Article: Recording Contracts Explained; A Guide To Contract Terms By Patrick Okolie

Post by: Public
on: 25-06-20

A recording contract might seem like the Holy Grail, but record labels are not charity concerns and their contracts are not set up with your interests in mind. Our guide to contract terms, written by an entertainment lawyer, explains what it all means and what the implications are for the artist.

You’ve written and recorded your demo, you’ve played some great gigs, and you can now boast a multitude of MySpace friends, from Watford to Wichita and back again. A&R guys are falling over themselves to get to you and there’s now a major-label record deal on the table. What do you do? Sign?
If this is the fortunate dilemma in which you find yourself, hold fire. Before you do anything, you’ll need to know what’s up for grabs. If you want fame and fortune and everything that goes with it, without the pain of disillusionment and legal hassles later, you’ll first need to do a little homework.

Understanding The Jargon

Because of their legal complexity, recording contracts can be quite hard to decipher. They come in different shapes and sizes, and will often vary depending on the label, and the status of the artist involved. Even so, many of their commercial terms are similar. They certainly require closer inspection in an article of this scope.

Article: Recording Contracts Explained; A Guide To Contract Terms By Patrick Okolie

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