All-In Deal
A recording contract where the artist's royalty must cover producer fees and other costs.
Definition
An all-in deal is a recording contract structure where the artist's royalty rate must cover producer royalties and other third-party payments. If an artist has a 15% all-in royalty and owes producers 4%, the artist's effective rate is 11%.
This contrasts with fund deals where the label separately pays producers from its own share. All-in structures shift financial risk to artists but may come with higher nominal royalty rates.
Why It Matters
Understanding whether a deal is all-in fundamentally changes what a royalty rate actually means. A high all-in rate may be less valuable than a lower rate where the label separately pays producers.
Artists must account for producer royalties when evaluating all-in offers.
Examples in Practice
An 18% all-in deal where 3-4% typically goes to producers, leaving the artist with 14-15%.
Negotiating to have the producer royalty paid from the label's share rather than all-in.
Producer royalty stacking when multiple producers work on an album, reducing artist share significantly.