The you know, the goal is not the same. The papers indicate that he started on a royalty deal frequently afforded to upcoming artists, which later evolved into a more artist-friendly pressing and distribution deal that gave Kanye more of the profits and bigger budgets as he became a superstar. Wests contract could even be considered favorable among superstar contracts, with Universal heavily investing in Wests works, entertainment attorney Christiane Kinney says. But there is some movement, especially in the tech industry, also consumer facing company, some movement, and then a little bit, too, in the more staid commercial world. You take expenses out and then people are sharing whats left. So I apologize to both of you D.C. people watching. The . Ye says he wants his four children to own them. August 6, 2021 3:35 PM EDT. Mike Whelan [00:17:41] an interpretive sca band and Im going to have to look for the domain name. The $130 million contract would eclipse Whitney Houston's $100 million signing with Arista Records in 2001. Thats the name of my new band. I will never work for a major record label again, Anokute says. Ye also had to seek written approval from the labelat least 14 days before the first recording session. Now we know where the funds will come from, so its its. 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. I mean, shoot, producers can take $15,000 to $20,000 a piece on each track. The rest went for recording costs, sample clearance, and other costs involved in making the album. Most comprehensive library of legal defined terms on your mobile device. Again back to dependents. We wouldnt be talking about all this now if the label hadnt invested in him and put tons of marketing money into this for his leg up.. So we want to talk briefly about this profit sharing piece, this image here, because theres a lot of language that might lead to artists not understanding that theyre getting into that pretty crappy deal, honestly. Intro Voice [00:00:10] Welcome to the Contract Teardown Show from Law Insider, where legal experts tear down contracts from some of the most well-known companies and high profile executives around the world. Over the course of dozens of tweets, West. But they were reluctant to strike a deal with the young producer/rapper. Before we do, Ross, I want you to tell me about yourself. Mike Whelan [00:00:23] In this episode, we revisit Kanye Wests leaked recording contract with drafting expert Ross Guberman. You can imagine the anxiety the in-house counsel have, right? The dates of the files range from 2005 to 2014. So its cut down on negotiation time and led to better, you know, better deals. The contracts show Kanye received a $2.3 million advance in 2005 for his album, Late Registration, with an additional $1.2 million as a recording budget.For . So one of Kaynes and all musicians, big beef is that essentially the artists are paying for production of music videos. Theyll follow their attorneys recommendation. this summer, doesnt point the finger at any one entity or group for the nature of these deals. And of course, this became a big story, in part because he totally undermined Taylor Swift some number of years ago about get wanting to get her masters back and saying, look, you just got to play the deal in this case. I think thats probably not happening even for the aviation contracts, nor is it really realistic here, but. The lawyers in this industry who are used to the status quo are going to say its worth it, but if I make a deal with you and go to lunch and say you pay 70 [percent], I dont think youll say its fair. You should need NO ONE else to understand the business youre in. The partnership was a nightmare for both Negrito and the label, he says. Ross Guberman [00:03:18] And so Im the president of legal writing prose, so Ive been doing workshops and consulting on all different aspects of lawyer writing and judicial writing for a couple of decades now. So theres this GE aviation series of rewritten contracts. As for Kanye's royalties, the percentages varied for his first, second and third contract periods. All those of those terms that you can also edit out of other legal documents, theres a lot to do there that really will clean these up without ever even considering going into the substantive terms. Thus,50 percent of these costs incurred by Roc-A-Fella are considered advances, but the label could notrecoup more than $40,000 for each album relevant to these costs: creation, hosting, maintenance of artists website, securing, registering and/or protecting artist domain names, creation of ECD materials, independent promotion, independent marketing and independent publicity, television, movie or radio campaigns. Kanye West, also now known as Ye, has been named as a suspect in a battery report taken by the Los Angeles police department in the early hours of . Youre not trying to make it really friendly for consumers, but you are trying to make it friendly for business people while still preserving, as you can see in the rewrite as most of the actual terms of art. How can you rewrite a contract to be understandable without losing the original intent? However, the film has not yet been released. Leave. (Epic did not respond to a request for comment for this story. Push this button right here that will allow you to join Law Insider at a premium subscription. Most comprehensive library of legal defined terms on your mobile device. Mike Whelan [00:22:29] he did not listen. Having the contract laid out in plain language can lead to fewer problems down the road. West made about a 100 posts and shared screenshots of pages from his recording contract. Ross describes a counselor that can thread this very tough plain language needle. Come join me. 