Understand where the money goes before you sign
Choose the sentence that sounds most like your offer. The calculator will use the matching deal formula, show the cash flow in plain English, and give you the contract questions to verify.
- 1Choose the deal
- 2Enter your assumptions
- 3Read the cash flow
Which sentence sounds like your deal?
You do not need to know the legal name. Pick the closest description, then replace every default with the actual language from your offer.
The artist receives an advance and a percentage of master revenue. That artist royalty is normally withheld until the agreed recoupable balance is cleared.
Enter the offer, then follow the money
The left side contains only the inputs used by this deal model. The right side reconciles every dollar of modeled revenue.
Your assumptions
Use statement revenue when you have it. Stream estimates are planning scenarios, not platform promises.
Advanced contract assumptions→
The 2026 13.1¢ statutory baseline covers a physical phonorecord or permanent download of a work up to five minutes. The optional controlled-composition reduction below is modeled only as a physical-copy contract example. It is not a streaming formula and is not added to the deal totals above.
What happens in this scenario?
$6,840 in artist royalties is applied to recoupment, so no additional master royalty is paid now. The modeled royalty-account balance remaining is $143,160.
“Unrecouped” means the modeled royalty account has not cleared. It does not necessarily mean the artist must repay that balance personally; the actual contract controls.
Every generated dollar has a destination
The artist royalty left after current recoupment.
The portion outside the artist's 18% master royalty.
Earned artist royalties withheld to reduce the recoupable account balance.
Artist plus partner allocations reconcile to $38,000.
Artist cash timeline
The advance is shown on the timeline instead of being mixed into generated revenue. This prevents an advance-funded scenario from appearing to allocate more than 100% of current revenue.
Cross-collateralization check: the modeled $143,160 balance may affect other projects only if the agreement connects those royalty accounts. Identify the exact projects, rights, territories, and terms covered.
Questions to take back to the contract
- ?Confirm the royalty base: gross receipts, wholesale, published price, or another definition.
- ?List every recoupable cost and whether costs are charged at 100% or another percentage.
- ?Check whether balances cross-collateralize across singles, albums, options, or territories.
How to verify the result against a real offer
A calculator is useful only when every input can be traced to a contract, statement, or clearly labeled planning assumption. Save these four items with each scenario.
- 1 · Clause
Copy the exact deal words
Record the royalty base, percentage, fee, advance, approved costs, recoupment source, and revenue categories.
- 2 · Statement
Use the right money column
Keep master receipts, composition collections, and ancillary revenue separate, and use one consistent accounting period.
- 3 · Reconcile
Account for every dollar
Artist current cash plus partner shares, fees, and recovery must equal generated revenue. The earlier advance stays separate.
- 4 · Review
Save an audit note
Write down the date, inputs, contract page numbers, source links, open questions, and attorney or accountant review status.
Need the full comparison?
Review all nine deal structures, ownership questions, and negotiation checks in one guide.