I received a call from an attorney who is negotiating his first exclusive songwriting agreement. I’ll get the shameless self-promotion out of the way first! He told me that he found the answer to every question he had in my book “Negotiating Exclusive Songwriting Agreements.” However, he had two concerns about the negotiation process. One I discussed in the book and one that has more to do with negotiation “style” and experience.
In this post I will discuss the matter I covered in the book, only in less detail. The agreement that the attorney was negotiating was offered by a strong independent publisher. The contract provided for periodic advances during the Term of the contract. However, the offer did not include an “execution advance”, sometimes referred to as a “signing bonus”. This concerned the attorney as it should. But pleas read the next paragraph twice for emphasis!
Just because the deal offer or the first draft of an exclusive songwriting agreement does not include an execution advance does not mean that it is time to walk away from the deal. Nor does the absence of this advance in the initial offer mean that the publisher is not willing to give it. Ask for that advance and ask for it with confidence. If it is not initially offered I usually will ask for it in my first mark-up or sooner if I am not familiar with the practices of the particular publisher. Why sooner? Because not only do I want to do the best job I can for my client, I also want to know that the writer will be able to pay me!
Signing bonuses are often provided in the contract so the writer will have the funds to pay his or her attorney for negotiating the deal. Both the writer and the attorney want this to be in addition to the writer’s periodic payments so that the writer’s essential income will not be reduced the first month of the deal. These advances are usually recoup-able from the writer’s royalties but not in all cases. It all depends on the bargaining power of the writer. Even in these days of relatively poor album sales, most publishers will still advance the writer’s attorney fees. And most of them will pay this advance direct to the attorney when the contract is signed.
Other reasons that publishers pay execution advances are 1) as payment for “Schedule A” songs (existing songs being brought into the deal); 2) as payment for Schedule A demo recordings paid for by the writer; and 3) as a true “signing bonus” to entice the writer to sign with this particular publisher.
In summary, when negotiating the exclusive songwriting agreement, ask for the execution advance. And if that advance is to be used in whole or in part for attorney fees, get this matter settled early.