Record Labels and My Personal Opinions

A&R

- Know and talk to each other and go as groups to gigs where an artist of interest is playing

- This can include people from multiple labels

- They will approach you after the gig if they are interested in accepting you to their label and will give you a card with contacts to book an appointment with the label

Record Contracts

- Best to get legal advice from a music lawyer before signing the contract

- Record contracts are most commonly one time offers where you either accept (and sign) or decline the contract

- Record contracts are legal agreement contracts and cannot be exchanged to another label or artist without getting a new contract or renegotiating the existing contract

- Publishing deals are preferred to not be with the record dealer because if there is any disagreement with the record deal it will also effect the publishing deal too

- Artists can be taken to court if the contract is breeched by misconduct against the contract's agreements

- Typically an 18 month waiting period before royalties are received for each song

Modern Recording Contracts

360 Contract - you get 15% of the music profits and an advance of money to support the band

- Want to have access and provide their own band manager, producer, merchandiser, travel agents/tour manager, PR company, and the publisher.

- A debt is created to the label because of the advance of money, any unpaid debt to the label is eliminated when the contract ends

- They choose, build, and develop your audience

- Cross label collaborations between artists need to be approved by both record labels before being released, unless both artist's contracts have finished

- The label owns the legal rights to the music you produce during the time being signed to the label

- The master copies of the recordings can be brought back by the next label you sign to

Production Deals - exclusive to producers

- Session musicians and/or bands are paid by a producer from the money the label gives to create the album

Development Deals

- Typically offered to young and upcoming artists requiring further development who the label would be interested in signing to a 360 or production contract in the future

- Provides security of that artist to the label which stops another label from signing the artist

- the label will advise and guide you towards becoming a successful artist (not necessarily a successful musician)

Distribution/Licencing Deal - Typically a 50 50 split between the artist and the company

- Have the legal rights to sell and distribute your music to the public

- They have no control over you as a band or artist

- No advance of money is given like in a 360 deal so the band will have to find a way of getting the money for producing and recording the music

- tours and gigs will have to either be managed by the band or the band will have to pay for an external tour manager and booking agent

My Thoughts on Record Deals

360 Deals - 360 deals are the best all rounder for record deals although they take a significant amount of the profits of your music, a 360 deal includes everything that you could need to produce and sell a record, including a producer, tour manager, band manager, merchandisers, PR, and a publisher. This record deal is usually what is offered at the end of a successful development deal and would be best for your first three records before moving to a licencing deal if you would like to.

Production Deals - Production deals are exclusive to producers and can be a great opportunity for solo artists and bands to feature on a piece of music which will allow the artist to have session musician and performance royalties, however being approached by a producer is unlikely to happen unless you know them or have worked with them before which shows the importance of the relationship between artists and producers.

Licencing Deals - Licencing deals take a smaller cut of your income when compared to other record deals and will sell and distribute your music and sometimes merchandise, therefore licencing deals will benefit artists who already have a market who would buy their music and go to live performances and the artist knows exactly what to do musically and stylistically to be successful (which can be from being signed to a 360 or development deal in the past), without this the artist would not be able to sell a lot of units during the period of the licencing deal. Licencing deals also only do one main job (to sell your music) and do not include producers, tour managers, or any other assistance.

Development Deals - Development deals are a great opportunity if you are given one because the record company will be supporting you and giving you experiences that you wouldn't have if you did not have the deal , however like the 360 deal there is potential for your creative song writing to be effected and begin to produce music that 'sounds the same as everything else you've written'.