Twists and turns in the 360 deal: Spinning the risks and rewards of artist–label relations in the streaming era

Abstract

This article studies the contracts of labels and artists in the 2000s and 2010s in order to understand the conditions for creative work in a predominantly digital environment. It argues that contract negotiation is a key site for the exchange of creative and economic resources which is likely to reflect developments in the technological but also legal frameworks of the music industry. It presents analyses of contract documents from before and after the rise of streaming services, capturing the turn away from the album and towards the smaller project of the single, which, among other things, entails higher royalty rates for the artists but also increases their responsibilities for financing production. The article goes on to discuss the extent to which such shifts in the investments and returns of both creator and company should be accompanied by changes in the legal protections of creative work.