Contract Review & Negotiation
Your lawyer reads, redlines, and negotiates any agreement an artist is asked to sign, so they don't give away rights, money, or control by accident.
What This Covers
In the music business, the contract is the deal. It doesn't matter what got promised in the studio or over the phone once you sign, the paper wins. Most bad deals don't happen because someone tricked you they happen because the language was dense and easy to skim, so rights, money, and control get given away by accident, one clause at a time. Contract review covers your record and distribution deals, term sheets and LOIs, management and agency agreements, and 360 deals.
Your lawyer reads the contract and translates it from legalese into plain English: here's what you keep, here's what you give up, here's where to push back. Your lawyer flags the expensive traps in perpetuity, recoupment, cross-collateralization, sunset commissions and drafts the actual redline and counter-proposal, because changing "grants all rights" to "licenses limited rights" is a few words that decide who owns your music. Your lawyer negotiates the deal points, or coaches you on what's realistic to ask for.
Why It Matters to You
The genre is full of cautionary stories producers who signed away publishing on a beat that became a hit, artists locked into deals that quietly claimed their masters, acts whose "options" kept them on the shelf for years. These weren't careless people. They signed before anyone read the paper slowly.
The first draft is written to favor whoever wrote it, and silence reads as yes. Getting your lawyer in early guards the three expensive things: who owns your masters, how long the term runs, and how the money splits and recoups. Those are the hardest to undo, and a few hours of review is small next to a deal you didn't fully understand.
The Services We Offer
The Contract Review & Negotiation services Done Deal Digital offers, performed by a licensed attorney you engage directly.
Record/Distribution Deal Review
Your lawyer reads your label or distribution contract and tells you in plain English what you're actually giving up and what to push back on.
Term Sheet & LOI Review
Before a full contract exists, your lawyer reviews the deal summary so you spot bad terms before they get locked in.
Redlining & Counter-Proposals
Your lawyer marks up the other side's draft with edits and writes the counter-offer language you send back.
Deal Point Negotiation
Your lawyer negotiates the actual numbers and terms (advance, royalty rate, term length, territory, options) directly with the other side, or coaches you to.
Plain-English Deal Memo
You get a short written summary of the deal's key risks and recommendations so you can make the final call yourself.
Management & Agency Agreement Review
Your lawyer checks your manager or booking-agent contract for excessive commissions, long terms, and rights grabs.
360 Deal Review
Your lawyer reviews multi-rights ('360') label deals that take a cut of touring, merch, and endorsements, and flags what to carve out or cap.
Prefer to learn it yourself first? Get the Contract Review & Negotiation guide — $39 →
Start With a Free, No-Pressure Intro
Tell us what you're dealing with - a contract, a copyright, a name dispute, a bad deal - and we'll connect you with the right music lawyer. You'll engage and pay the attorney directly under their own agreement. Done Deal Digital is not a law firm and never collects or shares in any legal fee.
Request a Music Lawyer →Important Legal Notice
DONE DEAL DIGITAL IS NOT A LAW FIRM and does not provide legal advice or legal services. Nothing on this page is legal advice.
The legal services described here are provided solely by an independent attorney licensed in California, whom Done Deal Digital connects clients with. Done Deal Digital does not employ, supervise, or control that attorney and is not responsible for the legal services provided.
No attorney-client relationship is formed by this website or by contacting Done Deal Digital. An attorney-client relationship is created only by a separate written engagement agreement signed directly between you and the attorney.
You engage and pay the attorney directly. Done Deal Digital does not collect, hold, share in, or receive any portion of any legal fee. Any referral is non-exclusive, and you are free to choose any attorney you wish.
Communications you send through this page are not confidential or privileged. Do not send confidential or time-sensitive information here. Results depend on the facts of each matter; prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.