As an artist in this industry, there are 5 main types of publishing contracts you may need throughout your career. We’re here to break them down so you know exactly what’s right for you and what to expect. From master track licenses for TV and film to non-exclusive recording contracts, here’s everything you need to know…
5 Types of Publishing Contracts
Not having the proper contracts and agreements sorted as an artist can be detrimental to you and your brand. To make it easy, you can purchase pre-made contracts right on our website. (You can thank us later...) 😉 Click To TweetMaster Track License (for TV & Film)
This is a contract where an owner of copyright grants a non-exclusive right to record, dub and synchronize the Master with TV programs, films, advertisements and trailers. It also grants the ability to exhibit distribute, exploit, market and perform the MASTER embodied within the Programs.
Licensing Agreement for Certain Recordings
This is an agreement where an artist assigns recording copyrights on an album to a label for a defined period of time (typically 7 years from the date of release).
- With these, the label will account fifty percent (50%) of net profits after recording, promotional, manufacture, distribution, legal and accounting costs are recouped.
- For synchronization usages the royalty will be of seventy-five percent (75%) and the artist is allowed to procure his/her own licenses provided it pays ten percent (10% gross) to label for any income generated from such licenses.
Note: This is a flexible contract for a label looking to license particular recordings but don’t want to tie up an artist as a recording/performing artist exclusively for a number of years or for a number of releases. This one can be used as a trial agreement before moving on to an exclusive recording type of arrangement.
Publishing Agreement For Certain Compositions
This type of agreement works when a songwriter wants to assign the copyright in certain songs (listed in contract) to a publisher for a limited period. In return, the publisher arranges for the exploitation of the songs, collects the income from licensing, and accounts to the writer for an agreed share of that income.
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Music Publishing Contract
As a songwriter, your talents are best spent in creating. However, you can’t deny the importance of understanding the business side of things. Someone needs to take care of business. That’s where the publishing industry came from in the first place.
- When a publisher makes a standard deal with a songwriter, it finds users for the content, issues licenses, collects money, and pays the writer(s) according to conditions included in this type of contract.
Non-Exclusive Recording Contract
A non-exclusive recording contract is an agreement where an owner of copyrights grants a license to a company to procure usage for the content (i.e. recordings and compositions) in the form of synchronization licenses.
You’ve probably seen us post about various artists under Symphonic being featured in TV shows, movies, commercials, and even video games. This is the type of contract you need for this. Thanks to the non-exclusive basis of the agreement, the copyright owner (i.e. the party granting the license) is allowed to license the same content to other companies during the term of the agreement.
We’ve secured sync placements for our clients with Mini Cooper, ESPN, Netflix, FX, and many more. Check out some of them below…
- “This Moment” by Cashae in the FXX series “DAVE”
- “Dance Through The Pain” by Chewii, Govales & Loko Velocet in the VH1 series “Cartel Crew”
- “Action” by CRSB in the new season of Tyler Perry BET+ series “Bruh”
These placements are secured by Bodega Sync, our one stop shop for everything sync. // To apply for sync representation with Symphonic, click here.
In Conclusion…
Publishing contracts don’t have to be a struggle. We’ve gotten tons of requests from our clients to create pre-made legal agreements for them to download and edit as needed, so we’ve created a service in partnership with Music Law Contracts (UK) to offer a wide variety of legal contracts for sale at a cost effective price to help you out.
With it, you can purchase contracts for whatever you need, for all types of situations and business dealings, all made editable via PDF and/or Word. // Check out our available publishing contracts, here.
- In the meantime, there’s money out there sitting in royalty collection societies just waiting to be collected if you are composing your own tracks. We want to make sure you have all the information and resources you need to do it as effectively as possible. // To help you out, download Part 1 & Part 2 of the The Best Damn Publishing Guide for the Music Industry right here. 👏
