Sub Pop have posted Nirvana’s original record contract with the label on Tumblr – click here to see it.
The contract confirms that Nirvana signed with the label for an initial advance of just $600 (£380), which Sub Pop describes drily as “six hundred bucks well spent – not that we had it at the time”. The agreement is between Sub Pop and the band’s then line-up of Kurt Cobain, Jason Everman, Chad Channing and Krist Novoselic, whose name is written incorrectly as “Chris”.
The contract isn’t dated but stipulates that Nirvana’s agreement with Sub Pop will begin on January 1, 1989. Dave Grohl didn’t join the band until 1990.
Although the contract states that Nirvana will receive an advance of just $600 for their initial one year term, it also confirms that the band would receive larger advances of $12,000 (£7,650) for the first option year and $24,000 (£15,300) for the second option year.
The contract is for “three complete album length master tapes” but Nirvana would end up releasing just one LP on Sub Pop, their 1989 debut Bleach.
A remastered version of their third studio album, In Utero, is being released to mark its 20th anniversary on September 23. It will feature 70 tracks, including previously unreleased recordings and demos, B-sides and compilation tracks and live material featuring the band’s final touring line-up of Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic, Dave Grohl and Pat Smear.