{"id":6828,"date":"2019-09-10T14:34:36","date_gmt":"2019-09-10T18:34:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/?p=6828"},"modified":"2025-10-09T17:21:24","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T21:21:24","slug":"red-flags-before-signing-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/red-flags-before-signing-deal\/","title":{"rendered":"Red flags all artists should look out for before signing a deal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">For many musicians, being approached by a manager, A&amp;R rep, or agent after a show may seem like a dream-come-true.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>While developments in social media and digital music distribution are empowering today\u2019s artists to advance their careers without relying on these sorts of parties, they can still undeniably bring benefits to the table with their network and expertise. This holds especially true for artists who prefer to focus on the music and entrust the business in someone else\u2019s hands. However, even if this is you, it\u2019s important to arm yourself with some degree of business smarts so that you don\u2019t fall into an unfavorable, or even predatory, business deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Leah Waldo from Berklee Online\u2019s Take Note identifies <a href=\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/6-red-flags-to-watch-for-before-signing-with-a-manager-agent-or-ar-rep\/?pid=8058&amp;utm_source=splice&amp;utm_medium=partner&amp;utm_campaign=bol-gen-partner-shared-article-content\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">six red flags artists should watch for before signing a deal<\/a> &#8211; below, we highlight three that we think are particularly key.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. They\u2019re rushing you to sign<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Are you being pressured to sign a deal quickly so that you can \u201chit the ground running\u201d or \u201ctake advantage of the time of year?\u201d If so, beware &#8211; these people are most likely rushing you to sign so that you can\u2019t take the time to pause and contemplate whether the deal is truly fair. Because some deals can have a sizeable impact on your career, they naturally require a solid amount of homework; you should be doing research, asking questions, and consulting your network. Managers, A&amp;R reps, and agents should be understanding of this, and if they\u2019re not, chances are they\u2019re instilling a false sense of urgency to have you sign something that\u2019s less than optimal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. They don\u2019t have anything for you to sign<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Though being rushed to sign something is certainly bad, not having anything to sign is perhaps even more concerning. Contracts are a must as they outline the terms and expectations upon which both you and the other party will be operating. Not to mention that if it comes down to it, a contract is the only way for you to protect yourself legally. If anyone approaches you with a verbal agreement and no writing that backs it up, consider that a massive red flag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3. They haven\u2019t listened to your music or seen you perform<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>No matter how powerful word of mouth is, a serious manager, agent, or A&amp;R rep will always do their research about you and your work before approaching you with a deal. After all, how can they make a financial investment in you or <a href=\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/how-sync-licensing-works\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">find the right placements<\/a> and opportunities if they haven\u2019t even heard your music? You should be looking into anyone who approaches you, and you should expect no less from them if you plan to develop a mutually beneficial partnership. If you feel like they\u2019re not invested in your music and your career, definitely think twice about signing that deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Do you have any red flags that you look out for in contracts and other agreements? Let us know in the comments below, and <a href=\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/6-red-flags-to-watch-for-before-signing-with-a-manager-agent-or-ar-rep\/?pid=8058&amp;utm_source=splice&amp;utm_medium=partner&amp;utm_campaign=bol-gen-partner-shared-article-content\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">check out Take Note\u2019s article for a complete list of red flags you should watch out for.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Explore royalty-free sounds from leading artists, producers, and sound designers:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button aligncenter\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/splice.com\/sounds\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Join Splice today<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Be aware of these three red flags so that you don\u2019t fall into an unfavorable business deal with a manager, A&#038;R rep, or agent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":6829,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1860,1696],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Red flags all artists should look out for before signing a deal - Blog | Splice<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Be aware of these three red flags so that you don\u2019t fall into an unfavorable business deal with a manager, A&amp;R rep, or agent.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/red-flags-before-signing-deal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Red flags all artists should look out for before signing a deal - Blog | Splice\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Be aware of these three red flags so that you don\u2019t fall into an unfavorable business deal with a manager, A&amp;R rep, or agent.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/red-flags-before-signing-deal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Blog | Splice\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Splice\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-09-10T18:34:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-09T21:21:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/6-red-flags_BlogPost.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Harrison Shimazu\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/bitly.com\/namaboku-twt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@splice\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Harrison Shimazu\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/red-flags-before-signing-deal\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/red-flags-before-signing-deal\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Harrison Shimazu\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/1ed73f890efad66c4808440680e9e50d\"},\"headline\":\"Red flags all artists should look out for before signing a deal\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-09-10T18:34:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-09T21:21:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/red-flags-before-signing-deal\/\"},\"wordCount\":539,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/red-flags-before-signing-deal\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/6-red-flags_BlogPost.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Music Promotion\",\"Tips &amp; 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