What is a Label Deal?

A label deal is a contract between an artist and a record label in which the label agrees to finance, distribute, and promote the artist’s music in exchange for certain rights and a share of the revenue generated by the recordings.

Under a label deal, the record label typically provides services such as funding recording projects, marketing releases, promoting the artist, distributing music to streaming platforms and retailers, and managing aspects of the artist’s career related to recorded music.

In return, the label usually receives ownership or partial ownership of the master recordings and earns a percentage of the income generated from the music. Label deals can vary widely in structure, with different agreements covering things such as royalty rates, advances, creative control, and the length of the contract.