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No. 36Release & Reversion
Also called key man clause, key executive clause, personal services clause
A clause allowing you to terminate the deal if a specific person, the one who signed you, leaves the label.
Neutral
Key person clauses protect the artist when relationship continuity is at risk, very valuable to negotiate in.
A key person clause names a specific individual (usually the A&R executive who signed the artist) and gives the artist the right to terminate the contract if that person leaves the company. It recognises that the relationship between artist and a specific champion at the label is often the deal's foundation.
Being signed to a label is fundamentally a relationship with the people who signed you. If your A&R leaves, the new team may deprioritise you, give you less support, or actively want to drop you but be contractually prevented from doing so, leaving you in limbo.
The same clause is drafted three ways. These are the positions we see, worst first, so you can tell at a glance which one is in front of you.
The drafting language and the negotiation moves for this clause are part of the workspace.
You have read what the clause means and where the risk sits. The rest is the side-by-side of how it reads when it is against you and when it is not, plus the specific moves that get it there.