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Pryor Cashman Entertainment Partner Howard Siegel was recently interviewed by The Hollywood Reporter, Esq. for the article “Why winning American Idol might matter even more this year.” As noted in the May 20, 2009 article, Siegel has represented more Idol contestants than any other lawyer. 

Siegel told The Hollywood Reporter, Esq. that in past years, winning the show meant being locked into various recording and promotional contracts with the show’s producers. Meanwhile, runners-up had a little more freedom to negotiate. Many of the most successful contestants, including Jennifer Hudson, Clay Aiken, and Chris Daughtry, weren’t celebrated as winners at the end of a season finale. Instead, they hit pay dirt afterwards.

According to Siegel, with the economy tanking and the music industry struggling, non-winners are now likely in the same position as the winners, contract-wise, and probably have to accept what are known as “360 deals,” which are multiple rights contracts where labels and artists share everything from concert revenue to merchandise and other earnings. In other words, they’ll likely have to agree to a contract very much like the one that the winner of the show gets, assuming they are lucky enough to get one which, in the current industry climate, is not a certainty.