What if someone wants to shop my tape?
If someone approaches your band willing to "shop" your tape, there are many questions you should ask. First, though, the term shop needs some explanation. When someone shops your tape, it means that they take a copy of it and try to get you a record deal. Basically, people who shop tapes claim to have some contacts that may be able to land you a record deal. Great you say, someone to help me get a record deal! Not so fast. First, people don't shop tapes for free. Never pay someone to shop your tape. Shopping a tape is speculative in that it is a gamble. No one can guarantee they can get you signed. A true shopping deal will pay the person out of future royalties from the deal they secure for you. If someone shops your tape and gets a record label to sign you, they will want a percentage of the income from the record deal. This is standard. What varies is the percentage. Some people are scrupulous and take only what is fair. Others over-reach. What is fair compensati...