Why Every Artist Should Upload Their Lyrics (And How to Do It)
One of the most important decisions an artist will ever make is determining how they want to structure their relationship with a record label.
At the highest level, every record deal comes down to two key issues:
Ownership
Revenue
Understanding how these two elements work will help artists make informed decisions about their careers.
The Traditional Record Label Model
gives the label the majority position in both ownership and revenue.
Ownership
In a traditional record deal, the label typically owns:
100% of the master recording rights
In most cases, ownership is granted to the label in perpetuity, meaning the label owns the master forever.
Revenue
A traditional new artist deal often pays approximately:
- 88% to the label
- 12% to the artist
Some deals may be structured at 85/15 or other variations, but the label typically receives the overwhelming majority of revenue.
Why Would An Artist Agree To This?
Because the label is in a majority position on both ownership and revenue, they are often willing to invest substantial amounts of
money into developing an artist’s career.
These investments may include:
- Recording costs
- Radio promotion
- Marketing campaigns
- Publicity
- Music videos
- Tour support
- Staffing and administration
- Digital advertising
However, these funds are generally considered recoupable advances.
Understanding Recoupment
Recoupment simply means the label gets its investment back before the artist receives additional royalty payments.
For example:
If a label spends $2,000,000 developing an artist and the artist receives a 12% royalty rate, the artist’s share of revenue is applied toward repaying that $2,000,000 investment.
In practical terms:
- The label receives its contractual share of revenue.
- The artist’s royalty account is charged against the recoupable balance.
- The artist must fully recoup before receiving additional royalty payments.
Even after recoupment is complete, ownership generally remains unchanged.
The label still owns the master recordings. Forever.
The Label Services Model
There is another approach that has become increasingly popular among independent artists.
This model is often referred to as a Label Services Agreement.
CDX Records operates under this philosophy.
Revenue
Ownership
With CDX Records:
The artist owns 100% of the master recording.
CDX Records never takes ownership of the master.Instead, the artist grants CDX Records an exclusive distribution and exploitation right for a defined term.
Term
Rather than owning the master forever, CDX Records typically receives:
At the end of the agreement term, the artist continues to own their master recordings.
Why Doesn't CDX Records
Advance Marketing Funds?
The answer is simple.
Because CDX Records is in a minority position.
We do not own the master.
We only receive 20% of revenue.
Because of this structure, we generally do not advance large sums of money for marketing, promotion, or artist development.
Any marketing, promotion, publicity, radio, or content creation expenses are typically funded by the artist.
This keeps ownership where it belongs:
With the creator.
The Real Difference: TEAM
Many artists focus entirely on ownership percentages and revenue splits.
While those are important, they are not the biggest difference between successful artists and unsuccessful artists.
The biggest difference is:
Every successful artist eventually builds a team of experienced professionals around them.
Major labels provide these services internally through their staff. Independent artists must build that team themselves.
The CDX Records Approach
retain ownership while still having access to experienced industry professionals.
Over more than three decades in the music business, we have assembled a network of professionals who are:
Artists can select from a menu of services based on their goals and budget.
Our Philosophy
We believe artists should have options.
Some artists want the resources of a traditional major label.
Others want to maintain ownership and build their careers independently.
Neither path is right for everyone.
Our mission is to help artists understand the difference, make informed decisions, and build sustainable careers on their own terms.
At CDX Records, you own your music.
We help you build the team.
