Does this contract/deal look ok? *Urgent*

[SeanyK]

Hi folks, im not signed, but have been offered a contract like this from a label, of a different style to mine, to take 2 of my tracks and press them onto vinyl and start sending them to labels they think are interested.;

Territory: World
Term: 10 years
Grant of Rights: Exclusive
Roaylty Rate: 50/50 split on all net profit from Distribution and third party income when money is recouped. (Incl Digital Licensing)
Packaging Deductions: 20%
Option: Exclusive first option on 2 follow-up singles.
Remixes: Licensee has the right to remix the Licensed recordings.
The remix costs shall be deductable from future royalties
due to Licensor in a 50/50 basis.
Statements: Semi-annually within 90 days, statements must provide
VAT number as well.
Studio Costs: To be recouped from royalties.
Warranties: Licensor warrants and agrees that it has the right and
power to enter into and fully perform this agreement, to
make the commitments it makes herein and has obtained
all necessary licenses, permission and consents,
including but not limited to possession of valid sample
clearances for each sample, if any embodied in each
Master Recording.




I have to sign it soon, so any help would be appreciated muchly!


Sean

[Stupid American Pig]

from what I have seen in books(I will never be signed and I am ok with that), it looks about right- but that 50/50 split is very misleading first they have to recoup, then they deduct 20% packaging. In reality you will likely see less than 5% of the total revenue brought in by this deal. I would be leary of the option for the future singles if you didnt want to stick with them. you could turn in 2 singles and they could not deem them worthy of release, which could really suck, as your music wouldnt be released, and you are still bound by contract to them.

I could be completely wrong here tho, so you should prolly have a chat with a good lawyer.

[SeanyK]

Hi mate,

So apart from the future singles bit it looks ok?
Im not really happy about the whole 50/50 thing and I know I stand to make probably nothing from it, but as long as I dont loose money, and get my name out there, it might be the best way to get myself on the 'bandwagon' for future singles & remixes for other artists.

Maybe I can try and get them to not have exlusive rights to the next follow up singles...

[clueless]

the remix clause would worry me more than slightly...

[gatd]

This is a bad deal do not do it whatever...they are just chancers.
say thet do a deal whith a record company for a 16 % royalty rate you will only see 8% of revenues generated if you are lucky. The deductions will soon mount up and you will be the loser.
I never agree to packaging deductions as this is just another way to screw even more money from you.remix costs can be whatever they want and soon you weill be in debt + no money. Please trust me as i do know the score as i have been screwed big time!!!
DO NOT DO THIS DEAL.

[vurt]

ouf clueless is right,that remix deal is where they fleece you by the looks of it

[clueless]

SeanyK - would you mind PM-ing me details of the record company? If I haven't had dealings with them, a couple of my friends may have.

[duncanparsons]

The remix costs shall be deductable from future royalties
due to Licensor in a 50/50 basis.

ooh that's a good one! If they like your toon, but want to get DJBling to do a remix, and DJBling takes 2 days of studio time, plus expenses.. that's all got to be cleared before you see any cash..

It doesn't look too out of the ordinary to me, that 50%->5% is not necessarily the case, depends on sales. Get them to clarify whether the 20% packaging is Wholesale price (the actual revenue they get) or shop price (RRP). Get them to agree to the wholesale price, afterall, 20% of £3<20% of £10!

Also I would get them to limit the exclusivity. If you do other styles, say you'll give them exclusive rights to this and your next to Trance or NeoProg or Folk, whatever. This means that if you branch out, you can approach other companies, whilst still honouring your existing commitment.

This makes interesting reading..

HTH
DSP

[soulata]

Hmm, doesn't look too good. My friend (he lives in Austria) got a great deal of 16% from the start, with 20% after the costs have been covered. He does house/downtempo tunes.

Nothing about remixes in his contract and he didn't need the studio. He just presented them with the already finished tracks.

[james0tucson]

Territory: World
Term: 10 years

No.

Grant of Rights: Exclusive

No.

