An independent artist is practically required to sign up with an aggregator in order to have your works serviced to many online outlets–some aggregators service hundreds of different retailers. (So one example of a pre-existing contract under Question #10 may be a band member’s contract with a sound recording aggregator.)

Ask your band mates for copies of any music industry contracts the band, or any of you, have previously signed before you formed or joined the band. Whether it be a credit card, management agreement, publishing deal, previous band agreement or a production agreement, it is important to understand the band’s current rights and restrictions.