Contract details:
In the suit, Megan lays out the most outrageous terms of her contract, at least in her eyes. For instance, she claims the deal calls for 1501 Certified to get 60% of her recording income. The remaining 40% goes to her, but she has to use that to pay engineers, mixers and featured artists who work on the songs.
Point is ... MTS claims there's a very small slice of pie left for her when it's all said and done. She also says her live gigs currently benefit the label more than her.
According to the suit, the contract calls for all money from Megan's touring and live performances to be paid directly to 1501 Certified. She says the label is supposed to give her a proper accounting of what she's owed -- but claims what they've provided is incomplete, and "purposefully and deceptively vague."
Megan also claims Crawford has been using his relationship with Rap-a-Lot Records founder J. Princeto intimidate people in the industry. In the suit, she claims Crawford pressured a producer to hand over beats by saying Prince would be pissed. Megan claims, "Prince is notorious in the industry for strong-armed intimidation tactics, and the comment was taken as a physical threat of harm."
Megan thinks Prince has had a hand in an online smear campaign against her ... including the recent story about her getting arrested 5 years ago.
All of these headaches simply aren't worth it to Megan, who says in exchange for signing the contract she got a measly $10,000 advance.
She's suing Carl and his label for at least $1 million in damages. Megan is not suing J. Prince.
BTW, the temporary restraining order she was granted also prevents 1501 Certified from attacking or abusing her on social media. Megan's attorney, Richard Busch, tells TMZ, "We are very happy the Court granted our TRO and thrilled that the world should be able to now hear Megan's new music on March 6. We will now proceed with the other claims set forth in the [lawsuit]."
We've reached out to Crawford's camp ... no word back.
Edit#1 (more details)
Megan Thee Stallion Granted Restraining Order Against Her Record Label
Pete is asking a judge to declare her “unconscionable” recording contract with 1501 void, saying that despite the fact that she has more than 1 billion streams and sold more than 300,000 individual track downloads -- earning an estimated $7 million in revenue -- she has only been paid $15,000 by the label
Edit# 2 (Carl Crawford speaks)
On meg Contract:
Let's talk about your contract. It's a great contract for a first-timer," he offers. "What contract gives parts of their masters and 40% royalties and all that kind of stuff? Ask Jay-Z to pull one of his artists' first contracts, and let's compare it to what Megan got... I guarantee they won't ever show you that."
On the money they spent on her:
They're using that as a strong-arm tactic so that I can renegotiate the contract. They're holding the money, and they haven't paid me since August. She done over 15 shows. Y'all do the math. She gets $100,000 a show. She owe me, and I haven't recouped almost $2 million that we spent on her, building her up so that Roc Nation would wanna come [around]. Where was Roc Nation at when we was grinding and riding around on them backstreets? Roc Nation was nowhere to be found.
On what Roc Nation is doing
But at the end of the day, tell them what their real plan was. Their real plan was to get you out of my contract so they can sign you to Roc Nation. That's all they want to do. We gave this girl a 60-40 split. Now go ask the artist about that. She got parts of her masters [the] first time. You think Jay-Z would have gave her part of her masters on her first deal with Roc Nation? F--k no. Then, she's getting $100,000 a show and she don't want to pay up. That's what the issue was about. She signed with Roc Nation in August and decided she didn't wanna pay me no more.
EDIT#3 Carl & 1501 files emergency motion to stop her from releasing music
fukk TMZ for using that photo.Edit#4: Meg doesn’t care and will release her music anyway
Edit# 5: J. prince Responds
Edit #6: Roc Nation and Meg wins case (music released this Friday)
Edit#7: Meg Contract Fully released & She responds by calling out Carl and 1501 entertainment
Complex obtained a copy of Megan Thee Stallion’s original contract with 1501. Contrary to Crawford’s claim in Billboard that Megan owns “parts of her masters,” the contract says that 1501 “hereby is, the owner from inception of each Master Recording… [T]o the extent that ARTIST may be found to be the owner or author of any Master Recording, ARTIST hereby irrevocably assigns to COMPANY all of ARTIST’S rights in such Master Recording.”
The label also takes half of her publishing (“an undivided fifty percent interest...to each composition”) and puts itself in charge of administering it as well. In addition, there’s a clause where Megan can be fined if she’s late to publicity sessions, recording sessions, or appearances. It’s a clause that has actually been exercised, Complex is told.
Another part of the deal is that the label gets 30% of live performance money, and all expenses for the concerts come from Megan’s share. And despite the fact that any tours must be approved by 1501, the contract includes language that the company “is not a licensed ‘Talent Agent’” and “is under no obligation to procure employment” for Megan. The talent agent language is likely there to get around licensing qualifications for talent agents in Texas.
The source close to the situation confirms Crawford’s claim to Billboard that, for several months, Megan has been holding back money owed to 1501. But they claim that this is only being done until Crawford can provide a full accounting. “For two years, they've been collecting her money and she's hasn't been paid,” they explain to Complex. “They’re not paying her or submitting statements to her.”
Edit# 8: Album is released
Edit# 9: Them Numbers not looking good
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