Whats a 360 deal?

A 360 deal is a contractual agreement that allows a record label to collect a percentage of all streams of revenue generated by the signed artist/s. The label will take a percentage of not only the record sales but digital sales, touring, merchandise, publishing, endorsement deals, and your right leg. Ok maybe I took it a little too far.

At the end of the day, labels are not generating as much income due to the decline of physical sales(CD & etc). In order to survive in the streaming world, labels will insist on taking a piece of all earning, hints the 360 degree reference.

Labels justify taking these percentages by stating they provided financial support into launch the artist’s into stardom. Because of their investment, these artists can create incomes from touring, merchandise, fan clubs ,and even endorsements. Whether its a major or a independent label, these deals are not going anywhere. The problem with 360 deals is that artists are affected in the long term. Unless they have massive clout and leverage, they wont own the masters to their music. Once out of their deal, without the copyright to the music, they will not be able to redistribute the music.

Labels will offer a large advance but will recoup from royalties earned. My advice would be to stay clear of a 360 deal unless your in it for the short term If artists want to own their music and remain free the best option is to stay independent or until they have gained enough leverage.

Epikbeats has been working with independent artist for more then 11 years and we will continue to provide the best quality beats and instrumentals online. It is our mission to offering information to help artists understand the music industry and how to build independently.