Cooking Vinyl and Music Business Worldwide hosted “The Future of the Record Deal” earlier this month, in London.

Coverage by Tim Ingham of Music Business Worldwide of a U.K. panel discussion featuring label and legal bigwigs touches on some excellent points, including the effort to negotiate a 50/50 royalty split with artists, the ability to contract for limited-time use of creative product in a label’s catalog and the reality of YouTube: “the biggest way people consume music on the planet. But in terms of monetizing, it’s tough,” said Martin Goldschmidt, CEO of the event’s host, U.K. independent Cooking Vinyl.

The need for transparency was also a hot topic: record companies “don’t show you the figures, or what their deals are with Spotify. As an artist lawyer, you want to see it all,” said Paul Spraggon, co-founder of music law firm SSB. Other participants include Mike Smith, President Of Music at Virgin EMI, Machine Management‘s Phil Morais and artist Billy Bragg. If this topic is of any interest, do yourself a favor and read the entire piece.