Wrong. I have/had deals with CDBaby, iTunes, SPMG, Interscope Records, Warner/Chappell and several others and you can do whatever you want with your music short of selling it, if you know how to negotiate within an agreement.
Nothing is "cut and dry" if the publisher or distributor wants your music. If your music is run-of-the-mill, flavor-of-the-week garbage, well then... you pretty much have no say in the matter. They will just sign someone else's measly garbage for pennies-on-the-dollar...

 

Not everyone is as talented as you are, accordingly, not everyone can dictate to labels or distributors. I would love to hear some of that material you presented to those labels. If you dont want to do it in public, you can send me links by PM.

 

@The Pirate do you know all the different content management services that pertain to music such as publishing, distribution, etc?? I kind of want to get a beginning step into self-management. Also any books you might recommend?

 

I am very familiar with them, however, first go to AudioZ. You have a big catalog waiting for you there. Use distribution, publishing, and legal as search terms. After reading some of those books feel free to ask me any questions you may have.

 

@The Pirate

Lets see if you really know about this S...

Can you ask for more money ,more % of earnings and more control over your music when you are just a new artist/producer being signed?
If they have interest in you the should be willing to negotiate.

Why some artists makes a lot of money and others ? Do they renew their contracts or just start their own label?

If the artist needs to know if they are reliable , can he ask for a one year contract?

 

What you are talking about is called bargaining power, generally the unknown artist has none and the validity of his artistic message does not affect at all. CDbaby and similar services are mainly dedicated to these DIY artists, to act on their behalf to submit music for sale to online retailers. This disparity in barganing power ultimately means that the contract to be signed is standard and cannot be discussed in any way.
Instead, the established artists are organized differently to sell their music: they have the record company that takes care of the business, they don't need any CDbaby or others

 

That's not totally accurate with CDbaby (not sure about the others).

You can choose on your account dashboard if you want to opt-in for Youtube licensing and other social media platforms or NOT. And even if you choose to opt-in, as of very recently, Youtube started merging CDbaby artists personal Youtube channels with their Youtube Music channel (which was created automatically by CDbaby).

So now my personal Youtube channel has that artist eight note logo on it and has all the content merged from Youtube Music AND all my music videos that i upload independently on my personal channel . This doesn't apply to everyone though, you have to submit an application (through CDbaby) to Youtube and they will decide if they will merge your channel.

I also submitted both my albums to a streaming platform not supported by CDbaby and CDbaby customer service confirmed to me that it's fine and quote: "You can submit your music anywhere you want on your own".

 

Last edited: Jun 20, 2020

You own the music you wrote.
In any contract in-person, you can handwrite 'you agree I will always own the copyright', then sign it. If they call it invalid that should scream at you. If you want to sign it after they take that out, it screams desperation on your part.

With online digital, use one that only takes a percentage you are already aware of, like 15%. Unless anyone here is Sting, Stevie wonder, Katie Perry, lady gaga etc etc which I am sure nobody here is, then nobody here has made a fortune from online sales of their music so do not give your music away. It's not worth it really.

 

can labels and companies buy your soul?

 

you go††a watch this movie:
phantom of the paradise

 

I cracked this shit a long time ago.
In a business deal either of the parties can ask for whatever they want. Recording contracts are not any different. With that said, this does not mean that either will get what is is asking for. There are many factors that do determine how lucrative a contract for a new artist will be. Some of these are commercial appeal or marketability, talent, distinctiveness, branding, work ethic, traction numbers. One factor that always favors new artists when signing is the market void in the artist's genre. From these, the record label, publisher, production house, etc, will make a projection which is nothing more than a "ROI" or Return on Investment. That is the amount of return on a particular investment, relative to the investment’s cost as compare to similar investments. In other words, the investors will compare the new artist to similar artists of the same genre to determine the new artist's profitability. With that said, do not expect to receive numbers similar to those of well-established artists. Indeed, as highly as artists think of their music is, only a handful actually are profitable, and a mere 1% dominates the market. In sum, the terms of every contract differ from one to the other. Nothing is written in stone. Everything is negotiable ... to certain extent. You must remember that the company offering the cash is taking a serious risk. Even well-established artists have flopped after signing $100 million plus deals.
As to the rest of your questions, many artists do start their own label. From the Beatles to Jay Z have done it. A one year record deal? If a label or production company is willing to invest in you, there is no way that it will sign you for just a year. They will need time to recoup their investment, as well as to capitalize on your success for an extended period of time.

 

You can't simply add any addendum to a contract UNLESS both parties have previously agreed upon it. Indeed, any well written contract has a clause to prevent exactly that from taking place. Furthermore, what makes you think that you can simply walk into a room in order to sign a contract and that that you will outsmart the other side's attorney? If you use a lawyer, your lawyer would never allow you to do that. The moment of signing should not be the time to enter into contractual disputes. One side always gives plenty of time to the other to review the contract, and if necessary, suggest changes to its terms. Playing the game you suggest is unprofessional, and can put you very quickly to wonder what it would have been if you had not written that.

 

As an artist, I’d definitely sign a contract with @The Pirate record label, without even reading it

 

Totally agree. I remember paying an entertainment lawyer £250 an hour to scribble over a publishing contract I was offered. I thought it was a rip off back then but in hindsight that lawyer has probably made me at least an extra £5000+ in sync royalties over the years as it went on to be used in some big hollywood movies. At the time I'd of signed any old shite just because I was excited about selling some music.

 

Last edited: Jun 21, 2020

You better hire a lawyer, a good one too, otherwise my lawyer will devour you. Read what @retroboy said about that in his reply to what I had said earlier. If an artist contact us, we would not discuss anything unless is through the artist's lawyer. This saves everyone involved a lot of headaches in the future, and leaves no room for the proverbial "the record label screwed me." Don't blame us, blame that dumb lawyer you hired.

 

@The Pirate 360

 

I will 360 @recycle, you, and every new artist that I deal with. It is what it is.

 

Thanks , not comments . You really know about this S..., Lesson Learned

 

I told you: I cracked this shit a long time ago

 

The point is you have made that clear beforehand and you can if it is not included. If the person is not smart enough to make that clear then none of anything either of us have said will occur and they will be bent over. I could say that assuming that just because someone is on a forum posting a casual response without details does not necessarily mean they are another part-time musician like the majority. Everyone here is faceless. Assume nothing. There are a lot of smartass attorneys out there who had their asses kicked hard thinking they were above the law.