exclusive deals

[middledistancerun]

I'm sure this question answers itself, but i have a feeling it's more involved than a simple one word answer.if you sign an exclusive contract with a music library for a particular song (or even your whole catalog), should you hang your hat on trying to score deals on TAXI (or anywhere else) with that song/any songs ever again?If the answer is yes:1. Is there any way out of these contracts?2. Is it at all heard-of to negotiate placement minimums within exclusive publishing contracts so there are penalties if a certain number of placements aren't met? For example: If our music is not placed within at least 2 separate television programs in any given calendar year, the contract becomes non-exclusive ... or we have the right to terminate the contract if our songs are not placed in ANY media outlets within a given six month period (or something to that effect).I'm sure clout is the name of the game when discussing contracts like this, but does something like this sound unreasonable?

[matto]

Quote:if you sign an exclusive contract with a music library for a particular song (or even your whole catalog), should you hang your hat on trying to score deals on TAXI (or anywhere else) with that song/any songs ever again?Once a song is signed to an exclusive deal, you'd be breaking the law if you signed the song to another deal, as long as the first deal is in effect. NOT something you'd wanna do.Quote:1. Is there any way out of these contracts?Many such deals come with a reversion clause which says if the song hasn't been placed within a certain amount of time, the contract will terminate and all rights will revert back to the author.You should always try to get a reversion unless you were paid to write the song.Quote:2. Is it at all heard-of to negotiate placement minimums within exclusive publishing contracts so there are penalties if a certain number of placements aren't met? For example: If our music is not placed within at least 2 separate television programs in any given calendar year, the contract becomes non-exclusive ... or we have the right to terminate the contract if our songs are not placed in ANY media outlets within a given six month period (or something to that effect). I've already answered the second half of your question...although a six month period is not a realistic timeframe for music libraries. It'll take them that long to get the song out to all of their clients...in my experience 2 years is reasonable; patience really is a virtue when it comes to these things.As for the first part...you'd likely have a VERY hard time finding someone willing to agree to something like that.matto

[zink]

Quote:1. Is there any way out of these contracts?As far as I know (and I'm NOT a lawyer)...You can file for a Termination of Transfers, effective no earlier than 35 years after the transfer of rights. This probably doesn't pertain to your situation at the moment, but it's good to know. It's a way for artists who signed unfavorable deals in their youth to re-negotiate/reclaim. This right can not be waived in a contract, but doesn't pertain to work for hire.FWIWZ

[Casey H]

Just a little more...Once you sign an exclusive deal with a library on a track, as Matto said, you could get in deep legal doo-doo if you sign other deals for that track. So, pitching to other TAXI leads, whereby you are blind to the end party is a definite no.However, if you have an exclusive deal and see an opportunity on your own, you can contact the library and ask it they would pitch your track for that opp. As long as THEY do the pitching under the terms of your agreement and are the established contact, it is fine. The same goes for a publishing contracts. You can contact your publisher and ask if they would pitch your song for an opportunity.You can really piss off a library or music publisher by pitching a track and when they call you about it, you tell them it's already under another deal. Casey

[middledistancerun]

This is all great advice. Thanks for the responses! Luckily, my band is NOT in this position right now!