Hip Hop & Beat Making
Course 20: Agreements

The music industry doesn’t run on handshakes alone. Because of the nature of quarterly payments and prospective success, it works on a series of agreements between parties in order to ensure that everyone gets paid what they deem is fair for the situation. What you will look at in this section are basic agreements between producer, artist, and record label.

In this course, you’ll get into various agreements including work for hire, collective work, side artist agreements, producer’s deals and agreements, producer’s fee/advance, and more. Where the previous course worked on protecting your music, these agreements will make sure everyone on the production is paid exactly what they are owed.

This will include percentages paid to the artist, audio engineer, music producer, and anyone else that may get a cut of the proceeds. Additionally, monies may be paid out for different mixes, different media, and different uses. At the end of the course, you’ll be able to comment on different agreements common in the industry.

On the marketing side of things, you’ll look back on how your personal brand has grown (image, on social media, and more) and talk about the growth and what you’ve learned about yourself along the way. Lil Nas X will be featured in your Listening Library, where you’ll hear some slick synths and cool beats. You’ll return to Hip Hop Evolution for your digital field trip and learn more about the East-West coastal battle that shaped a lot of music at the time.

You’ll also begin to prepare for the final course in the program. That’s right–you’re almost there!