360 Deals Explained: What You're Actually Signing Away

What is a 360 Deal?

A 360 deal (also called a "multiple rights" deal) gives the record label a percentage of all your revenue streams — not just recorded music. This typically includes:

Recording income (streams, sales, licensing)

Touring and live performance income

Merchandise sales

Publishing and songwriting income

Endorsements and sponsorships

Acting and appearance fees

The label's argument: "We're investing in your entire career, so we should participate in all of it." The counterargument: labels historically contributed nothing to touring, merch, or publishing infrastructure — they're simply claiming revenue they didn't help generate.

Standard 360 Percentages

While terms vary widely, typical ranges in 2026 are:

Touring: 10–25% of net touring income

Merchandise: 15–30% of net merch revenue

Publishing: 10–25% of publishing income

Endorsements: 10–20% of endorsement fees

Other income: 10–15%

These percentages are applied after your costs — "net" means the label takes its cut after you've paid your tour expenses, merch production costs, etc.

Why Labels Push for 360 Deals

Recorded music revenue alone often doesn't recoup the label's investment, especially with declining per-stream rates and rising marketing costs. Labels argue they need ancillary revenue to justify the risk of signing and developing artists.

There's some truth to this — but the percentages should reflect the label's actual contribution to each revenue stream. If the label isn't booking your tours, designing your merch, or sourcing your endorsements, their percentage should be significantly lower (or zero).

How to Negotiate a 360 Deal

1. Push for "Modified 360" or "Passive 360"

In a passive 360, the label takes a smaller percentage (5–15%) of ancillary income but provides no services in those areas. This is more defensible than an active 360 where the label is supposed to help generate the revenue.

2. Negotiate Carve-Outs

Push to exclude specific income streams entirely. Common carve-outs include:

Publishing income (this should always be separate)

Income from pre-existing business ventures

Acting and film/TV income unrelated to music career

Income below a minimum threshold

3. Set Minimum Thresholds

Negotiate that 360 participation only kicks in after you've earned a minimum amount in each category. For example: "Label's touring participation applies only to net touring income exceeding $100,000 per calendar year."

4. Sunset Clauses

Include provisions that reduce or eliminate the label's ancillary participation over time — for example, 360 percentages decrease by 5% per year after the initial term, reaching zero by year 5 post-contract.

The SoundDeal Perspective

When we analyze 360 deals, we score them across five categories — financial terms, rights ownership, creative protections, risk allocation, and modern provisions. 360 deals inherently score lower on rights ownership because the artist is giving up participation across multiple income streams. Our AI flags specific areas where the percentages exceed industry norms or where key carve-outs are missing.

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