Music Production Contracts

The contracts contained in the Music Production Contract Package are used to help record producers set up and run their business. Most of the contracts can be purchased individually on this site.

The Featured Artist Agreement is a contract used when a record label, artist, or producer hires a musician or singer who is not part of the artist's group or band to perform on an artist's recording. In this agreement the featured or side artist is not paid a royalty from the sales or exploitation of the recording, but does retain the rights to the percentage of their contribution for writing lyrics and/or music.

A Featured Artist Agreement is a contract used when a record label, artist, or producer hires a musician or singer who is not part of the artist's group or band to perform on an artist's recording. In this agreement the featured or side artist is paid a fee along with a royalty from the sales or exploitation of the recording but does not have any rights to the lyrics or music of the song recorded.

A Featured Artist Agreement is a contract used when a record label, artist, or producer hires a musician or singer who is not part of the artist's group or band to perform on an artist's recording. In this agreement the featured or side artist is paid a fee along with a royalty from the sales or exploitation of the recording. The featured or side artist also retains the rights to the percentage of their contribution for writing lyrics and/or music of the song recorded.

The Letter of Direction is used when one party to a contract wishes to notify the other party to direct payment of a fee or royalties to the producer.

This Master Use License is used by a film, video, or television producer to contract with the owner of a recording (artist or record company) to use a recording in a film, video, music video, television program, or television advertisement whereby the recording of a song is synchronized to the action on the screen.

The Master Use License (Compilation) is used when one record company wants to use a master recording owned by a different record company for a compilation record on its own label. This license would also be used by a film or television producer who wishes to include a recording of a song on a soundtrack compilation album associated with the film or television show.

The Mechanical License is used when an artist, or a record company on behalf of its recording artist, wishes to record a song written by someone else (i.e., a cover song) for inclusion on the recording artist's record for distribution and sale to the public.

The Parental Consent and Guarantee is a document that is used when a minor (under the age of 18) is being signed to a contract and the contracting party wants a parent or guardian to provide both a consent for the minor to enter into the contract and an agreement to be liable for the performance of the contract.

The Producer and Artist Development Agreement is used when an artist and a producer agree for the producer to provide services as a record producer for the artist on a speculative basis.

The Producer and Artist Production Agreement is used when a producer enters into a contract with an artist to produce one or more of the artist's recordings. This agreement works whether the artist will own and release the recordings or is signed to a record label.

A Producer and Production Company Agreement is a contract used when a production company wants to contract with a producer of instrumental tracks to produce tracks exclusively for the production company.

The Producer Declaration is used by a record label to obtain the ownership rights in a master recording when a producer signs a producer contract with the artist instead of the record label.

The Producer of Tracks Agreement is a contract used by most producers of musical tracks in the hip-hop, rap, and pop markets when contracting with an artist. The producer creates the music and a recorded track for the singer/rapper/vocalist to sing or rap over. In this contract the producer is paid a fee for their services but will not be paid a royalty from the sales or exploitation of the recording. However, the producer will retain song rights to the music they have written that was recorded and be paid a mechanical royalty from sales.

This Producer of Tracks Agreement is a contract used by most producers of musical tracks in the hip-hop, rap, and pop markets when contracting with an artist. The producer creates the music and a recorded track for the singer/rapper/vocalist to sing or rap over. This contract is used if the producer did not contribute to the writing of the song, such as when the artist (and/or another songwriter) wrote both the music and lyrics, or if the producer is creating a musical track of a cover song. The producer will only be paid a flat fee for their service with no additional royalties.

This Producer of Tracks Agreement is a contract used by most producers of musical tracks in the hip-hop, rap, and pop markets when contracting with an artist. The producer creates the music and a recorded track for the singer/rapper/vocalist to sing or rap over. In this contract the producer is paid a fee and royalty from the sales or exploitation of a recording embodying the musical track. The producer also retains song rights to the music they have written and will be paid a mechanical royalty from sales.

This Producer of Tracks Agreement is a contract used by most producers of musical tracks in the hip-hop, rap, and pop markets when contracting with an artist. The producer creates the music and a recorded track for the singer/rapper/vocalist to sing or rap over. This contract is used if the producer did not contribute to the writing of the song, such as when the artist (and/or another songwriter) wrote both the music and lyrics, or if the producer is creating a musical track of a cover song. The producer is paid a fee for their services and a royalty from the exploitation of a recording embodying the musical track.

The Producer of Tracks Agreement is a contract used by most producers of musical tracks in the hip-hop, rap, and pop markets when contracting with a record label. The producer creates the music and a recorded track for the singer/rapper/vocalist to sing or rap over. In this contract the producer is not paid a royalty from the sales or exploitation of the recording but does retain song rights to the music they have written that was recorded.

This Producer of Tracks Agreement is a contract used by most producers of musical tracks in the hip-hop, rap, and pop markets when contracting with a record label. The producer creates the music and a recorded track for the singer/rapper/vocalist to sing or rap over, and may produce the recording of the singer/rapper/vocalist over the music the producer created. This agreement sets forth terms whereby the employer (record company or artist hiring the producer) will own both the recording and the rights to the song as a work made for hire. The producer gives up all rights to the recording and song for a single fee.

The Producer of Tracks Agreement is a contract used by most producers of musical tracks in the hip-hop, rap, and pop markets when contracting with a record label. The producer creates the music and a recorded track for the singer/rapper/vocalist to sing or rap over, and may produce the recording of the singer/rapper/vocalist over the music the producer created. In this contract the producer is paid a royalty from the exploitation of the master recording and retains song rights to the music created.

The Producer of Tracks Agreement is a contract used by most producers of musical tracks in the hip-hop, rap, and pop markets when contracting with a record label. The producer creates both the music and a recorded track for the singer/rapper/vocalist to sing or rap over, and may produce the recording of the singer/rapper/vocalist over the music the producer created. In this contract the producer is paid a royalty for creating the recording but has no song rights.

The Musical Track License or Lease (Non-Exclusive) is a contract used by producers of musical tracks in the hip-hop, rap, and pop markets when contracting with an artist. The agreement is used when the producer retains the rights to both the recording and music they have created and is granting a non-exclusive license for an artist to use the musical track in a limited way. Some producers leasing their musical tracks on Soundclick.com have used this contract.

The Producer and Record Company Production Agreement is a contract used when a producer enters into a contract with a record company to produce one of the label's artists under contract. This is a more traditional producer agreement where the producer produces the entire recording project, including the recording of musicians and vocals.

The Recording Engineer Agreement is used when a studio engineer enters into a contract with an artist or a record label for the engineer to provide services as a studio engineer on one or more of the artist's recordings. When an artist is on a label, the label may sometimes request the artist to contract directly with the engineer.

The Recording Studio Rental Agreement is used when an artist or record label contracts with a recording studio for the use of the studio's facilities and other services the studio might provide (e.g., a recording engineer) for the recording of an artist's album.

The Release Agreement is a contract used when a producer of music, engineer, or production company and an artist agree to release each other from the obligations under a contract previously signed by both parties.

A Side Artist Agreement is a contract used when a record label, artist, or producer hires a musician or singer who is not part of the artist's group or band to perform on an artist's recording. In this agreement the side artist is only paid a one-time fee and does not receive a royalty from the sales or exploitation of the recording, nor has any rights to the lyrics or music of the song.