'Operation Triumph': these are the contracts that the contestants sign and that condition their careers after the contest

Leonine.

In legal slang it is the contract, clause or condition that imposes exorbitant demands or disproportionate consequences (definition from the pan-Hispanic dictionary).

The singer Lola Índigo learned this concept when she left Operación Triunfo 2017: the artist was 25 years old when, expelled from the most famous academy on television, she encountered the rude mechanisms of the music industry, a whirlwind of contracts, clauses, rights copyright and assignments.

In an interview given a few months ago on the

El Sentido de la Birra podcast

, the singer and dancer lamented that young people who access this type of programs, excited by the euphoria of having a golden opportunity between their fingers, do not seek advice beforehand. to sign his first legal papers.

“Before reaching the final casting you are already sentenced to be with a record company for three albums,” the performer shared as a result of her experience.

“He is quite leonine.

“That’s the word the lawyers taught me.”

Operación Triunfo 2023, the first edition broadcast on Amazon Prime, ends this Monday.

Although the contestants' contracts are confidential, the contest rules are public.

They are posted on the Gestmusic website, the producer of the format.

The document, which must be signed by any candidate who wants to appear at the

casting

, provides clues to the ins and outs behind the contracts that were once signed by

triumphs

such as Aitana, Amaia or Miki Nuñez.

First, participants agree to sign an employment contract.

They have their salary and can contribute to Social Security;

However, the Workers' Statute does not apply to them, as to any employee, but rather a special legal framework for artists.

This regime makes possible the dynamic that allows one participant to be expelled each week, since “the artistic world is one of the very few exceptions in which temporary or fixed-term hiring is allowed,” explains Iban Diez, partner at Mental Legal, a firm focused on advising artists and the entertainment sector.

A tangle of documents

The adventure begins when the contestant sets foot outside the academy.

In addition to the employment contract, the artists undertake, if necessary, to sign four other documents that will mark the future of their careers.

Specifically, a record contract, through which they assign the management of their future albums or singles;

a publishing contract, for the management of his creations as a composer;

a representation contract, to appoint a manager and assign the rights to the image, name, logo and brand, as well as the sale of any merchandising

or

sponsorship item;

and a touring contract, by which they agree to perform a series of concerts throughout the country.

Everything is tied up.

The remuneration for the

winner

will be in line with “the standard market compensation for a new artist,” as stated in the contest rules.

“If you do not accept the rules, you cannot participate in the contest” and “there is no possibility of negotiating these conditions during the casting or upon entering the academy,” explains Manuel López, partner at the law firm specialized in the music industry Sympathy for the Lawyer.

The equation is simple: the format provides a luxury shuttle;

The price to pay is these legal chains, a professional path that is difficult to get off of.

“The program already has agreements with a series of suppliers, with the main record labels and with a list of agents,” explains Julián Galindo, lawyer at Carrillo Asesores Tributarios y Abogados, who has advised more than twenty musicians of the format.

Are they, then, leonine contracts?

Not for Galindo.

The expert acknowledges that these conditions may be tougher than for other artists, but he puts his finger on “the enormous visibility and excellent platform that the program offers.”

Contracts are not eternal.

After the first year of the race, it is common for the record company and the former contestant to sit down and talk.

“If expectations and objectives are met, margins can improve.”

In the first five years the contract can be reviewed up to three or four times.

Thus, the young promise can take a profit percentage of around 12%, but if expectations improve and the race consolidates, this margin can rise to 23%.

The rest goes to the middlemen.

Luis Trillo, labor law lawyer at FILS, corroborates that it is normal for OT stars to trust these intermediaries and accept “exclusivity clauses and transfer of production and distribution rights to the record company,” so that the record company “assumes ownership.” of the musical work produced by the artist.”

It is also common for music houses to ask singers to waive in writing any possible precautionary judicial measures that "interrupt the exploitation or distribution of material that has already been recorded or produced," adds the lawyer.

To avoid surprises, experts agree that, once in the academy, “the participant has legal and strategic advice.”

And it is important that this comes from someone who “knows the music business very well,” summarizes Manuel López.

In her interview, given in September, Lola Índigo said that she signed a first pre-contract or she would not be included in the final casting.

“In this document, the clause in which the artist declares that he has received expert advice prior to signing is common,” says López.

The Andalusian artist confirmed that in her first contract there was a phrase like that.

And then she added: “No one reviewed that.”

Gestmusic: "Everyone enters the program with full knowledge of what participation entails"

The producer of the program, Gestmusic, assures that there is no fine print in the contracts to enter

Operación Triunfo

.

"The program helps the contestants compose music and as a result of this they can release a 'single'.

They have no obligation to do so, and if they do, they are accompanied throughout the process by industry professionals,” their spokespersons point out to this medium.

They emphasize that “all contestants receive the documents” in advance to study them in advance;

and in any case, there is “an explanatory session with the company's lawyers” and the participants to explain the project.

There are no surprises, they say.

“Everyone enters the program with full knowledge of what participation entails.”

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