Meg Stallion to sue 1501 ent. Edit#9: Meg wins, New music is released. Them numbers not looking good
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Power of publishing....even bosses have bosses....
Megan Thee Stallion’s Day in Court Is a Win for All Artists
The importance of this ruling cannot be overstated.
Mark TavernMar 4, 2020
Photo Credit: Joseph Baura (@j.baura)
This is a guest editorial by , an artist manager, consultant, educator, administrator, and arts advocate with more than 20 years of music business experience.
Houston-based rapper Megan Thee Stallion took to Instagram Live this past weekend to air a grievance with her label 1501 Certified Entertainment. She said she was told “she can’t drop no music” because as soon as she suggested that they “renegotiate [her] contract, everything went left, like, it just all went bad, it all went left.”
Meg wasn’t forthcoming with many details about her situation in that video, only saying that “when I signed, I didn’t really know what was in my contract. I was young. I was like 20, and I didn’t know everything that was in that contract.”
Speculation mounted as to whether this story would be another one of an artist who either didn’t know the terms of their contract, didn’t/couldn’t hire an attorney, or was being taken advantage of by their label.
Forget all that speculation now: as it turns out, she figured out what was in that contract, she hired an attorney, and she’s not going to be taken advantage of.
If there’s anything to learn since that video came out, it’s that Megan Thee Stallion does not play. Here’s why:
First, she figured out she signed a terrible deal. While the contract has yet to be made public, some terms have come out. Among them are that she signed a deal that provided for a 60 / 40 split of recording revenue and a 70 / 30 split on everything else. And after all of that, she went out of pocket on recording costs and received only a paltry $10,000 advance. (Note that 1501 has disputed this and claimed her live performance earnings—which they get a piece of—are being withheld.)
Second, despite whatever previous counsel she may or may not have had, she’s now hired attorney Richard S. Busch. Busch is the heavy-hitting lawyerwho represented Marvin Gaye’s Estate in its copyright infringement suit against Robin Thicke and Pharrell over “Blurred Lines.” That victory won his clients a $7.3M judgment. It’s clear that Busch, like Megan, plays to win.
Third—and most importantly—Megan’s already won the first round in her fight against 1501’s owner, Carl Crawford, the MLB left-fielder who started the label after retiring from baseball. The terms are stunning, even for terrible production deals. She called her contract “unconscionable,” and as a result, a Federal Court granted a temporary restraining order in her favor.
It’s not uncommon for labels to sign artists when they’re young. It’s not uncommon for labels to sign artists before they have a team. It’s not uncommon for labels to sign artists before they have no distribution. It’s not uncommon for shady labels to get away with such tactics and bleed artists dry. Contracts can often have terrible terms, and artists sign them all the time. But as long as those terms don’t require either party to break the law, the contract can remain enforceable.
What makes this initial victory such a big win for Meg (and for other recording artists) is that the court is letting her release the music. [Editor's Note: Megan is releasing a multi-track project on Friday, March 6.] Ordinarily, the question of ownership is clear. Production deals like this lock up the artist’s recordings and take away their control. In any other case, this would weigh against the artist: if they gave away their rights, any release of the music (even a sanctioned leak) would harm their label, not them.
But 1501 apparently did not take full ownership. As a result, Meg could show the court that her plans were in jeopardy because of 1501’s resistance. And by granting the restraining order, the court suggested that the deal she signed was so bad that she might still win when the case goes to trial.
The importance of this ruling cannot be overstated: despite it being only a temporary ruling, the court suggested that Meg might be able to void her contract. Imagine that: an artist finally able to show that a label has too much control, their terms are terrible, and it matters the artist was young, or perhaps ill-advised, and without a lawyer.
Megan Thee Stallion had her day in court on Monday, and it was a good day for all recording artists.
The importance of this ruling cannot be overstated.
Mark TavernMar 4, 2020
Photo Credit: Joseph Baura (@j.baura)
This is a guest editorial by , an artist manager, consultant, educator, administrator, and arts advocate with more than 20 years of music business experience.
Houston-based rapper Megan Thee Stallion took to Instagram Live this past weekend to air a grievance with her label 1501 Certified Entertainment. She said she was told “she can’t drop no music” because as soon as she suggested that they “renegotiate [her] contract, everything went left, like, it just all went bad, it all went left.”
Meg wasn’t forthcoming with many details about her situation in that video, only saying that “when I signed, I didn’t really know what was in my contract. I was young. I was like 20, and I didn’t know everything that was in that contract.”
Speculation mounted as to whether this story would be another one of an artist who either didn’t know the terms of their contract, didn’t/couldn’t hire an attorney, or was being taken advantage of by their label.
Forget all that speculation now: as it turns out, she figured out what was in that contract, she hired an attorney, and she’s not going to be taken advantage of.
