A veteran music producer handed a development deal that quietly bundled his prior catalog into the grant, an option holder on his next three projects, and a payment schedule that ran two quarters behind delivery. We rewrote the definitions section and walked out with the catalog intact.
D.E. had been producing records under his own imprint for two decades when a major-adjacent partner offered a development deal for his next three projects. The advance was healthy. The termsheet said option. The paper said something different.
The definitions section pulled every prior master he had produced into the definition of Included Works, then granted the counterparty a perpetual license across that entire set. The payment schedule ran two full quarters behind delivery, and the recoupment provision let the counterparty net future advances against pending royalty statements without notice. A right of first refusal on any project during and after the term ran ten years past termination.
The counterparty pushed for a same-week signature so their fiscal-quarter announcement could reference the deal.
We killed the option pitch. We rewrote the definitions to limit Included Works to the three productions actually contemplated by the deal, added an express carve-out for D.E.'s prior catalog and any imprint activity, and forced the counterparty to acknowledge in writing that no prior master was subject to any grant under the agreement.
We reset the payment schedule to milestone-triggered releases, capped recoupment against advances on the three subject projects only, and required quarterly royalty statements with a two-year audit right. We reduced the right of first refusal to a matching right on the next producer deal after termination, cut the tail to eighteen months, and added a hard sunset. We ran an IP chain-of-title review across the catalog before signature so no prior grant conflicted with the carve-out.
"Brandon read the definitions section first. That is the only reason I still own my catalog."
— D.E., Music Producer
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