Taylor Swift has been going through this never ending batlle with her former label president Scott Bruschette and Scooter Braun. Taylor left her label, Big Machine, after being signed for ten years and putting out six albums to move onto Republic Records. However, her label was bought out by Scooter Braun's company and he has had a feud with Taylor Swift for the past decade for several reasons including his ties to his enemy, Kanye West. She has since gone public with the matter and spoken out of how she has been barred from performing her old songs or else she will be fined or pay Big Machine to sing them.
This isn't the first time an artist has been screwed over by the music industry. Taylor was fourteen years old when she signed her record deal and didn't know the future stipulations her contract will have on her catalog in the case that she leaves. This happens to many artists in the past and now. They get discovered and are given a contract, without reading it, and a million dollar deal that they don't know they'll have to pay back after their first album. Here are fiver acts that have been played by the music industry.
1) JoJo
GiphyJoJo is most notable for her songs like "Get Out", "Baby It's You", and "Too Little Too Late". She was signed to Blackground Records at twelve years old and had two number one albums. She fell off the scene due to being in a ten year legal battle with her label after they leaked her third album and basically shelved her and kept her from recording. They with held her first two albums from streaming platforms, meaning she wouldn't earn any income from her work. She's now making a comeback after finally being let out of her contract after ten years. She's put out her third studio album, rerecorded her first two albums after winning her copyright lawsuit and has earned a Grammy nomination from her feature song with PJ Morton on their song "Say So".
2) NSYNC
One of the best boy bands in the world was actually losing money out of the biggest deals in music. NSYNC entered the scene in the late 90's and their self titled album hit #1 in 1997. However unbeknownest to them, their manger, Lou Pearlman, was defrauding them of millions they were getting from albums sales, touring, and merchandise. The group sued Pearlman and their label, Trans Continental. The label counter-sued but the court ruled in favor of the boys and they were able to own their name. They later left the label and signed with Jive Records where they were record their next two albums before they disbanded in 2002.
3) Fifth Harmony
Fifth Harmony was a short lived girl group milennials underapreciated. Though their label troubles weren't put out publicly, they were vocal about the struggles they went through during the production process of their three studio albums. Their contract with Syco, a division of Epic, limited their creative control on their music, only receiving a fraction of their earnings, and receiving little to no promo/marketing backing from their label. After Camila Cabello left the group after the end of their contract period, the four remaining members signed a new contract they gave them creative control and put out their third and final album.
4) TLC
GiphyThe ladies are TLC are a cautionary tale of reading before you sign your contracts. TLC were talented singers from Atlanta that were given the chance to sign with LaFace in 1993. After their first two albums and winning three Grammys, they filed for bankruptcy in 1995 after claiming $3.5 million in profits taken by their label. They later received a settlement after battling court for over a year and they ruled in their favor. The received a new deal that guranteed them earning of full profits from their next album and international tour.
5) B2K
GiphyB2K came out in the early 2000's. They had the hits like "Bump Bump Bump", "Girlfriend", and "Uh Huh." They ran from 1998 to 2004. They split after the group members found out that their manger, Chris Stokes, were mishandling their earnings. They were all minors so he was managing all the funds. They group sued him and his management company but they never got recuperations.
And these are just the most relevant situations. Any artist that's signed to a label or with a management company has signed a bad deal. That's why you have more artists going independent because there are music labels and companies that only care about the dollar. Anyone who's wanting to go into the industry needs to be mindful and have a lawyer present. If you don't have a lawyer, bring your parents cause not reading will land you in the $5 CD bin at Walmart.
