What to Review in a Record Deal Before Signing in Connecticut

Attorney Answer

No Connecticut statute limits what a record deal can ask of you. If you sign it, it is the deal — which is why the review has to happen before, not after.

Connecticut has no recording-contract statute and no limit on the duration of a personal-services contract. The seven-year rule artists have heard about is California's, Cal. Lab. Code § 2855, and it is not Connecticut law. Do not assume it protects you as a Connecticut signatory. Related to that, find the governing-law and forum clause in your draft and read it first: which state's law applies is itself a negotiated term, and it can matter more than any single business point in the agreement.

Beyond that, review of a proposed recording agreement is governed by ordinary contract principles, which means the protection you get is the protection you negotiate. These are the provisions that most often surprise artists later:

1. Term and how it is measured. Deals are commonly measured in delivery commitments or album cycles rather than years, with options held entirely by the label. An open-ended term is the single most consequential clause. 2. Advances and recoupment. An advance is not a payment; it is money you repay out of your royalties. Find out what is recoupable — recording costs, videos, marketing, tour support, independent promotion — because the list determines whether you ever see a royalty check. 3. Royalty rate and deductions. Look for packaging deductions, whether the rate is on gross or net receipts, and what distribution fees come off the top before your percentage is applied. 4. Master ownership. Whether you assign your masters outright or license them for a term with reversion is the difference between renting and selling your catalog. 5. Scope of rights. A 360 deal reaches touring, merchandise, sponsorship, and publishing. Confirm exactly which income streams the label shares. 6. Controlled composition clause. This caps what you are paid for your own songwriting on your own records. It is easy to miss and expensive. 7. Exclusivity, re-recording restrictions, and creative approvals, plus any release commitment obligating the label to actually put the record out. 8. Audit rights, accounting periods, and any deadline for objecting to a royalty statement. 9. Assignment — whether the label can sell your contract to someone you never chose.

What you can do

1. Do not sign anything yet, including a letter of intent or a deal memo. Those are frequently binding on their own. 2. Send the complete document to an entertainment lawyer for a paid review — every schedule, exhibit, and side letter, not just the main body. 3. Ask the label directly which terms are negotiable, and get their answer in writing. The response tells you a great deal about the relationship. 4. Reduce every verbal promise to a clause. Marketing spend, release timing, and creative control mean nothing if they live only in a conversation. 5. Confirm you actually control what you are promising: co-writers, producers, prior management or production agreements, and any uncleared samples. 6. Have the governing-law, forum, and dispute-resolution clauses reviewed alongside the business terms.