Featured-Artist Agreement: Performance, Points, and Rights
A featured-artist agreement should separate the guest's performance from any songwriting, define the track and session, master ownership, fee and royalty formula, recoupment, accounting, credit and metadata, neighbouring or statutory shares, name, likeness and voice use, promotion, release commitment, approvals, edits, remixes, sync, video, AI and digital-replica consent, exclusivity, warranties, union coverage, takedown, and termination.
Lead visual
Rights live in lanes
01
Composition
writers, publishers, PROs
02
Master
artist, label, recording owner
03
License
use, territory, term, fee
Business · Contracts
Rights clearance map
Decision
Know who owns what before the song, cover, sample, or claim goes public.
Evidence
Writers, publishers, master owners, licenses, notices, registrations, and takedown proof.
Risk
A missing clearance or ownership record can block monetization or create a dispute after traction starts.
Good outcome
A defensible rights trail before money, platforms, or third parties are involved.
Key takeaways
- Use separate records for featured performance, songwriting, master ownership, and neighbouring rights.
- Define what the fee, advance, royalty, or points multiply and which costs can reduce it.
- Control exact credit, metadata, name, likeness, voice, artwork, and correction duties.
- Name every approved use of stems, edits, remixes, sync, video, clips, promotion, and derivatives.
- Treat AI training and digital-replica consent as explicit project-specific decisions with qualified review.
What must a featured-artist agreement specify?
Featured-artist rights specification
Twelve layers around one guest performance
Parties
Guest, primary artist, label or master owner, entities, capacity, representatives, addresses, and union status.
Identifies the employer, performer, owner, and payment parties.
Track
Title, alternate title, version, project, ISRC status, release, stems, session date, and approved master.
Limits the deal to the recording everyone reviewed.
Performance
Vocal or instrumental services, lyrics or improvisation, revisions, delivery, acceptance, retakes, and unused material.
Defines what the guest must provide and what may be exploited.
Composition
Writing contribution, split-sheet dependency, publishers, registrations, samples, arrangement, and no-writing position if agreed.
Prevents master economics from being mistaken for songwriting ownership.
Master
Owner, assignment or licence, performer interest, territory, term, media, exclusivity, and reserved rights.
States who controls the sound recording and under what mechanism.
Money
Fee, advance, royalty or points, base, deductions, recoupment, cross-collateralization, escalators, taxes, currency, statements, and audit.
Turns payment shorthand into a calculable result.
Statutory rights
Neighbouring-rights and digital-performance registrations, featured status, maker, letters of direction, and non-waivable shares.
Keeps collective payments distinct from the contract royalty.
Credit
Exact featured billing, spelling, metadata, prominence, artwork, DSP role, marketing, tags, corrections, and remedies.
Makes identity and discoverability operational.
Persona
Name, image, likeness, biography, trademarks, voice, publicity, approvals, context, and moral rights where applicable.
Limits promotional and identity uses beyond the audio.
Exploitation
Release, edits, remixes, samples, stems, sync, video, UGC, clips, ads, live use, translation, derivative works, and archive.
Shows every use the grant is meant to cover.
AI and replica
Training, model, synthetic performance, digital replica, vendor, project, consent, security, compensation, deletion, and takedown.
Prevents ordinary performance language from hiding synthetic reuse.
Risk and exit
Warranties, infringement, indemnity, liability, insurance, release deadline, cancellation, breach, cure, takedown, termination, and survival.
Allocates failed release, claims, and post-term rights.
Which agreement owns each featured-artist right?
| Primary record | Do not infer | |
|---|---|---|
| Songwriting | Split sheet, publishing agreement, work registration, and accurate writer shares | The feat. credit or master points prove a composition share |
| Performance | Featured-artist, performer, employment, union, or session agreement | A composition split authorizes every recorded performance use |
| Master economics | Featured agreement or master participation schedule with defined royalty base | Points mean ownership or multiply gross revenue |
| Collective shares | Re:Sound or member, SoundExchange, union fund, or territory-specific registration and law | The label royalty replaces statutory or neighbouring treatment |
| Voice and AI | Specific valid consent, intended use, compensation, security, control, and remedy | Name-and-likeness promotion language includes cloning or model training |
Union coverage changes the agreement
SAG-AFTRA, AFM, ACTRA, or another collective agreement can control minimums, classifications, contributions, consent, forms, and remedies. Confirm signatory, performer, work, territory, and media coverage before relying on a non-union form.
keep guest approvals and rights blockers visible before delivery
Which sources govern featured-artist agreements?
Frequently asked questions
What is a featured-artist agreement?+
It is the contract for a guest presented as a featured performer on a sound recording. It can define the performance, session, track versions, master ownership, payment, royalty or points, credit, metadata, name and likeness, promotion, exploitation, approvals, restrictions, union terms, accounting, release, and exit. It should not silently replace a songwriting split sheet or sample clearance.
Does a featured artist automatically own part of the song?+
No. Featured performance and musical-composition authorship are separate. A guest who contributes protectable songwriting may have a composition share, but that must be agreed and registered through the appropriate split and publishing process. A negotiated master royalty or fee is also separate. Credit as feat. does not by itself prove writing ownership, master ownership, or a particular royalty.
Should a featured artist receive a fee or royalty points?+
The parties can negotiate a fee, advance, royalty or points, combination, or other consideration, subject to law and union rules. Define the exact base, ownership share if any, deductions, recoupment, cross-collateralization, accounting, audit, taxes, currency, payment timing, neighbouring and statutory shares, and examples. Do not agree to points without identifying what those points multiply.
Who controls the featured artist credit?+
The agreement should specify exact billing, spelling, role, typography or prominence where relevant, metadata fields, DSP and artwork treatment, marketing uses, social tags, corrections, approval or consultation, and remedies. It should also address name, image, likeness, biography, trademarks, and voice. Distributor style rules and platform display can affect implementation, so define control and reasonable correction duties.
Can a featured-artist agreement authorize AI voice use?+
Only through language that is valid for the jurisdiction and sufficiently clear for the intended use. Define training, cloning, synthetic performance, digital replica, model, vendor, project, media, term, territory, compensation, approvals, security, deletion, transfer, and revocation or takedown. SAG-AFTRA's current covered code provides a useful project-specific consent model but does not govern every non-union deal.
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