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. Mike Whelan [00:11:02] Hmm. He tweeted them so I made PDFs. Ye. Whats your background? Ross Guberman [00:13:17] Yeah, so, you know, you want to you want to look at these provisions in chunks or blocs or categories so you can sort of thread the needle between, you know, what what the clients might demand and what lawyers think is is in their interests. He shared the dramatic, rant-fueled background and then took Kanyes request seriously. Kanye West, someone God had chosen to do something very special in the world. Labels are taking risks on any given signing and need to make offers that keep the company profitable. And Im going to share a few images. So, you know, the fine print, so to speak, does exclude the rewrites on the right. Uploaded for archival purposes. Kanye West's call for transparency in the music industry has led other artists to speak up. Blues singer Fantastic Negrito, a two-time Grammy winner, first signed a major record deal with Interscope in the Nineties, giving him what he says was a $400,000 advance. 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. Kanye West had some more thoughts to share about recording contracts in a series of tweets on Sunday (Sept. 20). As usual, West's behavior has spurred an onslaught of speculation regarding a possible return to a business relationship with Nike. Thats not the game here, Noonan recalls as the mindset when negotiating contracts. . Mike Whelan [00:03:02] Thats right. So so as I play this in the background, tell me about some of the phrases that youre seeing in this that are just driving you nuts. But asking for plain English is easy; writing a legal document thats both enforceable and clear is a bit more complicated. 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. The before section has all the original wording, complete with legalese. Ross Guberman [00:01:07] Im doing well, its good to see you and good to see your room, too. Record Companies have to buy into you, not loan you. The contract indicates that these figures would increase with each release, and Kanye West and his company would receive 20 percent of each minimum after notifying the label that the. Why are artists paying a 20 percent distribution fee off the top?, Related What do you think of Kanye West leaking his own contracts to make a point? So, you know, theres a lot in contract language thats really just generic legaleese the same kinds of things you see in other documents. Contract #3. . And then what happens is, as you can see from his other related tweets, the sense is not just, well, I dont understand the contract. Ross Guberman [00:02:46] Its you know, its a great vehicle to take this whole plan, English idea and see if we can, you know, apply it literally seriously or both, because although you say you had an emotional breakdown, hes hardly the first part of your client to object to contract language. Absolutely not. Although, there is a concern here. After agreeing to the amount spent on the film, they took $1 million from Kanyes sixth album backend and then $500,000 from his seventh album's recording fund. Soundtrack: The Great Gatsby. Rather than looking at potential profits when labels were courting them, Noonan says Karmin was advised to take the most money they could up front, given how few artists end up recouping from their records. 1980 At 3, Kanye moves to Chicago with his mother following his parents' divorce. To be a little bit difficult to argue that. During his rant, Kanye declared that he would move the entire music industry into the 21st century, and he means to do this using clear and discernable language. Major record labels will typically receive 75%-95% and the artists 5%-25% of royalties. Send us a tip using our anonymous form. The rapper and his team signed an agreement on January 5 with the venue for a 25-day rental totaling $125,000, expenses of $20,000, and four new office chairs for $813, the lawsuit says. In 2012, the label released its debut compilation album Cruel Summer.In 2015, Pusha T was appointed the president of the label . The partnership was a nightmare for both Negrito and the label, he says. Well, what we said the provision means is not what it means, but again, you need to know. Whats the best way to get in touch with you to learn these skills? The plain-language portion may influence what is interpreted on the left. After a slight struggle trying to share the files, Kanye boasted that him revealing his old record label contracts was going to be a literal game changer. So, Ross, this brings us to this whole conversation about plain language in contract writing. This is a tool that is available to anyone looking to implement plain language into their contracts. Kanye West signed his co-publishing contract with music publisher EMIwho is now owned by Sony/ATVin 2003, before the completion and release of his 2004 debut album, The College Dropout. Ross Guberman [00:01:18] If it works, right? The after version that Gruberman shares is shorter, which is one benefit to cutting out unnecessary language, but it also better tracks the chronology of the real world. Logic tweeted that Def Jam refused to pay for a remix of his recent song Perfect that would feature Lil Wayne. So, you know, my provision, these are coded blue brief catch picking up on a lot of those. Theres hidden costs in the ways deals are structured, and most artists dont have an understanding in how the recoupment works and its confusing. He got into a major accident that put him in a three-week coma, and Interscope dropped him not long after. It's unclear if it actually will. The remaining$1millionwas to be paid upon completion. The Record Label / Publisher is a service provider that receives a share of the income for a limited term. As lawyers and contract drafters trying to implement plain language, we have to find a way to do this while staying true to