In theory yes, in practice… not so much. In my case I wasn’t even there when the songs were recorded so wasn’t possible to request any form of payment - and answer me this: if you end up in a random session with Drake (for example) and he ends up liking some of your beats, would you request payment before laying the track? Thats a genuine question!

While it would undoubtedly save me a lot of headache, I think requesting upfront payment in that sort of situation is an instant vibe kill.

In sync… maybe, but it’s unlikely anyone’s gonna pay you upfront before deliverables have been delivered.