Under the Hood: Engineering the Music Feature Agreement Tool for OPM Artists

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As a music producer, developer, and former signed artist, I’ve spent the last few months building tools that bridge the gap between creativity and technology for Filipino musicians. One of my latest contributions is the Music Feature Agreement Tool—a fully client-side, privacy-conscious, and modular contract generator built specifically for artist-to-artist collaborations in the OPM scene.

This post breaks down the technical structure and design decisions behind the tool. Unlike my earlier Medium articles, this entry focuses on the engineering and implementation details while avoiding excessive disclosure of proprietary methods.

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Architecture & Stack

The tool is built on Next.js with React, structured to be fully responsive and performant. It uses a hybrid approach to styling:

• TailwindCSS: For layout primitives, spacing, and utility-first responsiveness

• shadcn/ui: For composable UI components that serve accessibility and theme consistency

• Styled Components: For custom-designed logic-wrapped components that require scoped or dynamic styles and state behavior

All logic is written in TypeScript, enabling strict type safety across all modules.

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Core Logic and Contract Data Model

At the heart of the tool is a custom-built MusicFeatureArtistAgreement class that I personally engineered. This class handles:

• Data schema validation

• Serialization and deserialization of agreement states

• Interface mapping between UI and form logic

• Export handlers for both .zworld and .pdf formats

The class makes use of custom interfaces, enums, and utility methods to manage agreement metadata, royalty computation, and file encoding.

Each object is strongly typed and modular so that sections like royalty splits, publishing entitlements, and file delivery requirements can be reused or validated independently.

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🔐 Import / Export: Encrypted .zworld File Format

One of the key engineering features is the ability to export an encrypted .zworld file, which functions as a versioned state snapshot of an in-progress agreement. These files allow users to:

• Save their draft agreements securely for future revision

• Share them across devices or collaborators privately

• Avoid re-entering information every time

The encryption and decoding logic ensures that even sensitive agreement data can be stored offline without compromising user privacy.

In parallel, agreements can be rendered and downloaded as formatted PDF files using dynamically mapped inputs from the MusicFeatureArtistAgreement class.

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🔊 Real-World Features for Real-World Musicians

Unlike generic contract templates, this tool allows in-depth specification of the collaboration terms, drawn from my personal experiences in music production:

• Royalty Splitting:

  • Sound Recording: Defines the share of the master royalties.

  • Publishing: Configurable based on songwriting contribution.

• Audio Delivery Specifications:

  • Users can set required file types (e.g., WAV, 24-bit, 48kHz)

  • Exact deliverables: Verse, hook, adlibs, bridge, etc.

• Usage Rights & Termination:

  • Reversion of rights upon termination (unless renegotiated)

  • Artist-level control over release contingencies and royalty flows

These configurations aren’t generic. They reflect my direct experience with track production, file formatting issues, and songwriting collaborations—giving artists precise legal language to protect themselves.

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Designed for Filipino Artists

The tool is a direct successor to my earlier Music Producer - Artist Agreement Generator, now adapted specifically for peer-to-peer artist collaborations. Whereas the previous version focused on producer-artist relationships, this new version addresses the nuances of artist-to-artist features—common in the OPM scene where informal verbal agreements still dominate. It provides a structured, professional way to document collaborative terms clearly and accessibly, even without legal expertise.

No sign-up. No data collection. Just practical, legally structured documentation—because collaboration should be easy, transparent, and fair.

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Final Thoughts

This isn’t just a form builder. It’s a codebase engineered with respect for musicians’ workflow, time, and creativity. I built the logic, typed every interface, and structured the UI with actual musicians and producers in mind—because I’ve been in their shoes.

Feel free to reach out or suggest improvements. More tools are on the way.

If you're a developer, creative, engineer, or agency looking to implement custom workflow tools like this, I'm always open to consulting or collaboration.

I’m always open for commission-based projects — whether you're looking for custom music, 3D visuals, cinematic animation, or software development solutions. If you have a vision and need someone to bring it to life, I’m all in.

Let’s work! Your vision, my magic.

Email: business@thezelijah.world

With love,
Zelijah