Protecting Your Music Career: IP, Deals and Practical Steps Every Artist Should Take

As a musician, producer, songwriter or creative in the music industry, your art is more than just passion; It’s your business. And like any business, the value lies in its assets. In your case, those assets are your intellectual property, built on your unique creativity, and are highly valuable.

The challenge is that most artists don’t naturally approach their careers through a business lens. Imagination and creative drive take the lead, but without the right legal and business framework, that very creativity and resulting IP is left vulnerable to exploitation.

So while I’ve seen companies thrive for a time on verbal commitments and handshakes (yes, under NY law certain oral contracts can be enforceable), the reality is, the safest and smartest approach is to always put agreements in writing, with clearly defined terms. Doing so, not only protects your IP, but your future.

I was recently reminded of this creator first mindset, during my work with Spinach Records, an incredibly forward thinking, wellness focused label / collective that’s redefining what support looks like for musicians.

Their approach is on empowering musicians to protect their rights, while staying focused on what matters most: the craft itself. In doing so, they provide support to artists for the administrative burden (back office, legal, etc) and foster the artist’s well-being, through holistic wellness resources and strategic guidance.

Working alongside them made something clear that I’ve seen time and again: when artists and creatives focus on their craft, the contracts, registrations, and business protections get overlooked. That’s why I wanted to step back and provide a basic foundation on the legal and business structures every artist should know, because protecting your art can be just as critical as creating it.

Key Assets Artists Must Protect

1. Copyright

This covers your original works, i.e., your songs, lyrics, recordings, and arrangements.

• Why register? Registration with the U.S. Copyright Office gives you legal leverage, including the right to sue for infringement and claim statutory damages.

• Best practice: engage counsel to assist in registering both your sound recordings and musical compositions.

2. Trademarks

Protect your brand identity – stage name, band name, logo.

• Why register? It prevents others from using confusingly similar names and secures your branding for merch, live events, and digital platforms.

• Best practice: Engage counsel to file TMs and protect your brand.

3. Licensing Agreements

• Control who can use your music and for what purpose. This covers sync licenses (film/TV), mechanical licenses (covers), and performance licenses.

4. Right of Publicity / Likeness

• Make sure you have formal (and narrow, if possible) license agreements in place to protect your image, voice, and persona from being used without permission. This is especially important in an era of deepfakes and AI-generated voice clones.

The Key Music Deal Types (and What They Mean)

1. Publishing Deals

• You assign or license the rights to your compositions to a publisher, who collects royalties and often works to place your music in media.

• Watch for: length of term, reversion clauses, territory rights and your share of income.

2. Licensing Deals

• You grant permission for a third party to use your music for a specific purpose via streaming, film, TV, commercials, games, etc.

• Watch for: scope (where/how used), duration, exclusivity and payment terms.

3. 360 Deals

• The label (or sometimes a management company) takes a percentage of all your revenue streams including: record sales, touring, merch, endorsements, etc.

• Watch for: the percentage, IP ownership and rights, services promised in return, and deal term.

4. Distribution Agreements

• These cover how your music reaches platforms and retailers. They can be through a label, direct-to-platform (i.e., Spotify, Apple Music) or aggregator-based (i.e. DistroKid, TuneCore, etc.).

• Watch for: commission rates, payment schedule, exclusivity and ownership of masters.

Action Item Checklist

1. Copyright everything: songs, lyrics, beats.

2. Trademark your name/brand

3. Use contracts for every collaboration, no matter how small

4. Read licensing clauses carefully and retain rights, where possible

5. Work with a trusted lawyer before signing any material deal, especially if any IP or rights are involved.

My Final Thought:

Your creativity fuels your career, but your rights and contracts protect it. The best time to set up these protections is before success arrives because by the time a song blows up, it’s often too late to fix.

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Disclaimer: This post is for informational purposes only and reflects the personal views of the author. It is not intended as legal advice, does not create an attorney-client relationship, and should not be relied upon as a substitute for consultation with qualified legal counsel. The content may be considered attorney advertising in some jurisdictions, including New York and Connecticut. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.