with a
legal background. Over the next few minutes, we will review and define
some of the common jargon of music recording contracts. The
first phrase—the deal is obviously the agreement you are making with
the label. It will essentially define what royalties you will be paid
from the profit of your music. Some recording contracts may include a pay
advancement. This allows the artist to get the ball rolling. They can get
new equipment, new wardrobe, voice lessons, a car, a home, whatever you
desire to get you going. Keep in mind, this money has to be paid back
with future earnings, it is a loan not a gift.
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Cross-recoupment or cross-collateralization is the recovery of
advances, costs or losses from other projects. Exclusivity is a word you
may run across quite a few times in music business contracts. This
includes all of the things that are exclusively owned by the record
company. They may want to own your present work, past work and future
work. They most likely will own your logo, website, all merchandise,
images and names. All of those things will be exclusive to their
company, understand? The territory of your music contracts is
important and needs to be defined. Laws and rules are different in every
country and you need to make sure you music and rights are protected
world-wide, ideally. As I mentioned before, different countries have
different laws about copyrights and things to that effect. Just be sure
the music business contract defines this. How long is your
contract for? This is referred to as the term of the contract. Is it two
years, seven year, two albums, eight albums? It is crucial to define the
longevity of recording contracts as soon as possible.
Recording contracts can contain a great deal of jargon. You may have
to read over it several times or consult the help of someone who know
what they are doing. Make sure you understand copyrights, publishing
deals, recording agreements, promotion terms, and all the other ins and
outs of your music contracts before you sign. If you must, consult the
help of a trusted friend in the industry or maybe a lawyer if you have
the extra dough.