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How to Make a Homemade Recording Contract

Because of the way the music industry has changed over the past 10 years, artists and producers and finding themselves wearing many hats: promoter, producer, marketer and manager just to name a few. Though having an attorney is normally the best route to go, paying someone to draft a contract that can easily be done on your own computer is going to save you a good chunk of change and guarantee that you have everything you want in writing. A basic contract will consist of the fundamentals that can be amended later.

Things You'll Need

  • Copy of a recording contract
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Instructions

    • 1

      Refer to a copy of a music contract as you're writing, which you can get from the library in various different music books.

    • 2

      Contact other independent music companies and see if they will send you a copy of their contract or at least an excerpt of it. Some will. Some won't. It never hurts to try and have several different takes on how different companies draft their documents. If they're local, offer to buy them lunch. You're potentially saving yourself hundreds of dollars in legal fees and you can write the lunch off as a business expense.

    • 3

      Write an outline of all the points you want covered in the contract. This doesn't have to be detailed. Just a basic list with how you'd like that particular aspect to be handled. Only include pertinent, immediate points. Some basic things like royalties, recoupment, advances and promotional support are just some of the major points that should be covered.

    • 4

      Detail under each heading the specifics. For example, under the heading "royalties" you may write sub-headings like CD sales, digital downloads, and radio and television airplay. Keep writing details in the outline until you can't any more, then move on to the next section.

    • 5

      Compose each line of the contract based on the information you put in your outline. Write in a clear and concise way. Avoid legalese. This is a red flag to many that you might be trying to hide something or confuse them to get over on them. Don't be afraid to write out small examples to bring clarity to a clause.

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