Major labels hold MFN audit rights while artists cannot audit

Evidence

Lastly, a key feature of the leaked contract was a “most-favored-nation clause,” meaning that Sony was entitled to increased payment if any other labels negotiated better deals and the right to conduct an audit as proof. There is perhaps no clearer signal of the imbalance in the recording industry than the fact that the major labels have the right to perform audits to extract more money, while artists are unable to perform audits in order to find out why they make so little. — Andrew deWaard, Derivative Media, 209

Categorization

• DEFINE: Concretely defines the most-favored-nation clause as deployed in catalog licensing deals.
• XREF: MFN clauses here echo the same contractual device at work in distribution deals and merger agreements — a useful cross-domain thread for the reader tracing one instrument across industries.