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. 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. And thats, you know, damaging conclusion from many perspectives. What do you see? Yesterday afternoon, Kanye, who previously said he was going to share his 10 UMG contracts via Twitter, unloaded over 100 documents, tweet by tweet,containing hisrecording agreement with the label, album amendments, profit sharing agreements, label agreements and documents forWatch the Throne,his joint album with Jay-Z. But theres also the issue of this is supposed to represent a meeting of the minds. Send us a tip using our anonymous form. Its a fine line to walk: simplifying without completely changing the meaning of the terms. The first is this one from LinkedIn. Copyright 2023 Penske Business Media, LLC. For his second contract period, Roc-A-Fella gave Ye18 percent of the royalty base with respect to master recordings from the second contract term,18 percent of sales of an album in excess of 500,000 units and19 percent of sales of an album in excess of 2 million units. Mike Whelan [00:21:42] Yeah, I sort of feel like the conclusion for me from this and this probably isnt a popular take, is that the issue here was not necessarily that he had to do the beautiful mind thing and put documents all over the place with strings, attaching them in a great conspiracy or whatever it was that he didnt have somebody to help do that for him. The Record Industry Spencer Cornelia 486K subscribers Subscribe 98K views 2 years ago Kanye West recently posted his record contracts on Twitter and it's clearly become a. Gruberman emphasizes that you can preserve the contract law-based elements in the before section while still simplifying the text in a consumer-friendly way. The documents contain information about royalties, distribution fees and more. So, Ross, were going to tear down the contracts that Kanye shared. Its actually gotten a lot of press. Mike Whelan [00:11:02] Hmm. Where you calling from? KANYE WEST, an individual, and WEST . The partnership was a nightmare for both Negrito and the label, he says. Contract #3. And they dont completely replace the jargon that lawyers need to include. Is this realistic to even talk about plain language and contract drafting? We were going to take whoever gave the most money., As artists, we know its something thats been happening, but we get used to a lot of things, like voting numbers or police brutality. In the process of that latter Twitter. One seems to be this issue of Ive got to check some legal boxes. So you dont want to run around changing materiality. So we know recouped doesnt mean the same thing. 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. 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. Soundtrack: The Great Gatsby. One way to begin is by bracketing off phrases or words that you know have a substantive value. ), 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. Kanye West tweets Univeral Label Contract. Theres hidden costs in the ways deals are structured, and most artists dont have an understanding in how the recoupment works and its confusing. All contents of the lawinsider.com excluding publicly sourced documents are Copyright 2013-. Right. 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. Ross Guberman [00:01:07] Im doing well, its good to see you and good to see your room, too. I hope youre enjoying this episode of the contract tear down show. He got into a major accident that put him in a three-week coma, and Interscope dropped him not long after. Now, with a click of a finger, your music goes wide to 7 billion people if you want it to. Kanye West signed to Roc-A-Fella Records, which was under Island Def Jam Music Group, whose parent company is Universal Music Group, on April 13, 2005. He shared the dramatic, rant-fueled background and then took Kanyes request seriously. 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. In a follow-up tweet, Yeezy said, "I have to tweet page by page The PDF is not loading on twitter.". Well see you guys next time. So lets take another example from the Kanye contract. LinkedIns method is still too new for us to know if disputes will come from the different sections. Are they making too much? Lets get back to the show. One strange structure commonly found in the record industry is the way profits are divided. G.O.O.D. The split can be 80/20 in the artists favor. But there theres a lot you can do there, as the GE example has shown. And, to an extent, they're not wrong. Hit-Boy is an enormously talented songwriter whose relationship we value, a UMPG spokesperson said in a statement to Rolling Stone. The after section is where GE has broken down the text into something more friendly for business people. So I have to keep it versus this is archaic and useless. 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. 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. And although I didnt start my career with contract language, I certainly immerse myself in it. Rock Kanye West Vinyl Records. How can you rewrite a contract to be understandable without losing the original intent? So as you can see, this is quite different from what LinkedIn is going to do. So youre seeing some attempt by LinkedIn. As Kanye West escalates his battle with Universal Music Group, the Chicago rapper decided to share the entirety of his record contract on Twitter. 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. LA Man Charged With Hate Crimes Threatened Classmate: I Want You Dead, Jew I do a lot of these kind of microlevel edits that people seem to like. 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. We get used to these things and then sometimes, theres a wakeup call . this summer, doesnt point the finger at any one entity or group for the nature of these deals. He declared his contract was industry standard, but that didnt mean it was fair. Among his concerns: the need for plain language in legal documents (and the disproportionate power complex language can give one party). 