License contract issues

Bestiario

Hi everyone,

A friend of mine is having the chance to put his vocals and own music into a license contract allowing him to be in almost all digital platforms. I read the contract and I have some doubts though.
It's an exclusive lincense contract for 3 years (the cut is 60-40)
Do you think that it's a good idea to sign it? Here are some sections of it that bring me doubts;

60% to authors less amounts due to entities providing technical and/or marketing support in the scope of provision and distribution of Content on the Services.


The author allows for the development and recording of the Content in a computer memory, on a server, a portable medium or using any other technology, reproduction using any technology, digitalisation for the purpose of the agreement performance, and the use of the Content in the following fields of exploitation:
a) copying, sale, distribution, public performance and playback;
b) etc....

Can somebody tell me if this is normal? 3 years exclusivity? Not mentioning the total amount of $ deduced from promotions? What does public perfomance means in this case?

Thank you!

Klaus_T

you can be on almost all digital platforms for as little as 20 bucks per song (roughly, depending on the distributor and bundle you choose). you might want to look into imusician, i recently released a song there, it is non exclusive, and they put it up on 250+ streaming services, including express delivery (uploading it within a week) and youtube ID, it cost me 40 euros (which is about 45 dollars

it is non exclusive, and i get to keep all of the money (which, as with streaming, is basically nothing, unless it goes viral somehow). i did it for the fun more than anything else, so i am not expecting any money

maybe you are talking about something different, but you might want to look into digital music distribution, and figure out if this is an option.

registering the track with ascap (or competitors), you need to do this yourself still

ikefinnell

I understand how you feel. This is a fairly common situation that happens even to famous artists. Unfortunately, the music label requires stricter rules and adherence to them. That's how this business works, and the artist just needs to choose a more loyal boss. I was looking for some time, but for me, it was not so hard because I found music promotion services which helped me with my music and broader recognition. I think you should consider that option for your situation to make it work.