exclusive contract – youtube, itunes, spotify, etc.

[TerlinguaMusic]

First- I’d like to express my gratitude to this forum and its members for being so patient and helpful. I’m sprinting up the learning curve as fast as I can, and I can’t imagine doing it without the info I’m getting here. So, thanks.

***

I just got my first exclusive contract and I was surprised to find that the licensee was going to register as owners of my music on youtube, iTunes, spotify, and other digital outlets.

Now, new questions:

1. is this industry standard?

2. the term of the contract is 3 years. what are the odds of the licensee going to the trouble of unregistering with all the digital services at the end of that term?

thanks!

[Art Munson]

From what I understand so far, no one can claim copyright of your material unless you specifically sell or give it to them. Their wanting to claim that to spread your tracks to YouTube, iTunes, Spotify, etc., probably means they get the mechanical royalties that are really supposed to go to the artist.

Even though exclusive, that still shouldn’t mean you give up your copyright, unless you agreed up-front with a one-time sale.

[music123]

@TerlinguaMusic, absolutely nothing is “standard” in this business. While people seem to think that 50/ 50 split is “standard”. It is not. There are all kinds of business models where percentages differ and everything is negotiable. I negotiate all the time and so should all composers. Yes, some RF sites operate as take it or leave it, this is our policy. You can and should negotiate with other publishers if you have great content that they want. I would never sign a deal giving exclusive rights in perpetuity unless they were to advance a lot of money up front for a body of work.

I’d be curious to know if others are getting offers from companies that are not libraries or publishers trying to get your music into TV, but a new model is popping up where I suppose people have found ways to create playlists on Spotify, Amazon, Itunes, YOUTUBE, Google Play, Tidal Wave etc…playlists of instrumental production music and that get marketed as “moods” like Studying music. rainy day music, …or action music…or whatever, they then market playlists on social media to drive listeners and fans. They are able to eek out margins from this model I have been told.

I have been offered money for a set amount of tracks. That license or grant of rights for a set fee for a certain amount of tracks would renew each year. So it’s a non-exclusive offer to basically make one’s music available for personal listening on playlists.

Anyone else want to comment on this new type of model?

Is anyone with a large personal catalog trying to implement this strategy and if so, have you had any success? It seems interesting, but I still am not sure where the revenue is coming from…is the .000003 cents per stream? LOL!

[TerlinguaMusic]

Thanks for the detailed answer, especially the reminder that deals can and should be negotiated.

My initial concern is that at the end of the 3 year period the tunes revert back to me- and I can’t use them for my non-exclusive libraries because they’re entangled with Youtube under the original publisher’s account.

The other question is, “why would they bother?” My Youtube channel has 4.4 million views and I can testify there ain’t no real money there. I know Google claims to “do no harm,” but they darn sure have some odd accounting procedures.

Same deal with my CD catalog on Spotify. I’m getting streams in the markets where I used to tour- Germany, Holland, Belgium, France, England- and as you noted, 1/1000 of a cent and less per stream. That’s not a business model, that’s a hobby.

I understand the math. A song in rotation in LA in the 80’s would hit several million people in one broadcast. I’m not complaining about the model. “Wide Open Spaces” by Susan Gibson (recorded by the Dixie Chicks) sold 24 million units. Today, you can chart with 10,000 units. Record/CD stores are gone. Radio is marginalized. It is what it is.

Which is why the music library model is so attractive and so many artists from other branches of the music industry are moving here.

As a complete newbie in this market, I’m trying to sprint up the learning curve as fast as I can and initial responses to my songs makes me cautiously optimistic. But, there is a steep learning curve, and this particular contract has put me on notice to be sceptically cautious. You could lose your library in perpetuity with one wrong move.

Again, thanks to Art and the members here for your patience and help.

[TerlinguaMusic]

another thought, re: “They are able to eek out margins from this model I have been told.”

They’ve got 50% of the aggregate. The other 50%, minus administration fees, gets split up between hundreds or thousands of composers.

[Author]

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