Building a Record Label: Signing, A&R and Recouping Your First Artist Deal
Start a small independent label and sign your first artist — the two copyrights, the deal menu, how recoupment works, masters and the 360, A&R and the release budget, and the disputes and scams that sink new labels. Build it fair, build it to survive.
by Sankofa Skills Studio · vetted expert author
What you'll gain
Nigerian music is booming, and it is one of the most misunderstood businesses in the country. This course teaches you to start a small independent record label and sign, develop and release your first artist without losing your money or your talent. Built from a source-graded 2026 research pass over the deal structures, the recoupment machine, copyright and publishing law, A&R and operations, and a dated dispute-and-scam museum, it turns on a few hard truths. First, what a label really is: taste, money, rights and promotion — not a studio. A&R, the skill of finding and shaping talent, is the moat; distribution and advertising are commodities anyone can buy. Second, the concept everything hinges on: every song is two separate copyrights — the composition (the melody and lyrics, owned by the songwriters and their publisher) and the sound recording, or master (the specific recording, owned by whoever funded it). Funding a recording buys you the master, not the publishing — you sign that separately. Third, the money machine behind most artist-label wars: recoupment. An advance is not a gift; it is a recoupable loan the label earns back only out of the artist’s own royalty share, so an artist can be a national star with zero on their royalty statement while still “unrecouped.” The good news is that an unrecouped artist owes no cash cheque — the loss stays with the label — and the sting is that recoupment changes the cash flow, not the ownership: the masters stay the label’s unless a reversion clause says otherwise. A worked example shows why a debut can need roughly thirty million Nigerian streams just to start paying royalties. Fourth, the Nigerian money reality: streaming pays about two naira a stream, a fraction of Western rates, so the real money is live shows and endorsements — which is exactly why 360 deals exist and why artists resent them. You will learn the five deal types and which ones a small Nigerian label realistically uses (single and EP development deals, and distribution deals where the artist keeps the masters — full master-owning and broad 360 deals are the destination, not the start), how to run A&R, the beat lease-versus-exclusive trap that can get a hit pulled from streaming, and a budget whose biggest line is marketing, not recording. Then the honesty spine: a dated museum of Nigerian label-artist disputes — Cynthia Morgan, Kizz Daniel, Brymo, Runtown — that all cluster on four contract clauses (masters, name, royalties and exclusivity), and the scams that prey on artists and would-be label owners alike, filtered by one rule: money flows to the artist, never from them. Two founders build alongside you: Tosin, who runs a lean distribution-deal label around one singer, and Amara, who builds a master-owning label but writes a fair contract after studying how the famous disputes started. Where no dated Nigerian source exists — a contract figure, a per-stream rate, a scam conviction — the course says so rather than invent one, and it handles sensitive matters, including the Mohbad case, strictly as the record and the coroner reported them. Carry one line: win on A&R, earn from shows, build fair-but-viable, and own masters later — not first. Orientation and capacity-building, not legal or financial advice; every rate, split and figure is a dated snapshot or a labelled illustration to verify, and have a lawyer review any contract.
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What you'll cover
10 modules · 19 lessons · timed certification exam
1. Orientation: A Label Is Taste + Money + Rights, Not a Studio 2 lessons
What a record label actually is and why A&R is the moat; the two hard truths — every song is two copyrights, and the money is shows and endorsements, not streaming; the brutal power-law reality; and the two founders you build alongside.
- What a label really is — and the two hard truths · 24 min
- The two founders you build alongside · 18 min
2. The Two Copyrights and Nigerian Copyright Law 2 lessons
The concept everything hinges on — the composition (publishing) versus the sound recording (master); the Copyright Act 2023 and the Nigerian Copyright Commission; the royalty types and the dysfunctional CMO collection system; and the split sheet that prev
- Composition vs master — the two copyrights · 22 min
- Copyright Act 2023, the CMOs, and the split sheet · 20 min
3. The Deal Menu: What You Actually Sign 2 lessons
The five deal types and what the label gets versus the artist; the honest verdict on which ones a small Nigerian label realistically uses; and the key contract terms every founder must understand before signing anyone.
- The five deal types · 22 min
- The key contract terms · 18 min
4. Recoupment: The Machine That Runs the Money 2 lessons
The mechanic that causes most artist-label wars — an advance is a recoupable loan recovered only from the artist’s share; what is recoupable and what is not; the unrecouped trap and the good news inside it; and a worked example of how many streams it take
- How recoupment actually works · 24 min
- The unrecouped trap and the worked example · 20 min
5. Masters, the 360, and the Nigerian Money Reality 2 lessons
Why masters are the durable asset and how reversion clauses return them; why 360 deals exist and when they are fair; and the Nigerian money cascade that explains why the real income is shows and endorsements, not streaming.
- Masters, reversion, and the fair 360 · 22 min
- The Nigerian money reality — shows beat streaming · 18 min
6. A&R and Artist Development: The Real Moat 2 lessons
The label skill that cannot be bought — finding, signing, curating and shaping talent; building an artist from talent to market-ready; and the beat lease-versus-exclusive trap that can get a hit pulled from streaming.
- What A&R is, and why it is the moat · 20 min
- The beat trap — lease vs exclusive · 18 min
7. The Release and the Budget 2 lessons
The single-driven release stack from distributor to DSPs to marketing to shows; the minimum team and what to outsource; and the budget whose biggest line is marketing, not recording — with two dated, labelled scenarios.
- The release stack and the team · 20 min
- The budget — where the money really goes · 18 min
8. The Disputes Museum: Learn From the Four Fault Lines 2 lessons
The four contract clauses that cause nearly every Nigerian label-artist war — masters, name, royalties and exclusivity — told through dated cases; the contrast cases that exited cleanly; and how to design the war out of your own contract.
- The four fault lines and the dated cases · 22 min
- Designing the war out — and the Mohbad caution · 20 min
9. The Scams: Money Flows TO the Artist, Never FROM Them 1 lessons
The frauds aimed at aspiring artists and at would-be label owners — upfront-fee signings, fake A&R, pay-for-feature, fake-streaming, and advance-fee distribution deals; and the one green-flag rule that filters them all.
- Scams on the artist — and on the label owner · 22 min
10. The Honest Verdict, the Fair Deal, and Your Launch Plan 2 lessons
What is real and what is not about the label business; the honest gaps this course refuses to fill with invention; the launch sequence that ties the whole course together; and how both founders resolve.
- The honest verdict and the honest gaps · 20 min
- Your launch plan — and how the founders resolve · 20 min
Frequently asked
Is the certificate verifiable?
Yes. Every certificate carries a unique ID and a cryptographic signature. Anyone — an employer or a client — can confirm it instantly on our public verification page, with no login.
Who teaches this course?
A vetted expert author — Sankofa Skills Studio. Every expert course is reviewed and fact-checked before publication, and the author earns a revenue share on your enrolment.
How long do I have access?
Lifetime. Once you enrol you keep access to the lessons, practice mode and flashcards — including future updates to this course.
What happens if I don't pass the exam first time?
You can retake it — up to 5 attempts, with a 12-hour wait between attempts. Practice mode is unlimited, so rehearse with the same verified question bank until you're ready.
Can my team enrol together?
Yes. Talk to us about group and organisation rates — certifying a whole team is faster and cheaper than one at a time.
Continue your path
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