You get woo’d by a rep at the record label or publishing company and everyone loves everyone and wants the best for everyone. They say they want to sign you and are going to send over an agreement. You’re pumped.
Then the rep sends over the contract and the contract is awfully skewed toward their benefit.
Here’s the thing…The contract that gets sent to you is never written by the rep that you’ve been spending all this time getting to know.
It was written by the company lawyer.
The rep likely has little to no relationship with the company lawyer so the thought of the rep getting you favorable terms right off the bat is not going to happen.
It’s their standard agreement. You might be special in the rep’s eyes, but you are not special in the lawyer’s eyes. You get what everyone else gets.
Artists get confused and frustrated at this realization because the dinners and coffee meetings with the rep were so fun and buddy buddy.
A few things here…
1. If you have your own bulldog lawyer who has a relationship with their lawyer, that’s your best shot at negotiating.
2. The person who sends the first version of the contract always wins. And the artist rarely has the guts to go first.
3. The rep still likes you and that is important. Once the deal is negotiated and signed, their enthusiasm and relationship can take center stage again. Their lawyer is meant to be the evil buffer, so you get to hate the lawyer and love the rep.
4. The honeymoon ends and the real work begins after the contract is signed.
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Drop me an email: gabe@gabethebassplayer.com