What are C4 Premiums or Premiums as referred to in an artist recording contract?

Answer

If you are in a position where you ''need'' to know this, you should consult an entertainment lawyer or, ''at the very least'', get yourself an agent to look out for your interests.

Premiums are similar to promotional items. (You know what promos are, right?) But determining whether something is a premium or promotional item can get a little sticky. Record labels will almost always argue that a specific "project" is promotional, but if the label gets any money for it then it ''could'' be considered a premium.

How, or even if, you get paid for premiums should be laid out in the section of your contract that deals with royalties.

So you see, it is definitely in an artist's best interest to hire an attorney familiar with recording contracts to handle things like this.

Here's a tip: in a lot of music industry contracts you'll find a section containing definitions of terms used in the contract; this section is ''usually'' found at the end of the contract

From Donald Passman's book "All You Need To Know About The Music Business"

"Send in a Wheaties box top and get the latest Eminem single. Records sold this way are premiums, which mean they're sold in conjunction with a product or service, typically at a very low price. The royalty is correspondingly low - usually at half rate - and is based on the price at which the record company sells the record to the advertiser (also very low.) (There may in fact be no other price, because the records are often given away or sold at less than cost to the public.)"

First answer by ID0215155112. Last edit by JohnMerchant. Contributor trust: 61 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 99 [recommend question]