Negotiation Skills for Creatives: A Guide to Leveraging Your Value
Throughout your career you will have varying ability to negotiate terms.
This is a result of your position at that moment in comparison to the party you are attempting to negotiate with. For example, in the beginning of your career you likely won’t have as much leverage to negotiate a gallery representation agreement compared to an established artist simply because you aren’t as well known. You are more than likely gaining more from the exposure that may come out of the agreement than the other party would allowing you full artistic control over your exhibition. The gallery’s benefit with an emerging artist is harder to quantify, as you are an untested asset. Any agreement you enter into is about striking a balance between the parties based upon what each brings to the relationship.
Despite the potential for the other party having most or all the leverage while you are still an emerging artist, you have more leverage than you may think.
When negotiating consider the following:
Are you expanding their demographic reach
What hole(s) are you filling on their roster
What are the unique qualities you bring to the deal that someone else may not
How are they benefiting from entering into this contract with you
Going in with a plan and understanding of the other party’s needs is essential to negotiating terms that are more favorable to you. Having a clear understanding and manner of articulating what you expect or need to get out of the relationship to make it worth it for you is just as important as understanding what you bring to the table.
For example:
How knowledgeable is the other party in your field, what do they bring to the table?
Who is paying for materials?
What level of creative autonomy is required for you to deliver the quality of work expected by the other party?
Will you need anything from the other party to fulfill your obligations? Can they provide it?
What sort of marketing do you expect to occur? Who will pay for it? Who will approve it?
What rights do you want to retain in the work?
All of this is important to consider prior to beginning negotiations.
Finally, negotiations are a balancing act to ensure that each party receives what they expect from the deal and can continue working together in the future. To help maintain positive relationships in the industry, it is imperative that these expectations are memorialized in a writing.
Some people may try to “keep things informal,” because they believe the relationship should be only built on trust and reputation or because “friends don’t need things in writing.” From experience, no matter how small a disagreement that may arise is, when friends, or people in a small industry, go into business together it requires more formalities and the writing of specific expectations to ensure relationships are maintained irregardless of the deal.
From negotiation to memorializing an agreement, we are here to help you. Click here to book a free consultation.