Distribution Contract: Shady or Legit??

[J-malice]

a label i guess based out in hollywood Ca, their a&r contacted me by e-mail lettin me know he was interested in my material, and as a result hes presentin me with a distribution contract. im havin it reviewed by a lawyer, but i would like to know a couple of things.

here is some things i could spot out of the contract by myself.

if you have any knowledge on distribution ***PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF THESE CONDITIONS ARE NORMAL IN DISTRIBUTION!!"""****

1. They have my cd Replicated for me.

2. they have my cd covers done for me (i have the cds designed and send it to them they do the duplicating and packagin.)

3. They sell the cds back to me at a artists wholesale price????? artist wholesale price is 7.95 for full length cds, Eps are 7.00, or 10 units at a time at 3 dollars each and the 3 dollar pricing will be exempt from all royalty payments ?????????????? i wasnt feelin that too much. thats under section 10 in the agreement. it says artists waives all royalties on such sale...(the 3 dollar pricing) what does that mean.

4. under section 3 it says i get 25% royalty off retail sales or downloads from the site??? seems kinda low but may be normal...not sure.

5. payment of accured royalties shal be made semi annualy at the end of march and september....no big deal with that one.


thats just some things off hand that i needed to know. but i know a distribution deal usually is good. but im not tryin to get fucked on some bullshit. it would be nice if they did like a real distribution company and put my cd in stores for me. they said the territory is the world and i know my cd will move heavy over in germany. so im gona keep messin wit these ppl to see if i can get a good deal.

but yea let me know what you think. i attached the contract if you want to look over it.

 

[God]

If you're having it looked by a good lawyer, then you probably shouldn't be posting the items of the contract online. I don't think the AR rep would like that.

On top of that, why is he not signing you to a record contract. A distribution contract? What's your history of success in selling independent releases?

I don't understand the logic behind that, it doesn't seem to correlate well with the situation.

Sincerely,
God

 

[J-malice]

im havin it looked at by a lawyer but not an entertainment lawyer. i dont know why he didnt try to sign me to his label. my guess is either 1. its a shady deal, 2. he sees potential, or 3. the terms in the contract leaves them little space to loose money. Either way im not complainin you dont come across a distribution deal everyday. Ive had ALOT of people wantin to be my manager/ sign me to their management company, but never had a distribution offer, so im not complainin. but once again im not supposed to get word back about the contracts until next tuesdayish so if anyone knows if the terms i posted above is normal for distribution let me know. thanx

 

[bigdmakintrax]

Hey man I deal with lots of cats at street level pushing cd's........one question....how many have you sold b4 this guy approached you......see most people around here such as Liason Distribution...they do a big chunk of East Coast distribution.....they wanna see numbers, they wanna know how many units you have actually moved locally or in your region........and they will meet with you and see how risky it is for them to invest a big chunk in pushing your cd into a retail store......now some will front you money for X units and they do the rest and take whatever profits......and you the only money you might get is what they give you up front.....and then maybe a percentage and royalties.....I am not GOD....but I have had dealings with some distribution companies and found out what they want b4 you would even be offered a distribution deal.......they have to see the viability of your artist or CD already breaking the market with numbers.....I would research these guys and then find another artist or their management that actually use them for distribution and see what they say......

 

[J-malice]

Hey man I deal with lots of cats at street level pushing cd's........one question....how many have you sold b4 this guy approached you......see most people around here such as Liason Distribution...they do a big chunk of East Coast distribution.....they wanna see numbers, they wanna know how many units you have actually moved locally or in your region........and they will meet with you and see how risky it is for them to invest a big chunk in pushing your cd into a retail store......now some will front you money for X units and they do the rest and take whatever profits......and you the only money you might get is what they give you up front.....and then maybe a percentage and royalties.....I am not GOD....but I have had dealings with some distribution companies and found out what they want b4 you would even be offered a distribution deal.......they have to see the viability of your artist or CD already breaking the market with numbers.....I would research these guys and then find another artist or their management that actually use them for distribution and see what they say......

i havent sold anything yet, he just heard my material and approached me by e-mail sayin he liked what he heard and bla bla bla. so im guessin this du is shady or somethin if he approachin me with a distribution deal and i havent even sold anything.

 

[Copenhagen]

I would also ask him to supply you with the phone number for one of his other artists, with the same type of deal, and hear what their history is with him (along the lines of what BigD mentioned).

 

[Relic]

Damn, so what happened?

 

[Honesty]

Royalty % is EXTREMELY low... the distributor normally takes 20-25%, not the artist... and the distributor pays for the pressing...