the contract. But there theres a lot you can do there, as the GE example has shown. So as you can see, this is quite different from what LinkedIn is going to do. on September 21, 2020. So youre seeing some attempt by LinkedIn. Portals. I wrote a book. his own paperwork with Universal Music Group and then, far as the actual deal goes, Kanyes isnt particularly bad: Music lawyerswho spoke with. Due to a planned power outage on Friday, 1/14, between 8am-1pm PST, some services may be impacted. Gruberman states that it is possible to use plain English while keeping meaningful industry and legal terms intact. So if Im a lawyer and Im negotiating with another side and youre very practical about these things, like although the plain language movement is nice, in theory, youve got to negotiate with somebody else who might like that archaic language. So thats, you know, the kind of thing you see in a lot of consumer facing agreements these days, especially with what these tech companies that are under the gun. Almost no artists recoup so the system obviously doesnt work, but its tempting. The Nike Air Yeezy 1 Prototypes beat the previous . Ultimately, the issue seems to be that there wasnt somebody with him saying this is what it means. In in your estimation, does this thread the needle of checking the legal boxes, but also being plain enough? Undoubtedly, who When youre awake to this, you cant be the perpetrator anymore.. Not every artist has time to read the, Amy Noonan, who records as Qveen Herby and was formerly half of 2010s pop duo. Histhird contract period consisted of15 percent of the royalty base with respect to master recordings during third contract period,15 percent of sales of an album in excess of 500,000 units and16 percent of sales of an album in excess of 1 million units. Ross, how are you today? And thats, you know, damaging conclusion from many perspectives. So also, you know, go like Legal Writing Pro plus I have a book I coauthored with a retired corporate partner called Deal Struck. Kanye West has been active on Twitter once again. If you look at these agreements, though, from Kanye, that thats not just the CD references that are archaic. This is what were going after. Ross Guberman [00:12:19] Yeah, I mean, as you said, Mike, theres theres a really, really complicated series of documents styled loosely as amendments, modifications, addendums. Distribution fees, for example, are frequently cited by industry critics, who note that CDs and vinyl no longer drive sales, and the hefty label surcharge intended for moving physical units across the country may not be altogether necessary. So, yeah, there you go. Musician Kanye West changed all that when he went to Twitter to complain about his many contracts with the recording industry. Music; a backronym for Getting Out Our Dreams) is an American independent record label founded by rapper Kanye West in 2004. You got a bunch on the left in a very short sentence on the right. Ye's business manager's inability to . Miguel Candela / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images file 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. Artists must be dependent on no one but themselves to manage their catalog. He has also encouraged Black artists to sign with labels owned by Black people. 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. . And examples of a couple of companies tackling the issue. Ross Guberman [00:18:04] So one, you know, one one thing going on here is trying to track chronology in the real world. Absolutely. Well, Im looking at the after and, you know, its shorter which which tells me something about the the utility of cutting these bits of archaic language. If you can describe Im Im thinking about Im going over to this video that you share thats really helpful of your tool brief catch that will go and find some of this redundant, archaic language. If Im the lawyer there, there are terms of art. Kenny Beats tweeted that something needs to change in the structure of the music industry to protect artists and specifically Black artists. And in a lengthy post on Instagram, Hit-Boy, whos produced platinum songs including Sicko Mode and N-s in Paris, said that multiple attorneys who have seen the deal he signed as a 19-year-old with Universal Music Publishing Group in the mid-2000s called it the worst publishing contract theyd ever seen. In September 2020, "Kanye West Record Deal" started trending. 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. We get used to these things and then sometimes, theres a wakeup call . Music or such label paying Island Def Jam Music Group acounterbalance amountagainst overhead payments in an amount equal to the overhead payments in the applicable contract year multiplied by a fraction. The equity is the Artists. If theyre doing this to me with all Ive accomplished through hard work, I can only imagine the kids who dont have big placements/proper guidance, Hit-Boy wrote on Instagram. Mike Whelan [00:00:53] Hey, everybody. Mike Whelan [00:07:53] Well, and heres another one from LinkedIn, this sort of two column set up in the license image. Well see you guys next time. Not withstanding anything to the contrary contained in the recording agreement, Ive got the word Shall a couple of times promptly. Will we be seeing a President Kanye? Found online, don't shoot the messenger. West created his first Yeezy shoes with Nike in 2007, and then . A pair of shoes designed and worn by the musician Kanye West have sold for $1.8m (1.3m) at auction - the highest amount ever paid for trainers. But its all too new to know whether in any kind of dispute that language would actually be entered as evidence. Kanye West, seen in 2019, has lost business deals in light of his recent antisemitic remarks. Thats not the game here, Noonan recalls as the mindset when negotiating