Your talent made the money.
We make sure you keep it.
Contract audits, royalty recovery, and 360-deal deconstructions — for artists who've realised the industry's paperwork was never written in their favour.
The following are anonymized case studies drawn from actual client engagements. Dollar figures are verified. Identifying details have been changed.
The Invisible Clause
Independent musician · Sync licensing agreement · Nashville, TN
A standard sync deal that wasn't standard at all
During an initial contract audit, we identified a single subordinate clause in a sync licensing agreement that assigned "in perpetuity, worldwide, all-media rights" to the licensee for a flat $1,200 fee. The artist had signed it three years prior believing it covered one TV placement. In practice, it had been used for 14 commercial placements, two streaming campaigns, and a feature film trailer — none of which triggered additional payment.
Retroactive audit and renegotiation with documented leverage
We conducted a full usage audit across broadcast monitoring databases and issued a formal notice of breach citing the unlicensed placements. Rather than pursue litigation, we used the documented evidence to negotiate a settlement covering back-use fees and a renegotiated forward agreement with per-use licensing, territory limits, and a two-year term cap. The label's legal team agreed within six weeks.
$84,000 in protected annual licensing revenue
The settlement covered $31,200 in back-use fees for the three years of unlicensed placement. The renegotiated forward agreement established per-use rates averaging $6,000 per placement, protecting an estimated $84,000 annually based on the licensee's existing usage patterns. The artist now reviews every sync agreement before signing.
"I thought I'd signed away one song for one show. Shield showed me I'd signed away everything, and then got most of it back."
The Missing Royalties
Mid-career recording artist · Distribution & mechanical royalties · Los Angeles, CA
Eighteen months of mechanical royalties never remitted
An artist with a mid-size catalog of 34 tracks had been receiving distribution statements showing consistent streaming numbers but declining royalty deposits. When we cross-referenced mechanical royalty statements from their PRO against the distribution statements, we identified an 18-month gap in mechanical payments totalling over $190,000. Their distributor had been collecting and holding the mechanicals, citing a contractual "offset against unrecouped advances" clause — on advances that had already been repaid two years prior.
Formal demand with line-by-line recoupment accounting
We prepared a full recoupment ledger using the artist's original advance documentation, demonstrating that the offset clause had been satisfied 26 months prior. We filed simultaneous formal demand letters with the distributor and the PRO, requesting an accounting of all mechanicals held. The distributor's initial response attempted to claim additional "marketing cost" offsets not specified in the original agreement — we countered with a breach-of-contract notice and a 30-day cure period.
$217,000 recovered across mechanicals and interest
The distributor remitted $190,400 in held mechanicals plus $26,600 in calculated interest under the contract's late-payment provisions — totalling $217,000. We also negotiated a termination of the distribution agreement with a full catalog reversion, allowing the artist to re-sign with a distributor under a transparent, no-offset contract. Monthly royalty deposits resumed within 45 days of settlement.
"My accountant kept saying the numbers looked fine. Shield found $217,000 that everyone else had decided not to notice."
Download the Artist Protection Checklist
The exact framework we use in every initial audit. 47 line items across contracts, royalties, and entity structure — the things your label, manager, and distributor don't want itemised.
- Sync licensing rights checklist (47 line items)
- Manager agreement red-flag identifier
- LLC structure guide for touring artists
- Royalty audit request template
- 360-deal clause decoder
The Full Restructure
Content creator scaling to $1.2M annual revenue · No entity structure · Chicago, IL
Seven figures of revenue running through a personal Social Security number
A content creator generating $1.2M annually across brand deals, licensing, and merchandise had never formed a business entity. All revenue was being reported as personal income, creating a 37% federal effective tax rate and unlimited personal liability exposure. Three brand partners had included indemnification clauses in their agreements — clauses that, without an LLC, ran directly against the creator's personal assets. One pending brand dispute had potential exposure of $480,000.
Multi-entity structure with IP holding company and operating LLC
We established a Wyoming LLC as the IP holding entity for all creative assets, with a separate operating LLC in the creator's state of residence for active business operations. Brand deal agreements were renegotiated to assign liability to the operating LLC and cap indemnification at the contract value. We worked with a tax attorney to implement an S-Corp election for the operating entity, restructuring compensation to optimise the self-employment tax position. The pending brand dispute was settled at the LLC level for $47,000 — with zero personal asset exposure.
$340,000 in annual tax liability restructured or eliminated
The S-Corp election and compensation restructure reduced the effective tax rate from 37% to approximately 24% on the same revenue — a $156,000 annual reduction. The Wyoming IP holding structure created additional deductible IP licensing fees between entities, contributing a further $184,000 in annual tax optimisation. The pending brand dispute settled at $47,000 instead of $480,000. Total first-year financial impact: over $573,000 protected or recovered.
"I was a millionaire on paper who could have lost everything on a single brand dispute. Now I have a structure that actually protects what I've built."
Book a Contract Review
A 45-minute session where we read your actual paperwork — not a sales call. You'll leave with a written summary of every clause that needs attention and a clear path forward.
Bring any contract
Recording, management, distribution, sync
45-min deep read
Line by line, no glossing over
Written summary
Red flags, leverage points, next steps
45 min · Video call · Confidential
All sessions are covered by attorney-client privilege. Nothing shared without your written consent.