He declared his contract was industry standard, but that didnt mean it was fair. Ross Guberman [00:20:11] Yeah, I think part of that is really bracketing off, just as you are saying, words and phrases that a lawyer knows have substantive value. NO other business in the world takes a look at the business, buys shares, starts to profit when it profits. Copyright 2023 Penske Business Media, LLC. He tweeted them so I made PDFs. For Kanye's follow-up to TheCollege Dropout, which wasLate Registration, Roc-A-Fella gave him anadvance equal to the excess of $3.5 million over recording costs. As Kanye West escalates his battle with Universal Music Group, the Chicago rapper decided to share the entirety of his record contract on Twitter. Why are artists paying a 20 percent distribution fee off the top?, Related Miguel Candela / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images file Kanye West's War Against Record Contracts Could Actually Work for Kanye, Anyway Kanye West wants his rights back. The deal was huge, man, they give you money to live off of. Not every artist has time to read the Donald Passman bookand find out what every term and clause means, and while there are great lawyers out there, too many just want their 5 percent [commission].. The partnership was a nightmare for both Negrito and the label, he says. So lets take another example from the Kanye contract. Youve got a before and an after, and Ill share with you guys as well the sort of color coding that Ross is using for the different kinds of language on here. So the rest, you know, if its not a one of those categories, its either an industry term of art or just normal English talking about finance or recording. In 2012, the label released its debut compilation album Cruel Summer.In 2015, Pusha T was appointed the president of the label . Most comprehensive library of legal defined terms on your mobile device. Search the history of over 797 billion One seems to be this issue of Ive got to check some legal boxes. So tell me about this before. Portals. From that money, $4 million was allocated to recording costs. Ross Guberman [00:01:07] Im doing well, its good to see you and good to see your room, too. Why should the lawyers watching this thing care other than the sick entertainment value of watching somebody have a breakdown about contracts? And, to an extent, they're not wrong. So come join us right now. Thank you, Ross. Theres no more independent plants, no more putting all these CDs in a truck and shipping them from store to store across the country, Chris Anokute, founder of entertainment company Young Forever Inc. and a former A&R executive for labels including Capitol and Island Def Jam, tells Rolling Stone. I want you to do me a quick favor. on the Internet. The deal. The 43-year-old rapper has conceded after his. I will never work for a major record label again, Anokute says. Right. September 18, 2020. Challenging yourself to put things in terms people can understand without affecting the overall meaning can uncover ambiguities, saving you time in the long run. Some of the phrases are unnecessarily complicated. Ross and I dig into Kanyes request for plain language drafting and whether its even realistic. It's unclear if it actually will. Ultimately, the issue seems to be that there wasnt somebody with him saying this is what it means. However, there are a few conditions: the artist will first be offered a dealthrough G.O.O.D. Music for that rejected artist, the labelhas the right to enter into an agreement with a third party label. For Kanye, his 15% royalty rate on wholesale for each sneaker sold has netted him roughly $150 million pre-tax annually. The rapper initially sued the . But asking for plain English is easy; writing a legal document thats both enforceable and clear is a bit more complicated. Some examples would be words such as materiality, reasonable efforts, and severable. Equity & Blanket Licenses are the majority of future new income. So we dont want to change recouped because now we would be not faithful to the substance. The music industry needs more clarity when approaching artists with deals so they understand the tradeoff that theyre making., Amy Noonan, who records as Qveen Herby and was formerly half of 2010s pop duo Karmin, had what she describes as a lucky experience: She and her now-husband and bandmate signed a deal with Epic Records in 2011 after Karmin started going viral on YouTube, and they got out of that deal four years later. The plain-language portion may influence what is interpreted on the left. But, Ross, if people want to get in touch with you and get a sense of how to differentiate, I mean, this seems to be the hard skill is differentiating between this is a legally significant and archaic, but its significant. You know, the I remember the general counsel, GE Aviation said, you know, a 12th grader, a teenager should be able to read this. Kanye West Says He Won't Release New Music Until Freed From Sony and Universal Contracts: Declaring himself "the new Moses" while demanding apologies from Drake and J. Cole. However, phrases like notwithstanding anything to the contrary and promptly may seem unnecessary, but they have a legal layer thats important in order to maintain the integrity of the contract. We talk about differentiating between archaic language thats necessary and archaic language you should cut, as well as tools you can use to identify that language. His musical career has been marked by dramatic changes in styles, incorporating an eclectic range of influences including soul, baroque pop, electro, indie rock, synth-pop, industrial and gospel. The . Ye by Kanye West (Record, 2018) (9) 100% agree - Would recommend. The dates of the files range from 2005 to 2014. Kanye West continues his campaign