What You Need to Know About Record Contracts
Music attorney Mark Quail was interviewed by LANDR this week and spoke at great length about what to look for and avoid in a record contract. Quail has worked with artists like Richie Hawtin, Dubfire, Art Department, Shaun Frank, and more. Needless to say, he knows a thing or two about navigating the treacherous legal waters of the music industry.
Starting things off, Quail explains what a record contract is, saying that “In most cases, the record contract will seek a complete transfer of ownership of the music copyright in the master recordings from the original artist to the record company. The record company usually seeks to hold onto the copyrights forever.” Additionally, this contract may bind the artist to the label for some period of time, which is known as the “term.”
The services record labels provide in today’s music industry are often primarily focused on marketing. Quail says, “What artists need today is marketing muscle and money to cover the costs of social media and management to be successful.”
It can be quite tricky for an independent artist to market themselves effectively, but Quail does stress the fact that labels are looking for people who are already successfully promoting themselves. He goes on to say that “The label minimizes risk by making business decisions based on the measured success an independent artist has already accrued. Which means independent success is important whether you plan on signing with a label in the future or not.”
Quail explains that record contracts haven’t changed much in the past number of years, except for the method of distribution. He describes how record contracts will contain a blanket clause “granting the record company the exclusive right to exploit the master recordings via “any means now known or hereinafter discovered”.” This primarily provides the label with the freedom to distribute the artist’s music via all distribution methods.
Specific things to look for in a contract that is unfavorable for an artist may include a recording commitment that is too long, loss of creative control, and contractual terms that deduct too much money from the artist’s royalties. Quail groups deductions for packaging, foreign territory sales, and free goods into things that the artist wouldn’t want to be paying for.
Following up on what to avoid in a contract, Quail believes a good contract will include artist royalty rates, the number of songs to be delivered, terms regarding a music video, the record companies investment into a social media campaign, and record label royalties. He states that “Poorly written contracts create more questions than they provide in answers. More questions mean more money spent on lawyers which may mean going to court to argue the matter before a judge.”
Other topics Quail touches on include long-term record contracts and why to avoid them, as well as 360 deals. Read the full article by LANDR to get all the details, and avoid any sort of sticky legal situation down the road. Although the full article is very informative, I personally recommend you get yourself a lawyer before signing any contracts. Having someone to help guide you through the legalities of the music industry is a good long-term business investment.
Charles Hoffman is a Mixing and Mastering Engineer at Black Ghost Audio. After graduating from the University of Manitoba with an English degree, Charles completed his education at Icon Collective in Los Angeles, CA.
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