About Our Record Label Contracts

Our record label contracts are most often used by record companies to contract with third parties. Labels contract with artists, producers, featured artists, and musicians regarding the recordings created under the label that the label will release. Labels also use record label agreements to contract with other parties, such as television or film companies, to allow for the use of recordings that the label owns. Each of our record label contracts is written by an entertainment lawyer and is continually revised to ensure relevance. To learn more about the importance of written record label agreements for all deals, check out the related articles on our Blog. 

• Record Label Contracts Package

• 360 Agreement with Full Publishing

• 360 Agreement with Co-Publishing

• 360 Agreement with Management

• Artist and Record Label Master License Agreement

• Artist Recording Agreement (Net Profit Royalty)

• Artist Recording Agreement (Traditional Royalty)

• Demo Recording Agreement

• Featured Artist Agreement 1 (No Royalty/Song Rights)

• Featured Artist Agreement 2 (Royalty/No Song Rights)

• Featured Artist Agreement 3 (Royalty/Song Rights)

• Graphic Design Agreement

• Master Sale and Recording Agreement (Net Profit Royalty) 

• Investment In Record Company Project Agreement

• Letter of Direction (To Record Company)

• Master Use License (Compilation)

• Mechanical License

• Music Video Production Contract

• Photographer Services Agreement

• Producer of Tracks Agreement 3 (Royalty/Song Rights)

• Producer of Tracks Agreement 4 (Royalty/No Song Rights)

• Record Company Joint Venture Agreement

• Record Company And Producer Agreement

• Recording Engineer Agreement

• Release of Recording Agreement

• Side Artist Agreement (No Royalty/No Song Rights)

• Single Song Artist Recording Agreement

The contracts contained in the Record Label Package are used to get an independent record label set up and running. The contracts in the package contain most of the agreements a label will need to run all aspects of its business.

A 360 Agreement is a contract used by an independent record company to enter into a contractual agreement with an individual, group or band for their exclusive services in the areas of recording, music publishing, merchandise and live performance. In this contract the label receives 100% of the publisher's share while the artist/writer receives 100% of the writer's share. 

A 360 Agreement is a contract used by an independent record company to enter into a contractual agreement with an individual, group or band for their exclusive services in the areas of recording, music publishing, merchandise and live performance. In this contract the label receives 50% of the publisher's share while the artist/writer receives the other 50% of the publisher’s share and 100% of the writer's share. 

A 360 Agreement With Management is a contract used by an independent record company to enter into a contractual agreement with an individual, group or band for their exclusive services in the areas of recording, music publishing, merchandise, live performance and personal management.  In this contract, the label receives 100% of the publisher's share while the artist/writer receives 100% of the writer's share. 

An Artist and Record Label Master License Agreement is a contract used by an independent record company to enter into a contractual agreement with an individual, group or band for the label to release and market a pre-recorded master owned by the artist. In this agreement, the artist grants the record label an exclusive right to exploit the master recording for an agreed number of years or term. The rights the label has includes selling audio products created from the masters and uploading the masters to streaming music services.

An Artist Recording Agreement is a contract used by an independent record company to enter into a contractual agreement with an individual, group or band for their exclusive services as a recording artist for that record label and pay royalties based on a percentage of the income received by the label. 

An Artist Recording Agreement is a contract used by a record company to enter into a contractual agreement with an individual, group or band for their exclusive services as a recording artist for that record label. The royalties paid to an artist under this agreement are based on a percentage of the retail list price suggested to retail stores by the record label.

A Demo Recording Agreement is a contract used by an independent record company to enter into a contractual agreement with an individual, group or band  to record a "demo recording" so that the label, can determine if it wants to sign the artist to a long term contract.

A Featured Artist Agreement or Side Artist Agreement is a contract used when a record label, artist or producer hires a musician, singer or rapper who is not part of the artist's group or band to perform on an artist's recording but has some prominence and will receive a featured artist credit along with some royalties.

