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Hi guys,
I’m excited to say I’ve been offered my first exclusive contract with a large library in the US!
They emailed me an artist distribution agreement to sign. It all looks good, however there’s a section I’m unsure about. The contract states…
‘Pursuant to the provisions of Paragraph 5, the following amounts shall be payable to Artist by Distributor:
(a) Twenty Five percent (25%) of the Gross Receipts in excess of one thousand United States dollars
($1,000.00) per Master listed in Schedule “A” derived from or generated by synchronization licenses granted by
Distributor hereunder.
(b) Ten percent (10%) of the Gross Receipts per Master listed in Schedule “A” derived from or generated
by sales of mechanical downloads (including, but not limited to, Permanent Digital Downloads (“PDD’s”),
“streaming downloads” and “ringtones” as such terms are commonly referred to in the music industry) by
Distributor hereunder.4. The performing rights in the Masters and the compositions contained therein shall be assigned to and licensed by
the public performance societies to which Artist and Distributor belong. These societies shall be and hereby are
authorized to collect and receive all monies earned from the public performance of the Masters and:
(a) to pay one hundred percent (100%) directly to the co-creator(s)/co-composer(s)/co-writer(s) in the
aggregate, of the amount allocated by these societies as the writer’s share of public performance fees for the Masters
and;
(b) to pay one hundred percent (100%) directly to the Distributor, of the amount allocated by these
societies as the publisher’s share of public performance fees for the Masters.’Does this mean I get 25% of sync fees over $1000 and 10% of the master, plus 100% writer share?
If this is the case, is this normal? I assumed these deals were 50/50 all the way. Can someone please clarify?
Thanks in advance for your time.
It does seem that you would get 25% of sync fees over $1000. But what if the sync fee is under $1000? You would get nothing?
Plus, you would only get 10% of any mechanical license fee? They would keep 90%?
That sounds a bit unfair.
I don’t know all the details here but it sounds a little unfair from what was posted here. So basically they keep just about everything from 0-1000 on the sync, and then if it’s over 1000 you only get 25%. I would say no thanks unless they are paying something upfront for your music and are placing a lot of music that will generate back end money. I don’t like the idea of getting zero commission for anything under $1000, you should get a cut of that regardless, and a lot more then 25%.
Are these deals negotiable?
Sure. Ask for what you think is fair. Be polite but firm. If they reject, don’t sign the deal. There is no reason to sign a deal that you are uncomfortable with.
Never thought I’d say this a few years back but DI is right on the money. That’s excellent advice.
And also, all these deals are negotiable – it’s not a US hostage situation, it’s just a library of WAV files.
Good luck and let us know what happens. I would ask for a) the terms I want and think are reasonable and b) more clarity in the contract wording.
Never thought I’d say this a few years back but DI is right on the money. That’s excellent advice.
Ha ha ha. Me either! I guess I am learning.
What about copyright? Are they taking it in perpetuity? Reversion clause? Or is it only an exclusive representation during the term? How long is the term?
All important things to think about.Ouch.
Leave this company alone.
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