Appeared originally in MUSIC BIZ INSIGHT #13

If you're involved in the music business, sooner or later you'll sit down with someone you have to negotiate an agreement with. It may be a management or record contract, or perhaps a "work for hire" agreement where you provide music for some particular use. Use the following general guidelines to keep the communication on the best level possible.

And always think "win/win".

• Negotiate only with those in authority to agree to your requests.
• Have a prioritized agenda. Start with the most incontestable items and work downwards to the stickiest points.
• Put yourself in the other person's place and structure your arguments to address his or her concerns.
• Never issue ultimatums.
• Never concede a point, however small, without winning a comparable concession in return.
• Take notes and verbally summarize each point agreed to before you move on to the next so that there's no misunderstanding.
• Follow up negotiations with a memo or letter summarizing what was agreed, and ask for a written response within so many days or hours if any points are disputed.
• Make the other party feel good about the outcome.

by Peter Spellman

Director of Career Development at Berklee College of Music, Boston, and author of The Self-Promoting Musician: Do-it-Yourself Strategies for Independent Music Success (Berklee Press). You can find him at Music Business Solutions.

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