Help! Ever had a track licenced out for a comp?

If anyone can help me here i'd really apreciate it..as iv never had anything like this happen before.
Iv had a request for the 'ok' to let a german co. use a track on a compilation...should i be asking for money? how much?
I cant give the game away about what exactly this is...but they say 'expected sales - 5.000 (i think they mean 5000)
Shud i be asking for a set fee to use the tune -in this instance-...or ask for a percentage of the profits or wot?
Any help greatly apreciated..i gotta make this decision pretty fast coz release date is nxt month
thanks folks :blush:

£500 and 14%

Just ask for a licencing agreement, and see if you're ok with what it says...

500£ sounds a bit optimistic..
By experience I advice you to take all in advance and not count on percentage of sales..
200-400€ could be possible.

I'd be happy even with 200-400 euros these days. I just licensed something to a cristian varela mix cd and that was only like...50 euros. Then again there is a lot of tracks on the CD. If its a company that isn't well known I'd make sure to get as much as possible out of them in advance because there's always the good chance you'll never see the royalties later on.

500 is definetly optimistic,

i'd say £100-250 + 3-8% profit (gross)

there so many factors u need to consider when qouting a price

by the way dont accept net profit always get gross as its very easy to get scammed on net

you need to check predicted sales are 5000 and not more, also how many tunes are on the compilation.

You guys are so cheap :)

Martin: would YOU afford paying every artist 500£ if you did a mix CD with 30 tracks? That is 15000£. You would have to sell a lot more than 5000 copies to make that out.

Well first off I wouldn't do a mix CD in this day and age, and I can only tell you what I've charged or been offered, and it two cases it's been higher...

Johnny, just get a contract and look for the licensing. They're relatively similar. I forget exactly how they work it in Germany as I haven't looked at a contract from germany in years.

Generally, for comps, you don't get paid in any percentage of sales. Rather, you'll get X cents per CD sold. I imagine the rate is probably statutory.

ok..they offering non exclusive rights..18% without deductions

that'll be 18% net, as i said earlier not worth the paper its written on,

go for a lower figure of gross profit

they could give u 50% net an u might not see a penny, an legally u wouldnt have a leg to stand on

i licencesed out 1 om my tracks to a german techno compilation and i got a 150 euro advance and 18% payable every 6 months which i think is standard and i got about a grand out of it, i licensed another one to a tom harding dance valley comp for the same money they sold 10,000 copys and are a multi million pound company, and would not pay me a penny, everytime i phoned up and asked to speak to the woman her secretary as soon as she asked it was me had been told to say she was in a meeting, her secretaery even appologised for having to do this to me one day, as i phoned every day for 3 months on the trott, and she would'nt speak to me i give up in the end

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Originally Posted by mr burns

i licencesed out 1 om my tracks to a german techno compilation and i got a 150 euro advance and 18% payable every 6 months which i think is standard and i got about a grand out of it, i licensed another one to a tom harding dance valley comp for the same money they sold 10,000 copys and are a multi million pound company, and would not pay me a penny, everytime i phoned up and asked to speak to the woman her secretary as soon as she asked it was me had been told to say she was in a meeting, her secretaery even appologised for having to do this to me one day, as i phoned every day for 3 months on the trott, and she would'nt speak to me i give up in the end

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You sound like you must've been really pissed off to be ringing someone for three months chasin money!

thanks to eveyone so far..exellent range of knowledge folks :) keep em coming.
I'm kindof of a mindset of **** it..its gonna boost my profile and vinyl sales...the DJ's who are mixing it are well respected names..it is like a big thumbs up from the top...but the co. are blatently gonna rinnse it..i wanna ask for some proper cash without scuppering my chances of being on the comp..which at the level im at will help me,on the other hand i dont wanna seem soft and get blagged by the offer..
theres 35+ other tracks on there..a double CD..so none of the other artists(some great names) are gonna get much..unless they all got different deals! maybe?
arrgghh :eh:
If its 'non exclusive' i take that as meaning i retain all right to the music..am i right? (this really is the most important thing to me)

> If its 'non exclusive' i take that as meaning i retain all right to the music..am i right? (this really is the most important thing to me)

Yeah totally. I'd never actually sign anything exclusive, but you might do an exclusive track for a friend. There's quite a few ppl on this forum who've fell into the exclusive trap as artists and it's really not worth it.

My feeling are with a 35 track CD that you're not going to get loads. But I do think you've got some great responses from everyone here. It's like with anything really, don't let ppl take the piss but then again, dont you take the piss. Try for slightly higher amount and if they laugh, knock it down. It's all about compromise ;)

cheers Mark..will probably try for a little more as you say..but not too much..
I think right now at this stage im willing to let it go for cheapish..as long as i remain the owner of my work.
gonna think of it in terms of publicity and just make sure its credited as being taken from blah e.p by blah kinda thing :)
thanks everyone ;)

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Originally Posted by Martin Dust

You guys are so cheap :)

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We can't all be millionaires with money to waste, now can we ?

