Manage agreements
The Agreements table within a specific legal entity on your account lists all current agreements by country or region where you have the rights to sell your music. You can only sell content in the countries or regions where you have agreements in effect and the rights to sell that content.
On the Business page, click the plus sign (+) next to the Agreements header to view all available agreements and select the countries or regions where you would like to sell your music. You must provide banking and tax information for each new agreement.
You can make changes to your territory rights at any time in iTunes Connect in My Movies, My Music, and My Music Videos. For territory rights specific to a piece of content, you can search for it in the in My Movies, My Music, and My Music Videos modules in iTunes Connect. Visit Rights and Pricing Basics for more information on territory rights.
Signing agreements
When a new version of an agreement is available for you to sign, you will be notified with an alert in iTunes Connect.
To accept your agreement:
- In iTunes Connect, click Business.
- Click the legal entity for which you want to sign a new agreement.
- In the Agreements section, click the plus sign (+) to sign a new agreement. Find and select the agreement, then click Add. If it has been more than 30 minutes since you signed in to iTunes Connect, you will be prompted to verify your identity again via two-factor authentication.
- In the dialog, read and accept the terms, and click Submit.
A copy of the agreement in PDF format will be sent to the email address associated with your Apple Account. This PDF is for your records.
Only users with the Legal roles can accept agreements for your company. You may verify your role in the Users and Access module.
Agreement statuses
You can check the status of your agreements in Business on iTunes Connect. The status of an accepted agreement will typically display as Active within 24 hours. If an agreement is not yet in effect, the status and banner(s) communicating corresponding actions will indicate what steps are still pending.
Even though your agreement is active, hard copies of certain tax forms, such as the U.S. tax form W-8BEN may still be required. Your tax information is not complete until we have received the originals of the applicable forms that are accurately completed. Until they are received, payments to you for the proceeds of the sale of your titles may be withheld at maximum rates. The length of time to complete this process depends on the accuracy of the information provided. For Japan, delays can occur clearing the tax forms with the Japanese Tax Authority.
Expired agreements
If you fail to sign new agreements when your current agreements expire, all music on Apple Music and the iTunes Store that corresponds to the expired agreement territories will become unavailable. In order to make your music available on Apple Music and the iTunes Store, request a new agreement in Business. If all current Apple Music and iTunes agreements expire without being renewed, you will lose access to the majority of iTunes Connect.
Territory rights
Music with worldwide territory rights will be live in all territories where you have an in-effect agreement. There is no need to add new rights to music with worldwide territory rights. We recommend that you set the territory rights to worldwide only if you do, in fact, have worldwide rights. If your rights are more limited, indicate that in your territory rights selection when you deliver your music titles through iTunes Producer. As soon as each agreement is moved to In Effect, your titles will automatically appear in that region where you have accepted agreements and territory rights.
Delivering music through a third party or aggregator
Titles that have been delivered through a third party or aggregator’s account do not need any agreements submitted. Though your titles will stay on Apple Music and the iTunes Store, the financial relationship will be between Apple and your aggregator.