I read ledgers for a living, and the saddest ones never belonged to a flop. They belonged to someone who had a hit, sometimes a very big hit, and still ended up broke standing next to a platinum plaque. The myth is that success fixes the money. It does not. The contract that ends a career almost never gets signed during the bad years. It gets signed early, in a room where someone is handed an advance and a stack of paper, and told to be excited.

Digital ebook (PDF). Instant download after purchase, no physical item shipped.

What’s Inside

• The Publishing Deal Nobody Explains
• Masters vs. Publishing: The Distinction That Bankrupts People
• Recoupment: The Debt You Don’t Know You’re In
• The 360 Deal and the Price of Being Everything
• Sampling, Interpolation, and the Clearance Trap
• The Advance Is a Loan, Not a Gift
• Cross-Collateralization: When One Bad Album Taxes the Good Ones
• Reversion Clauses and the Myth of Getting Your Masters Back
• The Buyout Offer: When Someone Finally Wants Your Catalog
• How to Read a Contract Before It Reads You