Music contracts that bind and choke

Scoring a record deal is every artiste’s dream, it’s seen as a first class ticket to the good life. Such signings are announced and received with enthusiasm by fans and artistes alike.

Rightly so, almost all of the biggest names in music have recording contracts, and so they work. Until they don’t.

Music history is awash with horror stories of contracts gone bad. An artiste ends up with a noose around their neck and the happiness turns to tears after a while.

This occurrence is so common they have a term for it in showbiz; “slave contract” and victims include some of the biggest artistes in history.

Artistes are often eager to receive advance monies for clothes, houses, cars, marketing and publicity, publishing, studio and production expenses. 

Most don’t realise that money is usually deducted from the compensation the artiste should get after his music is sold by the studio. Some end up getting negative payments depending on the amount of advances and they become “slaves” to the company.

Others sign contracts and they end up regretting it because it practically kills their careers.

Last week a Kenyan rapper shocked many when she decried her contract with global music label Sony Music.

While people were still celebrating news of top Tanzanian singer Alikiba’s signing with Sony, Xtatic quickly put a dumper on those celebrations.

The female rapper signed a 360 deal with Sony back in 2012 but her releases have been far and in between.

She says: “Record deals are not necessarily bad, a lot of artistes have made money off them. However big record labels lack local knowledge. Kenya is a peculiar market, we react more to a personality than to a genre of music. The strategies that work in foreign markets don’t work here, you need unique solutions.”

SLAVE CONTRACTS

Xtatic says that as a result of the delays, she cannot release music without the label’s permission and she can’t walk away either.

“As things stand, I can’t get out of my contract unless someone buys me out. I signed a multi-album contract and the label can extend it till they recoup their investment,” she says.

Asked why she signed such a deal, she blames her naivety and trusting nature.

“I signed this deal when I was young and I didn’t think a big company like that would fall short of my expectations. Because I can’t do anything musical unless it’s with Sony I have put aside my music, I’m just doing an ordinary job now. One day I hope to mentor new talent, but for now I focus on providing for my family.”

While we cannot file Xtatic’s case under “Slave contracts” since they refused to issue a statement, such contracts have been around from the time of blue’s legend Muddy Waters in the 1950’s, RnB superstar Toni Braxton in the 1990’s to hip hop sensation Souljah Boy a few years ago.

Kenyan singer Benjamin Webi was an “indie” (independent) artiste for the longest time before signing with Pine Creek, a local label. He has since finished his two year contract with an album to his name and is considering renewing his deal.

“Record labels exist to make an artiste’s life easy and I’m happy at Pine Creek,” he admits. “But if you can find a way of creating these business structures then you don’t need to sign with anyone. Sauti Sol are living proof that it is possible to thrive as an ‘indie’ artiste in Kenya. They have developed a good management team that has enabled them to do soo much.”

According to Webi, who won the Airtel/Trace music competition last year, record labels are a business entity out to make money and that often conflicts with the artistes who are more interested in the social impact of their art. “Sometimes the pressure that labels put on us can reduce the quality of the music that comes out, but ultimately it’s all about finding a deal that works for you,” he adds.

After a seemingly good relationship with Pine Creek, Anto Neosoul shocked many when news broke of his move to Tanzania based company Panamusiq.

“My new deal with Panamusiq is purely management,” he explains.

“I deal with the creative side, they ensure I’m a household name. They secure endorsements to fund my audio and audio visual production but they still give me creative freedom. Labels should be run like labels not hobbies for rich music connoisseurs. I want to be able to endorse products, go on a countrywide school tour, have a great CSR project, and reach the unreachable with my music not box myself so a few people can make sales and move on.”

According to Gerry Gitonga ,a lawyer who specialises in Intellectual Property, music, like any other business is an open market with a willing seller, willing buyer.

“Once you put ink to the deal there is very little anyone can do beyond sympathise with your situation,” he says.

SOLD FOR A SONG

“A contract does not stop being binding just because one of the parties to it got a raw deal due to their inability to negotiate well.”

Gitonga says only way to deal with the situation is if the complaining party can prove other factors beyond bad negotiation skills, they can get a court to declare it non-binding.

“Some of the factors could be – unequal economic power between the parties, where it is proved one party bullied the other into entering into a disadvantageous contract,” he says.

For copyright contracts, he advises artistes, consider what rights in the creative works are being licensed. Specify not only the rights but also the duration, the territory, the compensation and how accounts will be done. Always have a lawyer advice you on a contract before you sign it.

In showbiz record deals are the proverbial occupation hazard, you really can’t do without it and even the best still regret signing the dotted line.

The Beatles made the mother of all showbiz blunders when they signed away majority share of their publishing firm Nothern Song in the 1960’s. In 1985 Michael Jackson outbid former Beatles member Paul McCartney and paid $47.5 million for ATV which owned between 160-260 Beatles classics.

He eventually sold the rights to Sony for a stake in the new company Sony/Avt which consolidated the Beatles catalogue by buying EMI for $2.2 billion in 1995.

Sony is now set to buy Michael Jackson’s remaining stake for $750 million. To date Paul McCartney has never regained ownership to his mega hits, as third parties continue to profit from his work.

Despite his extensive industry experience and shrewd business dealings, Michael Jackson still bitterly complained about his deal with Sony to his death. Though he owned a part of Sony and received un-paralleled percentages he still found fault with his own record label.

Perhaps the craziest of the music contract squables belongs to pop singer Kesha and her producer Dr Luke (Lukasz Gottwald).

The legal battle between the two began in 2014 when Kesha sued her long-time producer, accusing him of years of sexual and emotional abuse.

According to ABC, in 2014, Kesha filed a lawsuit in California to void her contract with Gottwald and his business subsidiaries, allowing her to work with other labels.

The pop star’s claim included accusations her producer forced her to take drugs and drink alcohol so he could abuse her sexually when she was under the influence.

Kesha also alleged Gottwald berated her as overweight and caused her bulimia.

However, years before the lawsuit, in 2011, Kesha testified in a deposition that Gottwald had never made advances at her, and denied having an “intimate relationship”.

Gottwald’s attorney, Christine Lepera, called the charges “malicious lies” and said her client maintained Kesha was sullying his name in an effort to cut short her contract.

Shortly after, Dr Luke countersued Kesha, her mother Pebe Sebert and Kesha’s management firm.

In the lawsuit, he said Kesha tried to extort him by threatening to file her lawsuit so he would release her from her contract.

Both lawsuits from 2014 are yet to go to trial.

Gottwald has not been charged with any crime and his lawyers say he “wants his name restored”.

On February 19, 2016, a Manhattan Supreme Court judge denied an injunction that would have allowed Kesha to record music outside of her contract, while both lawsuits played out.

The judge ruled she was legally obliged to produce five more albums with Sony Music, maintaining her association with Gottwald.