For when a distributor or a small label is going to put your recordings on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and the other platforms, and you want the masters to stay yours. You choose whether it is exclusive, the territory, the term, the fee and how often you get paid, and the distributor signs online. In English or Spanish. Starting from a template uses no credits.
TONTRIA Law guides you and drafts your documents. For a lawsuit or a big negotiation, consult a lawyer.
You give the distributor a licence, exclusive or not (non-exclusive by default), to deliver your catalogue to download, streaming, video and social platforms, manage Content ID and the other identification systems, and collect what it earns. If it is exclusive, you cannot give the same catalogue to another distributor in that territory during the term.
Synchronisation with films, series and ads, physical releases, compilations and any change to the recordings stay with you, as does every right the agreement does not expressly give the distributor.
The agreement assigns no recording: the masters are yours before, during and after it. The distributor gets no rights in the songs (the composition) or your artist name either, and the artist profiles and channels on the platforms are not theirs: they must help you keep control of them.
An initial term (one year by default) that renews automatically for equal periods, unless either side gives notice that it will not renew with the notice period you set (30 days by default).
The distributor delivers each release within 10 business days, keeps the release date you choose and does not change metadata or credits without your permission. If you have no ISRC or UPC codes of your own, it assigns them on your behalf, and you can keep using them after the agreement ends.
The distributor keeps a percentage of what it actually receives (15% by default) and pays you the rest. It cannot deduct delivery, storage, marketing or any other cost without your written agreement, and converts currency at the rate it was actually given.
Monthly statements by default, paid within 45 days; below the minimum (USD 50 by default) the balance carries over, but everything is paid at least once a year and when the agreement ends. Each statement shows recording, platform, country, streams, income and fee. You can audit once a year; if it finds more than 5% short, the distributor pays the difference with interest and covers the cost of the audit.
If a platform flags fake streams, the distributor can only hold back what is linked to those recordings, for up to 180 days, and before taking them down it must tell you and give you 10 days to respond. Whatever the platform does not keep goes back to you: the distributor never keeps it.
You can ask for any recording to be taken down and it is done within 10 business days. When it ends, the distributor takes everything down within 30 days or coordinates the move to another distributor with the same ISRC and UPC codes, so that, where the platform allows it, streams, playlists and profiles are kept. Income earned up to the takedown is yours even if it arrives later. You can end it at once if it misses two statements in a row or goes bankrupt.
Before choosing a distributor, see how to distribute your music and how distributors charge; it is one of the contracts musicians sign. If instead of distribution you want a label to release your recordings with a royalty and an advance, the document is a master license agreement.
Upload your next contract or start a split sheet today, and get your deals on paper.
