Plain-English music contracts drafted by a licensed attorney — and when the real deal shows up, negotiation where you keep 95% and never see an hourly bill.
Get protected — from $24 Read the free guideEvery template is attorney-drafted, fill-in-the-blank, and annotated with plain-English notes telling you what's standard, what's negotiable, and what's a trap. Handshakes don't collect royalties. Paper does.
The artist–producer contract: who owns the master, who gets what points, revision caps, sample disclosure. Includes a signable split sheet.
Exclusive + non-exclusive beat license agreements. Sell or buy beats without giving away rights you didn't mean to.
Guest verses, collabs, and co-writes — splits, credit, and approval rights settled before the song drops, not after it charts.
Label offer, distribution deal, sync placement, publishing agreement — don't sign what you can't read. I negotiate it for a percentage of the deal. No retainers. No hourly bills. If your deal doesn't pay, I don't either.
Legal services provided by Mullikin Legal, PLLC (Cody Mullikin, licensed in Idaho). A written fee agreement is required before any engagement begins. Percentage fees subject to a signed agreement; some matters may not qualify.
The free guide: five contract clauses that quietly take your masters, your money, or your name — and the exact plain-English fix for each. Written by a licensed attorney who's also a working artist.
Because every deal has two sides, and the other one always shows up with a lawyer.
I'm an artist who became an attorney — not the other way around. I make music and art, and I've spent my legal career in negotiation rooms: launches, acquisitions, contracts, the places where the fine print actually gets decided. What I kept seeing was simple and unfair — businesses always had someone at the table reading every word. Artists almost never did.
The music industry runs on that imbalance. Masters signed away in paragraph five. Royalties that never arrive because a split was never written down. “Standard contracts” that are only standard for the side that drafted them.
So I built Artist Side: contracts in plain English that any artist can afford, and real negotiation — for a percentage, not a retainer — when a deal shows up that matters. No billable hours. No legalese. No office you're afraid to call.
I'm Cody Mullikin — working artist, licensed attorney in Idaho, and I sit on your side of the table.
The templates are self-help legal forms designed around U.S. contract and copyright principles that apply nationwide, with fill-in fields for your state's governing law. They're not legal advice for your specific situation — for a major deal, have a local attorney review before signing.
No. Templates are self-help products — no attorney-client relationship is created. If you want me actually in your corner, that's the representation side, and it starts with a strategy call and a written agreement.
For deal negotiation, my fee is a percentage of the deal I negotiate for you (typically 5%), set out in a written fee agreement before we start. No retainer, no hourly billing. If the deal doesn't close, you don't owe a fee.
Sometimes. Book a call — existing contracts can have exit ramps, renegotiation windows, or unenforceable terms. The sooner you ask, the more options you have.