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Originally Posted by Martin Dust

You guys are so cheap :)

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Also, since when did this all become about promoting greed and grabbing as much money as one can ?

Way to help the scene, dude :razz:

Who on earth said it was? Christ knows how you extrapulated that but since when as this been about giving your work? Way to help the scene??? - FFS Jamie did you not even spot the humour in the post...

lousier your track is (or cheesier dj is who will make a mixcd), more money you can get. reach deeply into your soul and see for yourself how much your music truly sucks.

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Originally Posted by Martin Dust

FFS Jamie did you not even spot the humour in the post...

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Ditto :razz:

Oh, and I used sarcasm aswell

Oh up yours :)

Ditto :lol:

Maybe let's get back on topic now ???

Basically the question you need to ask yourselves is not how much/little you get paid for the endeavour but :

WOULD I LIKE 5000 OR SO PEOPLE WHO ARE (POTENTIALLY) BLISSFULLY UNAWARE OF MY MUSIC TO SUDDENLY BE EXPOSED TO IT ?

Licensing, even for free, makes sense on so many levels and can really boost your profile in certain territories.

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Originally Posted by MARK EG

> If its 'non exclusive' i take that as meaning i retain all right to the music..am i right? (this really is the most important thing to me)

Yeah totally. I'd never actually sign anything exclusive, but you might do an exclusive track for a friend. There's quite a few ppl on this forum who've fell into the exclusive trap as artists and it's really not worth it.

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Actually, aren't some licenses worded as being 'exclusive' in the sense that they want exclusive rights to feature that track on their compilation ?

As in, if someone approaches you asking for rights to a track for a mix CD they may ask for exclusivity in certain territories (most often their 'home' territory).

This helps 'em maximise sales as it means the tracks aren't going to be on every compilation under the sun.

However, if you are going to do this then check the exclusivity period which they are asking for and you are also entitled to ask for more money as they obviously consider your track to be one of the 'selling' points.

Obviously if they have exclusive rights to use that track on their compilation in a certain territory then you're not going to be able to license it out to anyone else to a similiar compilation in the same area until the exclusivity period from the original license is over.

Exclusive deals aren't that common in techno no more, it's more for the ministry of sound compilations etc so they can say they're the only CD to have whatever the christ the 'big summer anthem' is at the time on it.

Best thing IMO is to spread them wings as wide as you can and see how far the shadow spreads.... ;-)

yeah cool jamie. nice 1. this is great info

ps martin and jamie - what you're talking about up there would make a good topic. fancy like creating it?? ;)

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Originally Posted by Buttman

500£ sounds a bit optimistic..
By experience I advice you to take all in advance and not count on percentage of sales..
200-400€ could be possible.

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yea buttman this is pretty much spot on, id try 350 euro 1st if not drop to 250 euro after, if they still dont agree then its a case of whats more important to you, ie coin or being part of a cd compilation. also check the bullshit clauses they put in like packaging deductions, becuase you know its costs loads to pack cd's nowadays :lol:

yo jonny i dunno if im late on this 1 but i recently had 2 tracks cum out in australia on a compelation cd and mp3 label below is the terms of my contract have a look see if it helps i dunno dude but ill put it here anyway dude ;)

Terms and Conditions

1) SPACE Recordings has the right to legally distribute this composition for sale through any means that SPACE Recordings deems reasonable.
2) The composition will be distributed as a high quality MP3 file and as part of a compilation DJ mix album only.
3) The cost of sale of the composition will be decided by SPACE Recordings and its affiliates.
4) Revenue gained by SPACE Recordings in respect to sales of this composition will be divided 50% to the artist/s and 50% to SPACE Recordings unless otherwise specified in a further contract.
5) This is a non exclusive contract. The artist has the right to release this composition with other bodies as long as other contracts do not impede upon this contract with SPACE Recordings.
6) This contract is for a period of 5 years after which SPACE Recordings reserves the right to renew this contract with the agreement of the artist, or cancel this contract.
7) SPACE Recordings reserves the right to cancel this contract at any time upon breach of contract by the artist. Cancellation of contract by the artist will be granted upon terms agreed to by the artist and SPACE Recordings, or if SPACE Recordings breaches any of the terms of this contract.
8) This composition remains the property of the artist.


it seemed ok to me so i went ahead with it but listen dude dont be fooled there is a lot of compelation high jacking out there dude , i have friends who are very well respected in the dance industry that are owed thousands of pounds from compelation cds they been totaly ripped off even by the likes of gate crasher , . but if its done properly it also can be a nice little bonus ;) good luck anyway dude ;)