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Exclusive contract

Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2022 6:54 pm
by StevenE
Hi All
Does anyone have a copy of a sample exclusive publishing contract like what was talked about on todays TAXI TV ( aug29,2022)?

Re: Exclusive contract

Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2022 4:39 am
by Casey H
StevenE wrote:
Mon Aug 29, 2022 6:54 pm
Hi All
Does anyone have a copy of a sample exclusive publishing contract like what was talked about on todays TAXI TV ( aug29,2022)?
I didn't see that Taxi TV (yet).

Even though the terms of these agreements are often very similar, the wording and other details very widely from publisher to publisher. BTW, by "publisher", I assume you mean a music library. It's probably better to learn general concepts so you know what to look for when you get offered a contract. Some of the key things (assuming it's not a "buyout") are:

Term: How long is the contract for? In perpetuity (forever) or N years? If N years, does it renew automatically?
Termination: Can you terminate the contract at any point on request and what is the process?
Is there an upfront payment to you? Fairly rare these days unless it's a buyout(*).
PRO Splits: Writer's share should be 100% of it. If it says otherwise, I'd be very wary of signing. Publisher's share is usually 100% though I have deals where I maintain 25% of the publisher's share.
Sync Fee Splits: 50/50 is fairly standard but there are other deals with 60/40, 75/25, etc. in their favor.

The PRO percentages and how they are worded is confusing at times. When a dollar is collected by a PRO, half goes to the Writer's share and half to the Publisher's share. Basically it's a 200% pie in that 100% of Writers = 50% of income, 100% of Publishers = 50% of income.

* I haven't done any buyout deals so I'm not including that. They are less common.

HTH. If you already knew all that, it may help someone else.

:D Casey