Roaylty Rate: 50/50 split on all net profit from Distribution and third party income when money is recouped. (Incl Digital Licensing)

NO.

Packaging Deductions: 20%

NO!

Option: Exclusive first option on 2 follow-up singles.

No.

Remixes: Licensee has the right to remix the Licensed recordings.

This is the first clause I consider reasonable.

The remix costs shall be deductable from future royalties
due to Licensor in a 50/50 basis.

NO! No limits!

Statements: Semi-annually within 90 days, statements must provide
VAT number as well.

I don't understand UK taxes.

Studio Costs: To be recouped from royalties.

So what the hell do you think they are offering you?

I have to sign it soon

No you don't "have to sign it", soon or any other time. You need an agent. You probably need a lawyer.

I wouldn't sign this contract. I wouldn't be able to see it as offering me anything. I'd rather spend a couple thousand on studio time and a couple more on a run of vinyl pressing, than sign away any rights like this contract wants.

What kind of consideration are they offering? It's not mentioned at all in the post. Without "consideration", this contract would not even be valid in the US. In other words, what are they paying you, and when?

[SeanyK]

Basically, I produce trance music (as can be heard on my website http://www.ess-k.com ) I just emailed my tracks to about 20 labels, and I have sent my CD out to a fair few also.

I currently have a NON EXCLUSIVE contract written with a promotion broker elsewhere, who seem fair, as they have made clear if I make a deal without them involved, the deal with them is no longer valid... Also the %'s were better should they get me a deal, but they are struggling to find me anything.

The deal in this thread is offered by someone else, a record label but a label who dont really deal with the style I make, as mine is a bit more commercial.
However he said he was gonna take the chance, and press 300 vinyls and send to Germany, then another 300 to send to people in the UK, and hope it would be picked up.
I know it costs a fair bit to press to vinyl.


I really appreciate the help from you guys on here, as I havent got an agent, dont have a clue how I'd get one either lol, but I will not be signing nothing to do with this by the sounds of it.

[ResonantOrder]

Don't sign it. You'll get screwed. Please post the name of the label.

Never sign anything without a lawyer. And then, make sure he doesn't work for the label in any way.


You should start doing some research is you really want to sign to a label.

Start here:

http://www.negativland.com/albini.html

[vurt]

anyone who uses the "well it aint my thing normally so im doin you a favour by takin a chance ..."
f**k that shit!

[james0tucson]

The secret, if you can call it that, is to go into this deal with £5,000 of your own money, a solid plan, a reputation, and a contract offer that was written by *your* agent. Not really an option for a lot of people, but no different from any other business plan.

I wouldn't bother with this. It's been a long, long time since I was involved in any vinyl (the 80s), but we managed to get a few things out without surrendering any rights. The single largest expense was to a certain photographer that we hired for the cover art. The amount we paid her, together with the 3-color printing on the sleeves, was more than the cost of a few thousand 12" records. Oh, and we had to put the records in the sleeves ourselves. (That saved a lot of money!)

Distribution is another story, of course. Back then, we had enough demand at gigs, and also knew a few local record store owners, so it wasn't a problem.

[diverdee]

The exclusivity bit sucks, that & the 'exclusive' next two singles.
when I was doing vocals for some mates of mine we did dit in a studio with a cool guy called Tim in York - absolute star & amazing technically.
He was doing studio work partly due to an 'exclusive' deal he'd signed when younger & less knowledgeable with a group of utter wankers who kept knocking his stuff back - & of course he couldn't legally release anything with anybody else.
He played us some amazing stuff that he couldn't get released whilst he waited for his contract to be up (his had some kind of limited amount of years clause).
I know of another record label used to operate out of leeds - very small did a similar 50/50 thing - but all studio time & packaging etc. was all 50/50 & ther was no exclusivity as such - much fairer.
Read up on the legalities of it all or get a lawyer to look over it if possible, or get a decent agent/manager you know to be at least fairly trustworthy.
I've known so many people get phucked over (including me) it's just not funny.