If there’s anything to learn since that video came out, it’s that Megan Thee Stallion does not play. Here’s why:
First, she figured out she signed a terrible deal. While the contract has yet to be made public, some terms have come out. Among them are that she signed a deal that provided for a 60 / 40 split of recording revenue and a 70 / 30 split on everything else. And after all of that, she went out of pocket on recording costs and received only a paltry $10,000 advance. (Note that 1501 has disputed this and claimed her live performance earnings—which they get a piece of—are being withheld.)
Second, despite whatever previous counsel she may or may not have had, she’s now hired attorney Richard S. Busch. Busch is the heavy-hitting lawyerwho represented Marvin Gaye’s Estate in its copyright infringement suit against Robin Thicke and Pharrell over “Blurred Lines.” That victory won his clients a $7.3M judgment. It’s clear that Busch, like Megan, plays to win.
Third—and most importantly—Megan’s already won the first round in her fight against 1501’s owner, Carl Crawford, the MLB left-fielder who started the label after retiring from baseball. The terms are stunning, even for terrible production deals. She called her contract “unconscionable,” and as a result, a Federal Court granted a temporary restraining order in her favor.
It’s not uncommon for labels to sign artists when they’re young. It’s not uncommon for labels to sign artists before they have a team. It’s not uncommon for labels to sign artists before they have no distribution. It’s not uncommon for shady labels to get away with such tactics and bleed artists dry. Contracts can often have terrible terms, and artists sign them all the time. But as long as those terms don’t require either party to break the law, the contract can remain enforceable.
What makes this initial victory such a big win for Meg (and for other recording artists) is that the court is letting her release the music. [Editor's Note: Megan is releasing a multi-track project on Friday, March 6.] Ordinarily, the question of ownership is clear. Production deals like this lock up the artist’s recordings and take away their control. In any other case, this would weigh against the artist: if they gave away their rights, any release of the music (even a sanctioned leak) would harm their label, not them.
But 1501 apparently did not take full ownership. As a result, Meg could show the court that her plans were in jeopardy because of 1501’s resistance. And by granting the restraining order, the court suggested that the deal she signed was so bad that she might still win when the case goes to trial.
The importance of this ruling cannot be overstated: despite it being only a temporary ruling, the court suggested that Meg might be able to void her contract. Imagine that: an artist finally able to show that a label has too much control, their terms are terrible, and it matters the artist was young, or perhaps ill-advised, and without a lawyer.
Megan Thee Stallion had her day in court on Monday, and it was a good day for all recording artists.
that's easy money, charge 10,000 do 10 club appearances and you just netted 100,000. I believe this is what Boosie does and Boosie gets paid.thats just from streaming, which even Drake doesnt make much from.. they make their money from touring / festival / nightclub hosting.. which is why I alwayswhen these artists turn down $7500-15000 for after parties then cry broke few years later
fukk em
I will never have any sympathy for any artist that turns down $10,000 (not just Meg but many artist) to sit in a club for 30 minutes and do 1-2 verses. Even if you arent going to use the money for yourself, give it to a friend, family member, something$10,000 can fix majority of people in someones circle issues id imagine
artists will literally tell me they rather chill in a hotel and smoke then come out to host a nightclub for 30 minutes-1 hour for $10,000-$15,000
so instead they make $0
management : "they rather just chill with some girls in the hotel "
me:
them girls still gonna chill regardless of nightclub hosting or not, you really turning down $12,500 to drink for free and sit in a corner of a club for half a hour
management : we need $25,000 min for a walk through
then make $0
Rembrandt
the artist
It's true lol
Womb Raider
movin' thru the city streets
Receipts for trick daddy and rick Ross?
ThaEruditious
She luv it over here like Gold Watch.
It's not Trick, but Ted "Touche" Lucas of Slip N Slide
Stacker Pentecost
Superstar
Carl hasn’t really denied anything meg said about her deal except saying she partially owns her masters (waiting for receipts on this), she got $50k upfront not $10k (waiting for receipts on this), and that the split is 70/30 on everything outside of her music (which Meg said she has been getting $0 of her 30%). Carl’s argument seems like it boils down to ‘yeah we are robbing you 
our robbery is better than the robbery you would get elsewhere your dead mother brokered the deal take it up with her ’
If Meg is suing for a better deal than what she has we’ll see if she gets it, I don’t really think it’s fair to say ‘she should stay in her place’ because ‘other artists get less’
If she thinks she deserves more, she’s making the case for more and she only has to convince the judge.
The argument over her age seems petty
Everyone has an ‘industry age,’ especially women. This is a lot of he said/she said back and forth without proof on either side.
our robbery is better than the robbery you would get elsewhere your dead mother brokered the deal take it up with her ’If Meg is suing for a better deal than what she has we’ll see if she gets it, I don’t really think it’s fair to say ‘she should stay in her place’ because ‘other artists get less’
If she thinks she deserves more, she’s making the case for more and she only has to convince the judge.The argument over her age seems petty
Everyone has an ‘industry age,’ especially women. This is a lot of he said/she said back and forth without proof on either side.
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ignorethis
RIP Fresh RIP Doe RIP Phat
yea my mistake, I just knew Slip-N-Slide been in his pockets up until 2015