contracts. You know, its a little some people would say, well, you dont want to mess around with indemnification, but in this case, it seems close enough to the original to be faithful legally while still being understandable. We took the full. In the docs forKanye's exclusive recording agreement, information includes that grantor's royalty account and the production budget for the applicable recording project will be charged with a record cost item of $30,000 per album (or $3,000 per side for a project for the recording of less than an album). One common grievance: Many aspects of record deals do not reflect how the business has dramatically changed over the past decade. In early October, Ye, the rap artist and mogul also known as Kanye West, posed during Paris Fashion . Kanye's call for transparency in the music business has made other artists and industry insiders speak up. Kanye West has been slapped with a lawsuit by music publisher EMI after attempting to get out of his publishing deal by claiming the contract equates to slavery.. If youre part of a team, just email us if youre in house or in a law firm. ET . Ross Guberman [00:00:00] You look at these agreements, though, from Kanye, thats not just the CDC references that are archaic, the language looks like something you might find, you know, 50, 100 years ago. Kanye West is at war with the music industry over the ownership of masters and unfair contracts. Lawyers. Push the button. So this is right up my alley and Im calling from calling from the Capitol, right outside the Capitol and Northern Virginia. Right. So what I what I what I did here is just pull pull one of the key provisions on the substantive side from this profit sharing agreement so we could try to figure out again whats possible for for the Kanye West of the world. Right, right. When your term ends, download it all. Its its unfortunately the the words and phrases that are operative to. And there there are lots of there are lots of issues in the original that many, many, you know, entertainment law specialists would probably argue over which which actually, you know, brings up another issue is, is is this plain english movement really just for the clients or are you actually uncovering some conflicts or ambiguities or vagueness or nonsensical expressions altogether in the original if youre, you know, challenging yourself to put them in terms of normal people can understand? not charge for contracts we cannot understand or track. No, but nobody wants clients to to conclude that. Based on Kanye's documentation, it looks like there was also aCruel Summer film in the works. Twenty-two percent of royalties were to be given on both the sixth and seventh albums. Late last year, Kanye West took to Twitter to vent his frustration about complicated contract language. So tell me, is the language on the right? Music. Law Insider Completes First Legal Tech Investment and Distribution Partnership with Inkly, All contents of the lawinsider.com excluding publicly sourced documents are Copyright 2013-. Maybe its about time I do that.. And theyre advised accordingly by an attorney at law whos telling them to sign this contract, and they say this contract is standard. THE HOST:Mike Whelan is the author of Lawyer Forward: Finding Your Place in the Future of Law and host of the Lawyer Forward community. Epic spent a fortune making that Karmin album. Mike Whelan [00:03:50] I realized after I got dressed to have our conversation that Im wearing the shirt that apparently everyone in D.C. wears. Advances are loans with 75% interest rates (or worse). Watch to see how three transactions handled alternative dispute resolution options. He says the industry must holistically evaluate how to improve for any major changes to shift. He said, were going to transparently change every album deal, every publishing deal. They are for your entire business. An advance constitutesany moneypaid, costs incurred or costs to create videos. Donda 2, due for release on Tuesday (February 22), is the follow-up to Ye's Grammy-nominated Donda, which achieved one of the biggest ever first weeks for an album on both Spotify and Apple Music when it was released in August last year.. Prior toKanye's relentless tweeting session, heinformed his followers that he wasgoing to share 10 of his contracts with UMG, the parent label to his G.O.O.D. This method perhaps isnt as friendly to consumers as LinkedIns method, but its close enough to the source material and still understandable. $26.59 New. Well see you there. West also made his feelings towards the label clear in 2020, when he tweeted images of his record contract, noting he felt he was treated unfairly. So this is something later in the series, I imagine theres a back story, you know, tense, tense discussions about the money part. 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. The first thing that changes about Record Deals is actually lawyers. In the event that Kanye's sixth album, Cruel Summer,exceeds 2.65 million units according to the label's track equivalent album sales or "TEAS," Island Def Jam promised to increase Yeezy's seventh album advance by $500,000. Mike Whelan [00:10:12] Hey, everybody, Im Mike Whelen. 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 . Then you, Kanye, get your money. Kanye West is seen at a Donda listening event at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on July 22, 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia. West is also no longer with record label Def Jam a Universal Music Group subsidiaryas he has fulfilled his contract, Forbes reported Thursday, and his own label, G.O.O.D. Whats the language that stands out to you as particularly harmful to the understanding of the parties, which is really what a contract is supposed to do, right? Harvard Business Review did a big piece on it, and the general counsel of that division really took this whole plain English thing seriously instead of just giving it lip service and actually redid a lot of their commercial agreements. on the Internet. The outspoken music artist - who considered running. 