The world of music industry licensing contracts is
convoluted and murky one where nothing is what it seems…much like the Island of
Dr. Moreau. Things that may intuitively seem like good ideas like signing a
non-exclusive licensing agreement of combining the bodies of a human and tiger
may not be the career and/or evolutionary breakthrough you’re looking for.
Unfortunately, that’s as far as I can take that particular analogy since my
knowledge of the story is limited to the distant memory of movie trailers and
the Halloween spoof done by The Simpsons.
But as with every decision in a musicians career path, and
contracts in general, you need to do your homework and whatever you’re
planning, give it a second, third and fourth thought. A non-exclusive deal
might sound either good or too good to be true, depending on how cynical you
are. The truth is that neither of those assessments are entirely accurate. It’s
not exactly ‘too good to be true’ because there’s no glaring deception
involved. It just has a number of downsides that the person offering the
contract may not disclose. The deal can be ‘good’ if you’re desperate and
willing to take anything, but implied perks like retaining the rights to your
music aren’t exactly perks because the standard exclusive contract will let you
do that anyway. The downside you’ve been waiting for is that the general
availability of your music drives down its copyright value and makes it harder
to sign if you’re offered a more lucrative exclusive deal.
The history of the music industry is full of horror stories
about musicians losing the rights to their music and being cheated out of
royalties, usually due to a combination of unchecked enthusiasm and sinister
plots carried out by money-grubbing executives. Nothing can be done about the
latter because those guys are still around, but you can make smarter decision
than those who came before you and think it over before putting your figurative
cat’s head in your figurative dog’s body. For a thorough explanation of the
differences between these types of agreements, click the link below:
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