Exclusive or non-exclusive deals
Lesson time: (1min 12sec)
Judge Jules explains exclusive versus non-exclusive label deals, and why the length of any exclusivity is worth negotiating carefully.
Course preview
This lesson is part of the course Legals & Deals: The Basics of The Music Industry
Watch a preview of the full course below.
Lesson transcript:
Understanding Label Deals: Exclusivity and Negotiation
There are many different deals out there. Most labels will want some degree of exclusivity for the simple reason that they don't want to be releasing your track and putting their marketing effort and focus into your track while you're releasing a ton of other stuff on different labels.
Key Considerations
The question is more whether you'll be doing a long period of exclusivity or a short period of exclusivity. That should be negotiated, and it's something that you should look very carefully at.
- If you're lucky enough to have a lawyer, get them to look at it.
- There are many contracts that are given to aspiring artists by labels that are a lot harsher and harder in their content than is truly necessary.
A Word of Caution
As a lawyer, I sometimes wonder whether some of the nicer labels out there with nasty contracts actually know just how nasty their contracts are.
Potential Pitfalls
There are many ways that a contract can be nasty. One of the key ways that makes me shudder, for want of a better description, is when I see a label trying to get an artist for an exclusive period of time that is totally disproportionate to how long it takes to release a record.
About the instructor

Jules O'Riordan has over 30 years of experience across the entire spectrum of the music industry. This includes nearly a decade as an A&R for the Universal umbrella of labels, 15 years as a presenter on BBC Radio 1, over 150 record releases and remixes in his own capacity as a recording artist, plus a 30-year career as one of Britain's best-known, globally-travelled DJs (Judge Jules), with over 5000 gigs under his belt, plus extensive experience as an event promoter and artist manager at the highest level. Suffice to say, Jules knows the music industry inside-out, and his clients regard him as a trusted advisor for whom no legal or business affairs challenge or problem is too large or small. Jules has been a lawyer for 10 years. His practice takes in the entire breadth of the music-focused entertainment industry. His legal and deal expertise includes management, recording, publishing, distribution and label services, music-based apps, games and tech projects, production deals, producers, featured artists, endorsements, merchandising, neighbouring rights, TV/film scores, live performance, events and venue agreements, plus copyright and rights infringement and many other disputes. Jules's clients include artists, management companies, record labels, songwriters, event promoters, producers, music tech businesses, production companies, live agents, music publishers and DJs. He has spoken on many panels and seminars including ADE, Brighton Music Conference and AIM events, and has been a guest speaker on legal issues across a number of on and off-line media outlets, including BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Introducing, Financial Times, The Sun, The Times and Mixmag. Jules speaks fluent Spanish. Who better to demystify the contracts and deals every musician eventually faces? In his course, Jules turns three decades of hard-won industry knowledge into plain-English guidance, so you can understand the business side of music and protect your work long before you sign on the dotted line. read more




