The very first management contract signed by The Beatles on January 24th, 1962 recently sold at auction. The document signed by all four original members went for an eye-watering £275,000 ($344,000 at current exchange rates). The document was signed by…
Category archives: Music Contracts
Kanye West Files Motion to Dismiss EMI Music Publishing’s Countersuit in New York
Taking a jab at Sony Music’s EMI Music Publishing division and Universal Music Group (UMG), Kanye West told his fans artists should have the right to purchase their publishing catalog whenever they want. There’s just one problem. Typically, artists ca…
Sony/ATV Inks Worldwide Deal With Hit Machine Songwriter/Producer/DJ Mustard
Sony/ATV Music Publishing has signed a new worldwide deal with Grammy-winning songwriter, artist, and producer Mustard. The new deal marks the first big signing since Jon Platt joined Sony/ATV as chairman and CEO. Mustard won Best R&B Song at this …
Danish Rapper Sleiman Sues Tekashi69’s Publishing Company Over Unreleased Track
Danish rapper Sleiman has filed a lawsuit against Tekashi69 Publishing over an unreleased track. Alongside his company, Apache Music IVS, Sleiman claims the now-jailed Tekashi 69 (real name Daniel Hernandez) never released their recorded song, ‘Red Ban…
Why You Should Put It In Writing
While music industry partnerships may feature a lot casual agreements and handshake deals publishers and artists alike stand to benefit from taking the extra step of documenting these agreements, both to avoid complications down the road and to give yourself a sense of agency. ______________________________ Guest post by Jake Udell…
Irving Azoff’s Global Music Rights Wins Significant Victory in Case against RMLC
The Radio Music Licensing Committee’s ugly antitrust lawsuit against Irving Azoff’s Global Music Rights continues to drag on. Irving Azoff’s performance rights organization, Global Music Rights (GMR), doesn’t exactly see eye-to-eye with terrestrial rad…
Co-Writer Behind Madonna’s Vogue Moves Forward With $500,000 Suit Against Warner/Chappell
Warner Music Group pays more to its own lawyers than it can to its songwriters. Two years ago, the co-writer behind Madonna’s ‘Vogue’ filed a lawsuit against Warner Music Group (WMG). Robert ‘Shep’ Pettibone claimed the major label illegally withheld r…
EMI Music Publishing Declares War Against Kanye West — Files Countersuit for Breach of Contract
Kanye West has launched a legal battle on two fronts against EMI Music Publishing and Universal Music Group in a spat over rights to his publishing catalog. But EMI is now aggressively fighting back. West shared on Twitter that he was attempting to bu…
EMI Music Publishing Declares War Against Kanye West — Files Countersuit for Breach of Contract
Kanye West has launched a legal battle on two fronts against EMI Music Publishing and Universal Music Group in a spat over rights to his publishing catalog. But EMI is now aggressively fighting back. West shared on Twitter that he was attempting to bu…
In Bitter Lawsuit Against EMI, Kanye West Pushes Once Again For Publishing Rights Ownership
Has Kanye West omitted a key clause that could ultimately cause him to lose his legal battle against EMI Music Publishing? Kanye West has remained pretty upset at Sony’s EMI Music Publishing division and at Universal Music Group (UMG). According to a p…