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Hi All,

I was just approached by a library whose terms are exclusive in perpetuity.
Just wanted to get everyone's take/experiences with such arrangements.
Thoughts?

It depends.

Hey Pedro
In GENERAL, I am not a big fan of exclusive, in perpetuity deals with no money up-front. From **MY** POV there is no reason why someone should give away the rights to their song forever for $0. This is what reversion clauses were designed for.

This being said, there are NO absolutes in the world. People have taken a chance by signing such deals, got placements, and were glad they did later on.

2 big considerations are: (1) The placement track record of the library and (2) How you feel about the tracks.

On #2 above, if you are very prolific and don't mind taking a chance on some cues (e.g. you can write a bunch more like that easily), you have more freedom. Those of us who have more attachment to their tracks (e.g. small catalog, less prolific folks)... well, not so much.

Give it a lot of careful thought.

Good luck!
Casey

Thanks Casey,

Great advice! I'll have to give it some more thought.
The truth of the matter is that over the last couple of months I've become extremely busy as well so I'm not sure if I can commit more time to an extra library.
Thanks for the help!

Hey Pedro,

Congrats on that!

Now, I am not really familiar with this kind of agreement but I did want to say (and someone tell me if I am wrong on this) that the phrase "exclusive in perpetuity" means 'exclusively ours forever'. If that is the case then you would basically be a near buy-out without the 'buy' part.

Those three words in that order would make me seriously consider not signing it. I would see what other people say (and I am really interested to know) if this is common practice. Personally I would never sign over anything as "exclusive in perpetuity", unless there was a big check up front and a guarantee of some sort down the line... and nobody can guarantee anything.

I have a feeling I am misunderstanding this cause I find it hard to believe anyone would agree to these terms. But wanted to give you my thought, cause if I am correct, that is a BIG deal.

just trying to be helpful, not an alarmist. But hell, I am sounding the alarm here dude.

Hehe
Thanks Mike, and you are understanding it correctly.
This is why I wasn't feeling comfortable either. Although I do understand that is common practice in some situations.
I'm leaning on turning it down for now as my time is spread thin as it is at the moment.

I agree with the above posters.

That said, we have to recognize that if our songs are sent out to library users on library CDs, then it's not practical for the library to recall a song once the reversion date hits. There might be contract language that helps to cover this (ie. the song might revert to a non-exclusive license at reversion).

Jim

jdstamper wrote:I agree with the above posters.

me too..not a fan of exclusive deals without a HEFTY upfront fee..

Anymore I think this is a becoming a very common practice. I have signed these kind of deals with no regrets. In some cases there has been upfront money and in other cases there has not. In those cases with upfront money you probably won't share in any licensing. However, in those cases where there is no upfront money you will probably be looking at a 50% split on any licensing fees. That said, there are also non-exclusive libraries that will split the licensing, although not always at 50%.

The bigger questions are how successful is this library and/or what is their potential for getting your music placed? Do they have the connections and/or the track record of success? I use the term "and/or" for a reason. You may be dealing with a library that is just getting started but may have an outstanding set of industry connections which could bode well for the eventual success. On the other hand, it might be an established library with a track record of getting excellent placements. Then again, they may be neither of the above. Only you can decide if this is a library you are comfortable doing business with.

I would not shy away from the deal just because they are looking for exclusivity in perpetuity, provided you are comfortable in their ability to get your tracks placed, either immediately or in the future. Just my 2 cents.