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Travenza Management

Practice area 03

Music, Licensing and Commercial Agreements

Drafting and negotiating the agreements that decide who owns the work, who may use it, where, for how long, and on what terms.

Most disputes we see later began as an agreement nobody read closely, or an arrangement nobody wrote down. The economical moment to involve a lawyer is before signature.

We draft, review and negotiate across the agreements a music business actually uses, with attention to the provisions that determine value: rights granted, territory, duration, exclusivity, approvals, accounting and termination.

Clients usually come to us when

  • An agreement has been sent to you and you need to understand what you are giving away.
  • A collaboration is already under way with nothing recorded in writing.
  • You are licensing a recording or composition in or out and need the terms set properly.
  • A sample needs clearing before a release date.
  • A sync opportunity has arrived and the licence terms need negotiating quickly.

What we can help with

  • Master recording licences
  • Composition and publishing agreements
  • Sample clearances
  • Producer and collaboration agreements
  • Distribution agreements
  • Rights assignments
  • Synchronisation licences
  • Negotiation of rights granted, territories, duration, exclusivity and payment provisions

How we approach it

We identify the commercial result you want, then check whether the drafting produces it. Review comes back as plain explanation with the points worth negotiating ranked by what they are actually worth, rather than a list of every clause we would have written differently.

What we cannot promise. We advise on the agreements and the legal position. Commercial decisions, including whether a deal is worth doing, remain yours.

Common questions

Can you review an agreement quickly if I have a deadline?

Tell us the deadline in your enquiry. We will say honestly whether it can be met before any engagement is agreed.

We never signed anything. Is there still an agreement?

Possibly. Arrangements can be binding without a signed document, and conduct between the parties matters. This is worth assessing before anyone asserts a position.

Do you work with agreements governed by foreign law?

Frequently. Where a matter turns on the law of another jurisdiction, we coordinate with appropriately qualified local counsel there.

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