What is a 360 Deal?

A 360 deal is an exclusive agreement signed by an artist to a record label or management company. The rights included in the agreement tend to include a lot of different artist revenue streams, often including digital sales, tours and concerts, merchandise, endorsements, appearances in movies or television, publishing, songwriting, and even ringtone sales. Its called a 360 deal as it often encompasses all of an artists revenue streams.

Major record labels are signing artists to 360 deals because of the dramatic drop in music sales over the past decade. Not surprisingly, 360 deals have not received good press as they have been used in a way to lock in artists for the long term.

360 deals can help both artists and labels it really depends on the goals of both parties.