Get Started Musician: Music Contracts and Legal Documents for Artists and Producers

Music is one of the most contract-intensive areas of copyright law. Rights exist in layers: the composition (music and lyrics) and the recording (master) are separate rights, each with its own ownership, licensing rules and collecting society relationships. Understanding what you own, what you are signing away and what you are entitled to collect is essential for any working musician.

Get Started: Musician covers the core contracts for musicians, artists, producers and labels operating in Italy and internationally, drafted and reviewed by DANDI lawyers specialising in Italian and European music law.

Who We Work With

Musicians and bands

Artists recording and releasing music independently or with a label, who need to know what a contract gives away before signing it, and bands who need to agree who owns the name and the songs. See also Get Started Trademarks to protect your artist or band name.

Session musicians and backing vocalists

Performers working in the studio and on stage, whose fees, credits and neighbouring rights depend on how the engagement is written.

Producers and labels

Independent labels and producers contracting artists for recordings and live performances, licensing masters and setting up distribution.

Artists and managers

Artists and managers formalising their working relationship: commission, term, territory and what happens when it ends.

International artists

Artists touring or recording in Italy, or working with Italian labels, publishers and producers, who need Italian contracts explained in English.

What We Cover

Recording contracts

• Exclusive phonogram recording contract: grants a label the exclusive right to record and exploit the artist’s performances; covers advance, royalties, term, territory and reversion.
• Non-exclusive phonogram recording contract: a recording agreement without exclusivity, for one-off projects, independent releases or licensing arrangements.

Hire and live performance contracts

• Hire of a musician or backing singer for phonogram production: engagement of session musicians and vocalists for studio recording, covering fee, rights and credits.
• Hire of an artist, musician or backing singer for live performance: engagement for live shows, tours and events.
• Recording of a live performance: authorisation to record a live performance, with provisions on ownership and exploitation of the recording.
• Broadcasting of a live performance: authorisation to broadcast or stream a live performance.

Licensing and distribution contracts

• Licence for manufacturing and marketing of a phonogram: between the rights holder and a third party for the production and commercial distribution of a recording.
• Commercial phonogram distribution contract: for the physical or digital distribution of a recording.
• Licence between lead artist and producer for specific uses of a phonogram: a targeted licence for sync, compilations, sampling and other specific uses of a master.

Management contract

• Contract between lead artist and manager: commission, term, territory, exclusivity and the obligations of both parties.

Italian Music Law: What You Need to Know

In Italy, authors’ rights in the composition are managed by SIAE or, since the market was opened to competition, by other collective management entities. The neighbouring rights of record producers and performers are managed separately, by SCF for producers and by Nuovo IMAIE and other organisations for performers. These rights generate royalties from broadcasting, public performance and streaming that many artists never collect because they do not know they have to register. Every contract is drafted with these requirements in mind.

Since Law 132/2025, Italian copyright protects works of human creativity: music made with AI tools is protected only where the human contribution is creative and identifiable. If you use AI in your production, your contracts and registrations should reflect it.

FAQ

What is the difference between publishing rights and master rights?

Publishing rights concern the composition, the music and lyrics written by the authors. Master rights concern the specific recording of that composition, usually owned by the label or the producer who paid for it. They are licensed and paid separately.

Do I have to join SIAE?

No. Authors can register with SIAE or with another collective management entity authorised in Italy, or manage some rights directly. The right choice depends on where and how your music is used.

Do session musicians have rights in the recordings they play on?

Yes. Under Italian law performers have neighbouring rights, including the right to equitable remuneration for certain uses of the recordings. How these rights are treated depends on the engagement contract and the collecting society registration.

Can I protect my band name?

Yes, by registering it as a trademark for music, live performances and merchandise, and by agreeing in writing among band members who owns it. See Get Started Trademarks.

Is music created with AI protected by copyright in Italy?

Only to the extent that it results from a creative human contribution. Since Law 132/2025, Italian copyright protects works of human creativity, including those made with the help of AI tools.

Get in Touch

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