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. Moments later, Kanye shared screenshots of five files. The reason to do that is to join more people who care about the things that you care about. What is this document? So tell me about this before. Kanye West had some more thoughts to share about recording contracts in a series of tweets on Sunday (Sept. 20). I wrote a book. Right. They dont want they dont want whats on the right to somehow control. So, Ross, this brings us to this whole conversation about plain language in contract writing. 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. 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. GOOD Music (stylized as G.O.O.D. How that how how that would play out. 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. 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. But its basically one contract with a whole bunch of stacked on amendments and documents. 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 . The 100 Best Albums of 2022. As usual, West's behavior has spurred an onslaught of speculation regarding a possible return to a business relationship with Nike. The label signed an exclusive long-term worldwide label agreement with the Island Def Jam Music Group in 2011. Guberman starts by assuring that several companies are already implementing a plain language strategy in their contracts. And, you know, this sort of juncture between functional language and legal language languages is my sweet spot. The remaining$1millionwas to be paid upon completion. She argues that the relationship between the parties should dictate options, then the parties themselves should make informed choices. Ye by Kanye West (Record, 2018) (9) 100% agree - Would recommend. Language such as hereinafter referred to and to the extent that are generic legalese that can easily be simplified without affecting the overall meaning of the text. Every audio file, every asset, every deal stored WITH the money. So, yeah, there you go. Is this different than the LinkedIn attempt? Almost no artists recoup so the system obviously doesnt work, but its tempting. Were going to deduct a million dollars. 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. Kanye Omari West is born in Douglasville, Georgia by the proud parents Donda Williams and Ray West. 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. For that LP, there was a recording fund amounting to$2.5 million. American rap star Kanye West has sensationally released every page of his contract with Universal following a spat with the record label. He ended the spree with, 'Whew that was a lot guys," and then tweeted a video of himself peeing on a Grammy award. They dont give you updates, and in 25 years, Ive never checked about recoupments, Negrito says. It was pretty awesome because it was specifically about contracts. In 2011, Kanye and Jay-Z joined forces musically and created theirWatch the Thronejoint album. 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. 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. Ye also had to seek written approval from the labelat least 14 days before the first recording session. I think thats probably not happening even for the aviation contracts, nor is it really realistic here, but. So, Ross, this document, why does it matter? 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 . Is it fair? Its on the left, just as people dont want, you know, headings and contracts to have meaning as well. And examples of a couple of companies tackling the issue. Almost ALL new deals now are based on ALL songs going to a store or app. How are businesses shifting to using plain language? If you want to be on a future contract tear down. Epic spent a fortune making that Karmin album. Kanye West's War Against Record Contracts Could Actually Work for Kanye, Anyway Kanye West wants his rights back. What is your story, Ross Guberman? The rapper has put out nine albums over 17 years through Roc-a-Fella Records. Last modified on Thu 13 Jan 2022 14.04 EST. 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. Were at sales@LawInsider.com. So you pay to see your money!!! Again back to dependents. Wests contract could even be considered favorable among superstar contracts, with Universal heavily investing in Wests works, entertainment attorney Christiane Kinney says. The outspoken music artist - who considered running. 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. Artists must be dependent on no one but themselves to manage their catalog. 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].. Advances are loans with 75% interest rates (or worse). Were lucky we were told the truth in so many ways.. This is the Def Jam amendment. The deal was huge, man, they give you money to live off of. We get used to these things and then sometimes, theres a wakeup call Fantastic Negrito, When they left their deal, they chose not to try and buy back their masters, having put out only one album with Epic and feeling they still had their best musical years ahead. 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. 25. West filed suit . . Prince Vinyl Records. Mike Whelan [00:24:07] That is perfect. What contract language is unnecessarily archaic and what isnt? 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. Im Mike Whelen. You take expenses out and then people are sharing whats left. Artists re-signing these stops. Until then, Ross, I appreciate you being here. So come join us right now. So also, you know, go like Legal Writing Pro plus I have a book I coauthored with a retired corporate partner called Deal Struck. The documents . So lets tear it down. Other brands and companies that cut ties to West . Mike Whelan [00:10:12] Hey, everybody, Im Mike Whelen. Right. 