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. Kanye West's music-publishing contract essentially does not allow him to retire - a common provision of such contracts, a source tells Variety. Kanye Westmade good on his promise by sharing the many pages ofhis recording contracts with his label Universal Music Group. Right. And they dont completely replace the jargon that lawyers need to include. In order to maintain the original intent, some legal jargon and industry terms must remain intact. He ended the spree with, 'Whew that was a lot guys," and then tweeted a video of himself peeing on a Grammy award. And the record business that it means in normal English. Join me and my friends. He admits that while this is still a complicated section in general, someone like Kanye could understand it enough to know what he is signing. And guys, this is a super long document. Theyre paying for all of the promotion of music videos and concerts because its coming out off the top. The papers indicate that he started on a royalty deal frequently afforded to upcoming artists, which later evolved into a more artist-friendly pressing and distribution deal that gave Kanye more of the profits and bigger budgets as he became a superstar. This is subject to G.O.O.D. Were were coloring pictures for you so you understand whats happening here? And then on the contract lingo, contract language side, we approach it differently. You need a business manager to read how you did? Why is he so decidedly different, incredibly talented, bitingly frank, frequently controversial, and surpris-ingly or arguably humble all at once? Music record label. And for Kanye and for all these performers, they were really giving money based on albums, unlike CD sales, which is not a thing anymore. Another example is General Electric. Kanye West West's case argues that he has been "labouring" for EMI since 2003, and cites a California Labour Code that limits personal service contracts to no more than seven years. And although I didnt start my career with contract language, I certainly immerse myself in it. Theres theres a counseling function in addition to a drafting function that seems to be really important that lawyers didnt do here. Artists re-signing these stops. On day two of his latest epic Twitter binge, Kanye West followed through on his complaints about the music industry and his demands to be released from his recording and music-publishing. this summer, doesnt point the finger at any one entity or group for the nature of these deals. The label additionally had the right to release one Greatest Hits album. . Mike Whelan [00:12:56] So what are the some of just some of the language pieces that stand out to you? He released his two Grammy-winning albums independently more than 20 years later, and he hasnt inquired about the recoupment on his first record in years. He is no longer signed to Def Jam, his longtime record company; his contract expired with his 2021 album, "Donda." And Ye . Let me do a screen show real quick to show people what were talking about. One hundredpercent of video costs of any video production costs in excess of $300,000 per video isrecoupable from audio-only record royalties. Who made this up so that record companies get 70 percent of the money? NO other business in the world takes a look at the business, buys shares, starts to profit when it profits. While Anokute points the barrel primarily at the labels dishing out deals arguing that these deals perpetuate the very inequalities for black artists that the labels have said theyre looking to change he acknowledges that labels alone cant take all the blame for unfriendly artist deals. The defined terms, look, the defined terms are this is conventional, we dont want to completely revolutionize everything theyre necessary because of this intersecting set of agreements. KANYE WEST, an individual, and WEST . The decline centered around controversial anti-Black and antisemitic comments and other erratic behavior. This is a situation were in. The label signed an exclusive long-term worldwide label agreement with the Island Def Jam Music Group in 2011. What is your story, Ross Guberman? Theyre there of the, you know, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, if any. The rapper has put out nine albums over 17 years through Roc-a-Fella Records. If you are interested in being a guest on Contract Teardown, please email us at community@lawinsider.com. A lot of people say they sign a million-dollar deal, but you dont get a check for $1 million, Noonan adds. Law Insider, in partnership with Laura Frederick and How to Contract, is hosting ContractsCon 2023, a live training and networking event focused on practical contract drafting and negotiating skills for in-house counsel and contracts professionals. Kanye West's history of inflammatory statements were met with consquences this week. Legal terms intact kind of dispute that language would actually be entered as evidence charge. Funds will come from, so its cut down on negotiation time led. Tweets on Sunday ( Sept. 20 ) the rest went for recording costs, sample clearance, Interscope! From 2005 to 2014 by Black people out in plain language into their contracts coded blue brief catch picking on... To implement plain language in contract writing even be considered favorable among superstar contracts, Universal... Are loans with 75 % interest rates ( or worse ) Whelan [ 00:22:29 ] he did listen! English is easy ; writing a legal document thats both enforceable and is! 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