A Featured Artist Agreement is a contract used when a record label, artist or producer hires a musician, singer or rapper who is not part of the artist's group or band to perform on an artist's recording but has some prominence and will receive a featured artist credit along with some royalties.

A Featured Artist Agreement is a contract used when a record label, artist or producer hires a musician, singer or rapper who is not part of the artist's group or band to perform on an artist's recording but has some prominence and will receive a featured artist credit along with some royalties.

A Graphic Design Agreement is a contract used by an artist or record label when hiring a graphic artist to design the artwork that will be used in association with the packaging or marketing of a recording.

An Investment In Record Company Project Agreement is a contract used by a record company when an investor wishes invest in a specific project being released by a record company.

A Letter Of Direction is a letter used when one party to a contract wishes to notify the other party to a contract to direct payment to another person. This letter is often used when the artist wants to direct a portion of the Artist’s advance or royalty payment to a third party like a producer or a featured artist.

A Master Sale and Artist Recording Agreement is a contract used by an independent record company to enter into a contractual agreement with an individual, group or band for their exclusive services as a recording artist for that record label.

A Master Use License is used by a film, video or television producer to contract with the owner of a recording (Artist or Record Company) to use a song in a film, video, music video, television program, or television advertisement whereby the recording of a song is synchronized to the action on the screen.

A Master Use License (Compilation) is used when one record company wants to use a master recording owned by a different record company for a compilation record on its own label. This license would also be used by a film or television producer who wishes to include a recording of a song on a soundtrack compilation album associated with the film or television show.

A Mechanical License is used when an artist, or a record company on behalf of its recording artist, wishes to record a song written by someone else (e.g. cover song) for including on the recording artist's record for distribution and sale to the public.

A Music Video Production Services Agreement is a contract used when hiring a person to provide services in some aspect of the production of a music video for an artist. 

A Parental Consent and Guarantee is a document that is used when a minor  (under the age of 18) is being signed to a contract and the contracting party wants a parent or guardian to provide both a consent for the minor to enter into the contract and an agreement to be liable for the performance of the contract.

A Photographer Service Agreement is a contract used by an artist or record label when hiring a photographer to take photos of an artist that will be used on the packaging of an audio product or other promotional uses for the artist.

A Producer Of Tracks Agreement is a contract used by most producers of music recordings in the hip-hop, rap and pop markets when contracting with a record label. The producer creates the music and a recorded track for the singer/ rapper/ vocalist to sing or rap over and may produce the recording of the singer/rapper/vocalist over the music the producer created. In this contract the Producer is paid a royalty for creating the recording and retains song rights to the music created. 

A Producer Of Tracks Agreement is a contract used by most producers of music recordings in the hip-hop, rap and pop markets when contracting with a record label. The producer creates both the music and a recorded track for the singer/ rapper/ vocalist to sing or rap over and may produce the recording of the singer/rapper/vocalist over the music the producer created. In this contract the Producer is paid a royalty for creating the recording but has no song rights. 

A Record Company Joint Venture Agreement is a contract used when two or more record companies want to enter into an agreement to do a project together.

A Record Company and Producer Agreement is a contract used when a producer enters into a contract with a record company to produce one of the its artist's it has under contract.

A Recording Engineer Agreement is a contract used when a studio engineer enters into a contract with an artist, or a record label, for the engineer to provide services as a studio engineer on one or more of the artist's recordings. 

A Release From Record Company Agreement is a contract used when a record company and an artist agree to release each other from the obligations in a recording agreement signed by both parties.

A Side Artist Agreement is a contract used when a record label, artist or producer hires a musician, singer or rapper who is not part of the artist's group or band to perform on an artist's recording. The side artist is only paid a fee and will not receive any royalties or song ownership.

A Single Song Artist Recording Agreement is a contract used by an independent record company to enter into a contractual agreement with an individual, group or band for to record one song for release to the public for sale.