against major record labels. A lawyers role is to improve deals, not charge for contracts we cannot understand or track. Like others, Negrito, who released his third independent LPHave You Lost Your Mind Yet? Thats the name of my new band. Most comprehensive library of legal defined terms on your mobile device. Kanye West posted a number of tweets that caused a great deal of controversy in the music industry. W aiting for a Kanye West album can be an excruciating, interminable experience. I hope youre enjoying this episode of the contract tear down show. As far as the actual deal goes, Kanyes isnt particularly bad: Music lawyerswho spoke with Rolling Stone call Wests deal standard for an artist at his level. Kanye West has posted dozens of pages of record contracts, and a video of a Grammy being urinated on, in a lengthy string of tweets criticizing the music industry. The documents . Were going to deduct a million dollars. And we want you to know, even if the recording agreement to you indicate something else, this is whats going to happen. What do you see? #kanyewest #dramaalert #grammyWanna continu. The rest is either just plain generically legaleese like hereinafter referred to or to the extent that that we can easily change because theres no special contract law layer there or or actually concrete things that are understandable, like sixth album recording. To fans' delight, Kanye shared the documents in full and large enough to view as a way to let folks know the ins and outs of his record deal. You need to have some consistency, trying to keep that in there while still, again, capturing the the legal the truly contract law based elements of the original, the proviso, the, you know, the preemption, the classic for the avoidance of doubt and so forth, trying to trying to preserve all that, but not going so far as to worry about sentence length just for the sake of sentence length. Let me do a screen show real quick to show people what were talking about. He was given a $6 million advance for his seventh album with $3 million designated to recording costs. One strange structure commonly found in the record industry is the way profits are divided. The after section shows which changes Gruberman suggests need to be made. See BBC report here. Facebook did something a little bit different, but along the same lines to, you know, to keep the language the lawyers want on the left and then on the right either introduced the topic or the issue that the provision covers or in some cases actually rewrite it in plain English, as you know, were discussing. He got a $12 million pool of money to make "Yeezus" in 2013. Mike Whelan [00:11:02] Hmm. So the blue, you know, the blue, the kinds of things briefcase picks up as well. The first agreement in the series was around the time PDF were new. What contract language is unnecessarily archaic and what isnt? So from a record label standpoint at the moment, the split Kanye has above is in many cases flipped. Yet even though Kanyes deal may not make him the ideal poster child for a conversation on the fairness of recording contracts, hes sparked a high level of discussion among artists and music-business insiders on the nature of record deals and long-held standards. No, but nobody wants clients to to conclude that. We don't know - still - who the next US president will be, but we do know who it won't be - Kanye West. In follow-up tweets, he shared screengrabs of 10 documents that included a profit sharing agreement and a recording agreement. (Epic did not respond to a request for comment for this story. Kanye West Attempts To Share His Recording Contract Page-By-Page On Twitter Aaron Williams Hip-Hop Editor Twitter September 16, 2020 For someone who goes on Twitter so much, Kanye West. But they were reluctant to strike a deal with the young producer/rapper. this summer, doesnt point the finger at any one entity or group for the nature of these deals. Roc-A-Fella was to approve any "recording elements,"which are listed as: selection of individual producer(s), selection of compositions to be recorded, specification of accompaniment, arrangement and copying services, selection of dates of recording and studios where recording is to take place. Lawyers. This method perhaps isnt as friendly to consumers as LinkedIns method, but its close enough to the source material and still understandable. So this is something later in the series, I imagine theres a back story, you know, tense, tense discussions about the money part. (In response, the label played down the conflict:We pride ourselves on our industry-leading track record of putting songwriters first and helping them to achieve their creative and commercial goals. Im seeing a lot of these highlights. Mike Whelan [00:22:29] he did not listen. Uploaded by The deal starts where he doesnt have as much clout, hell get mutual creative control, but later he gets more, and the deals get better as Kanye becomes Kanye, says Kinney, who has worked with platinum-selling artists, producers, and estates. Kanye West signed singer-songwriter Teyana Taylor to his record label, G.O.O.D Music, in 2012 while she was in the midst of production on his album "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy . Have a breakdown about contracts time PDF were new point the finger at any one entity or for. Continues his campaign against major record labels if the recording agreement to you indicate something else this. Campaign against major record label again, Anokute says third independent LPHave you Lost Mind... Was huge, man, they give you money to live off of pre-tax annually Kanyes request for language. Interpreted on the left his seventh album with $ 3 million designated to recording costs has! 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