360-degree remains a mammoth music industry buzzword, though the march towards all-encompassing is still early-stage and chaotic.  And as the traditionally influential role of the major label continues to disintegrate, the land grab has only intensified.

At the top, the biggest artists are signing the biggest, 360-degree deals.  Just recently, Live Nation neatly defined the model by signing Nickelback, and grabbing a piece of almost every revenue-generator in the process.  The portfolio includes recordings, merchandise, content licensing, sponsorships, touring, DVD and broadcast rights, fan club revenues, and even literary rights.  "Our global distribution and marketing platform is uniquely positioned to help them accelerate the growth of their fan base and maximize their earnings across all their potential revenue streams," said Live Nation chief Michael Rapino following the deal announcement in July.

That sounds like a template for the perfect 360-degree deal, though Live Nation has been exclusively plucking top-shelf, established artists like Jay-Z, Madonna, and Shakira.  And few companies carry the tentacles and market power that Live Nation enjoys.  "A Live Nation situation is unique, because they actually have the facility to put artists in venues, they have a ticketing service effective next year, and they have their own merchandising company," said Paul Menes, an entertainment attorney at Duval & Stachenfeld, LLP during a recent roundtable at the Bandwidth Conference in San Francisco. 

But for smaller artists negotiating with smaller companies, the pure-play 360 can be less advantageous.  "As the deals scale down to newer artists, splits will be different, and nets will be defined differently," Menes continued.  "Most companies don't have the venues, they don't have the merchandising, so that raises the question of whether artists should give up those rights."

But major labels still have considerable marketing and promotional power, and they are pushing aggressively to sign broader, 360-degree relationships with artists of all levels.  But are they diversified enough to truly service the all-around needs of an artist?  Traditional major label strengths lean towards physical retail, radio, publishing, and marketing, areas that could skew the broader focus.  "Where's their expertise?  If you just chase radio markets, are these good live markets?" questioned Jackson Haring of High Road Touring.

On some level, almost every company eyeing the 360-degree prize carries an incomplete mix of expertise, and even Live Nation must look outside for recording, publishing and other competencies.  But for those companies seeking to build expertise from within, the pool of know-how appears strong.  "With the disintegration of the labels, there's a lot of talent out there that's not working but knows marketing, touring, physical and digital distribution, and other core competencies," Haring continued.

So what is an artist to do?  The reality is that most deals are not 360-degree, they fall somewhere in-between and can be structured advantageously for specific situations.  "It's very hard to compare deals, because you are comparing apples to oranges to bananas," commented Jonathan Blaufarb, a managing partner at Davis Shapiro Lewit & Hayes, LLP.  "Deals can be 270, they can be 180, sometimes publishing is involved, sometimes merchandising is involved, and the touring can be all over the place," the attorney described.

And in the pursuit of the perfect deal, a sense of humor is essential.  "For jam bands, we have 420 deals, and for metal bands, we have 666 deals," Blaufarb joked.

_{Report by publisher Paul Resnikoff in San Francisco.}