Get the distribution deal for your release into writing

Informal arrangements can work until there is a disagreement about royalties, release timing, territories, takedowns or who controls the recordings. A written distribution agreement helps record the commercial deal in a way both sides can refer back to later. It can clarify whether the distributor has exclusive rights, what platforms or channels are covered, what reporting is expected, and when the arrangement can end. That is especially useful when a release starts generating income or when the parties have different expectations about promotion, delivery standards or catalogue control.

These agreements often cover the rights being granted, whether the arrangement is exclusive or non-exclusive, royalty or revenue split mechanics, accounting and reporting, delivery obligations, metadata or asset requirements, release approvals, territories, term length, takedown rights, and termination. They may also deal with artwork, promotional use, sublicensing, and what happens to recordings and income after the relationship ends. The exact drafting depends on whether you are an artist, label or distributor, and whether the release is going to digital platforms only or also into physical channels.

We usually need to know who owns the recordings, who is acting as distributor, whether the deal is exclusive, how revenue is meant to be split, which territories are involved, and what channels will be used. It also helps to know whether there are featured artists, producers, label arrangements or existing rights commitments that affect the release. If the distributor has obligations around reporting, marketing support or delivery standards, those points should also be captured. The more clearly the commercial arrangement is described, the more precisely the agreement can reflect it.

Sometimes a template is enough for a very simple release, but many music deals have details that generic wording does not handle well. A template may not reflect your royalty structure, your ownership position, your release timetable, or the practical way the distributor will exploit the recordings. It may also leave gaps around exclusivity, reporting, takedowns or post-termination rights. A tailored agreement is usually more useful where the release has commercial value, multiple stakeholders or a longer-term catalogue angle. If you already have a draft, it can often be adapted rather than rebuilt from scratch.

Timing depends on how settled the commercial deal is and whether there are unusual rights or revenue arrangements to work through. Once we have the relevant details, we prepare the agreement and provide it for review. If there are points that need to be refined, those can be addressed as part of finalising the document. This fixed-fee service covers the legal drafting described on the page. It does not include ongoing representation after signing, negotiations that expand beyond the agreed scope, or advice on tax treatment of royalties or revenue.

Just submit an enquiry via this page or click the 'get started' button on our website to submit an enquiry. After you've submitted an enquiry, one of our legal consultants will review your enquiry within 1 business day and get in touch to get a better idea of exactly what you are looking for.

Then your legal consultant will send through an email with a bit more information about the services you need, along with a fixed fee quote setting out costs, scope of the service and timing. Have a read through it, and if you're happy with the scope, you can accept and sign our engagement letter online - easy!

Once you've formally accepted, we'll connect you with a specialist lawyer and they will work with you to complete your project. They will contact you by email or phone if they need to get in touch.

Sprintlaw works on fixed-fee pricing wherever possible, so you can review the scope and cost before you decide whether to proceed. For the Music Distribution Agreement service, pricing starts from $900.00.

After you enquire, a legal consultant will confirm what is included, the expected timing and whether any extra work is needed before you engage us.

We operate completely online, which means we can help you wherever you are in New Zealand. We have office spaces in Sydney, and in Melbourne, but our use of technology allows our team members to work remotely from around the world. Our legal team are mostly based in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. We also have a London office for Sprintlaw UK.

Our legal team is made up of experienced lawyers, who are specialists in various areas of law and hold an Australian legal practising certificate. None of our Sprintlaw lawyers are New Zealand qualified lawyers and they do not currently hold a New Zealand practising certificate.

They provide legal services working remotely from Australia via our 'legal consultancy' model, through which (under section 6 and section 35 of the New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006) our Australian legal team are permitted to provide legal services to New Zealand businesses provided they do not provide services in certain 'reserved' areas of law. You can read our FAQ page to learn a bit more about our 'legal consultancy' model.

Given the strong similarities between Australian and New Zealand law, and the areas of law in which we practice (being small business and startup law), we do not view the fact that our lawyers have not qualified in New Zealand as having any substantive impact on the quality of our service. We are committed to ensuring that we provide high quality, affordable legal services to all our New Zealand clients.

Our legal team have all trained at leading firms, but have left the traditional corporate law world to join us on our mission to create a new and better way of delivering legal services. They have specialist expertise in technology law, intellectual property law, contract drafting and review, corporate law and commercial law.