The Daily Mail has reportedly got its hands on an actual X Factor contract that all the final twelve acts must sign before appearing on the live shows, and it makes very interesting reading!

The contract is reported to be a whopping eighty pages long and one of the gems is a rule which states that contestants must not make any comment that ‘may be considered unduly negative, critical or derogatory of the Company … and, in particular, Simon Cowell’.

Another clause obviously thought up by Mr Cowell himself, states that all eliminated acts must pay Cowell five percent of their earnings for a year. Anyone leaving the show is forbidden from signing a record deal or releasing any new music for three months and the final two runners up are tied to Cowell’s label for three months after the show even if he doesn’t use them.

These rules are enforceable ‘anywhere in the world and solar system’.

So this begs the question, if you were a serious artist, who believed in your talent and had strived to make it in the music world to date, would you sign this restrictive contract?

On one hand the X factor gives singers a platform to millions of the UK public which would be almost impossible to achieve alone, on the other hand if you enter and fail, you will be forgotten within weeks yet still tied to the show, not allowed to slate Simon and expected to hand over chunks of your earnings.

I would sign the contract, in a heartbeat, but I am no serious musician and have no artistic integrity. I would love to hear from some serious artists on what they would do if faced with this situation…….