Distribution contract terms

Below is an outline of the key points in our recording contract.

Non-exclusive license: you're giving us a license to sell your music, but you can sign agreements with others. This means you can sell your own CDs at concerts, as well as sign with another label.

Contract is limited to music you submit: our contract extends only to the music you submit to us. There is no future obligation to send us your music.

50/50 gross revenue split on music: our main revenue sources are selling your music to consumers (at a price between $5 to $18 per album) and sublicensing your music for things such as games, ads and the web. We split the amount we collect 50/50 with you. Note that most record companies split the profits: we split what we receive, no deductions.

50/50 net profits split on merchandise: for physical goods (Posters, T-Shirts, etc), we split the profits (i.e.: sale price minus expenses) 50/50 with you. Physical goods are a split on profits because we have to invest money in creating them.

Creative Commons license: Your music will be released to the public under the Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license from Creative Commons. The music that we release for free usually has some sort of limitation on it: a lower bitrate, or it's a smaller portion of the whole song. This allows widespread distribution (i.e. file trading, Internet radio) of your music while insuring that you're paid for any commercial use. See What is Open Music for more information.

No advance: we split revenue with our artists, but we do not provide any advances upon signing.

No samples or copyrighted cover songs: we cannot release any music that has copyrighted samples in it (please make all your own samples) or is from a copyrighted song someone else has written. Songs in the public domain (i.e.: classical) are fine.

You own your music: if you've been previously signed, or are currently signed, to another record label, you may not be able to sign with Magnatune. Many recording contracts have exclusivity provisions in them, even if the record label goes under. You should consult a lawyer to see how your current recording contract limits you. Note that after signing with Waerhouserock.com you will still 100% own the copyright to your music: you are simply granting us a non-exclusive license to it.

Twice yearly payment: we pay your royalties at least twice a year, by June 30th and December 31st. If your royalties are less than $100, we hold onto them until they reach at least $100.

Transparent bookkeeping: as a  Waterhouserock. com musician, you can view every sale of your music in detail. What they paid, who they are, and what VISA or Paypal charged us are all available to you. We provide reports in HTML, Acrobat PDF, Text and as a spreadsheet download. Your royalty is calculated by taking 50% of the money we collect for your music. Three sample reports: sales summary and sales detail and license detail.

PR materials: you will supply us with album art, group photographs (high quality, suitable for posters and press kits), and a biography. You give us the right to use your likeness for promotional and merchandising purposes.

Once your music has been accepted by us, here are the steps to finalizing things:
Postal-mail your CD to us :

Or, make 44k/16bit .WAV files available over the web (or upload them to us.

Sign the distribution agreement.
Fill out a one-page US government form. If you are a US citizen, this is a W-9 form. If you are not a US citizen, this is a W8-BEN form .
Send both the distribution agreement and the US government form to us via emailing a scan.
If you want, we can email you a PDF back with our signature. You will then email us your album artwork, as well as your PR materials (photographs, bios, etc). You can send them as email attachments, or indicate URL links to your site.
You're done! We'll be in communication with you when your page is ready for your review.
If you have any questions, feel free to send email

Download Contract  / Song List Form

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