A feat with an artist from another country can open a whole new audience. It can also turn into months of awkward messages if nobody wrote anything down. The music is rarely the problem. The problems come from questions nobody asked in time: whose release is it, who gets what, and who is allowed to do what with the song.
You don't need a forty-page contract from a lawyer for one single. You need a short written agreement that both sides understand and sign before the release goes out.
Start with a short collaboration agreement
Write it in a language you both read well. If you have no common language you are both comfortable in, make a simple bilingual version, with each point in both languages. Keep sentences short. One clear page beats a long text nobody read to the end.
Cover at least these points:
- Roles. Who is the primary artist and who is featured. This decides how the song appears on both profiles.
- Who releases it. One side delivers the song to platforms through their distributor. Only one. The other side does not upload it again.
- Master income. How money from the recording is split, and how and when the releasing side pays the other share, for example after each report arrives.
- Songwriting shares. Separate from the recording: who wrote the lyrics and the music, and in what percentages.
- Costs. Who pays for the mix, master, artwork and video, and whether those costs come out of income first.
- Versions. Who can approve remixes, sped-up versions or a translated version later.
Leyla Saran from Baku and Dana Aru from Almaty, two invented artists, settled all of this in a two-page document before recording vocals. Two years later, when a remix request came in, nobody had to remember what was said in a voice message.
If the other artist is signed to a label
This is the point people skip most often. An artist signed to a label usually cannot appear on someone else's release without the label's permission. Their contract may also give the label rights over their recordings, their name or their image.
Ask early and plainly: "Is there a company that needs to approve this?" If the answer is yes, get the permission in writing from the label itself, not just the artist saying it's fine. The label may set conditions: approving the artwork, a say in the release date, or a credit naming them. Agree on those before you announce anything.
The same goes for publishing. If the other artist has a publisher, their songwriting share may be managed by that company, and it may need the song's details for registration.
Names, credits and profiles
Collect what you need before you submit, not on release day.
- The exact spelling of their artist name in Latin script, as it already appears on platforms.
- Links to their existing artist profiles on the major platforms, so the song lands on the right profile and not on a new empty one.
- The legal names of every songwriter, for the credits.
- Their membership details, if they are registered with a collecting society.
In the CULT portal you enter artist details and credits when you submit the release, so getting all of this from the other side in one message saves a round of corrections.
Artwork, photos and promo rights
The cover and the promo material often involve more people than the song itself.
- If the cover uses a photo of the other artist, who took it, and may it be used on the cover and in ads?
- Can each side post the music video and short clips on their own channels? With or without their own logo?
- Can you use their name and face in paid ads in your country, and can they in theirs?
- If the song is registered in YouTube Content ID, which channels go on the whitelist, so neither artist gets claims on their own uploads?
Write the answers down, even briefly. Most promo misunderstandings start with one side assuming the other had agreed.
Money across borders
Paying a share to someone in another country brings its own small problems. Bank transfers cost money, currencies differ, and tax rules depend on where each of you lives. Agree who covers transfer fees, in which currency payments are made, and how often. Keep every report and every transfer receipt. For tax questions in your own country, ask a local accountant rather than guessing.
A checklist before release
- The agreement is signed by both sides (a scanned signature or an e-signature is fine).
- Label or publisher permission is in writing, if it is needed.
- Names, profile links and songwriter credits are confirmed.
- Only one side is delivering the release.
- Promo rights and the Content ID whitelist channels are agreed.
None of this is romantic, but it frees you both to focus on the part that matters: getting the song heard in two countries at once.