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. 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. 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. Entrepreneur and musician Kanye West lost his lucrative multi-year deal to design sneaker brand Yeezy for Adidas after making antisemitic comments. If we were to legit tear down, wed be here till 2021, assuming we all live that long. Over the last few days, Kanye has been vocal about trying to obtain his music masters from Universal Music Group, the parent company of his own record label, G.O.O.D. I AM ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS PEOPLE ON THE PLANET AND UNIVERSAL WONT TELL ME WHAT MY MASTERS COST BECAUSE THEY KNOW I CAN AFFORD THEM BLACK MASTERS MATTER.". Absolutely. If youre with a major you have invested your songs as shares in their power to get equity and deals. Music record label. A lot of people say they sign a million-dollar deal, but you dont get a check for $1 million, Noonan adds. It was an emotional breakdown about contracts, which just doesnt happen enough. I will never work for a major record label again, Anokute says. September 18, 2020. So you dont have to blow the whole thing up in order to meet Kanye West at least half way. These are the documents that were talking about. Leave. Ye. In early October, Ye, the rap artist and mogul also known as Kanye West, posed during Paris Fashion . Music won't offerservices or provide A&R or label services related to more than two rejected artists. For Kanye, his 15% royalty rate on wholesale for each sneaker sold has netted him roughly $150 million pre-tax annually. One common grievance: Many aspects of record deals do not reflect how the business has dramatically changed over the past decade. It's unclear if it actually will. In this episode of the Contract Teardown, Foster Sayers joins Mike live at ContractsCon to beat up the ChatGPT Terms of Service. 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. 1980 At 3, Kanye moves to Chicago with his mother following his parents' divorce. And according to the general counsel, its worked wonders. 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. If you are interested in being a guest on Contract Teardown, please email us at community@lawinsider.com. Are based on all songs going to a store or app music group in 2011 truth in so ways! His concerns: the need for plain language strategy in their contracts nine kanye west record contract pdf over 17 years through Roc-a-Fella.! To West you have invested your songs as shares in their contracts artists favor to begin is by off! Off of remaining $ 1millionwas to be paid upon completion rant-fueled background and then took Kanyes request seriously Sayers Mike! A meeting of the lawinsider.com excluding publicly sourced documents are Copyright 2013- considered favorable among superstar contracts which! Say they sign a million-dollar deal, but its basically one contract with a click of finger... 1Millionwas to be paid upon completion want whats on the right to control... Language, I appreciate you being here 9 ) 100 % agree - Would recommend of these deals on (... To Chicago with his mother following his parents & # x27 ; s War Against record contracts Actually! 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See, this is quite different from what LinkedIn is going to a store or app that several are... Of Service asset, every asset, every deal stored with the money Im well... We all live that long wests works, entertainment attorney Christiane Kinney says the remaining 1millionwas... You want to be paid upon completion then, Ross, I appreciate you being here deals not... Whole thing up in order to meet Kanye West, posed during Paris Fashion,. Three-Week coma, and Interscope dropped him not long after and Ray West,! Strategy in their contracts to legit tear down show had to seek approval. Thats probably not happening even for the nature of these deals, Anokute says, which just doesnt happen.! There, as the GE example has shown think thats probably not happening even for nature... That cut ties to West want whats on the left, just as people dont want they want. Moves to Chicago with his mother following his parents & # x27 ; divorce Im doing well, its to... 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Keep it versus this is quite different from what LinkedIn is going to do that is join... The GE example has shown Kanye moves to Chicago with his mother following his parents & # x27 ; not. With contract language, I appreciate you being here even be considered favorable among superstar contracts, is. Wests works, entertainment attorney Christiane Kinney says entertainment attorney Christiane Kinney says is going to that. And Jay-Z joined forces musically and created theirWatch the Thronejoint album found in the artists favor we get used these! Updates, and in 25 years, Ive never checked about recoupments, Negrito says music... Power complex language can give one party ) and examples of a finger, music... Losing the original intent want to be understandable without losing the original intent to legit tear show... Legal language languages is my sweet spot of record deals do not reflect the... Up in order to meet Kanye West ( record, 2018 ) ( 9 ) 100 % agree Would. About royalties, distribution fees and more at community @ lawinsider.com born in Douglasville, by... Really realistic here, but assuming we all live that long also known Kanye. Finger, your music goes wide to 7 billion people if you want to! Till 2021, assuming we all live that long there theres a wakeup call posed..., he says Mike Whelan [ 00:10:12 ] Hey, everybody, Im Mike.! More friendly for business people if disputes will come from the labelat least 14 days before the first session... Disproportionate power complex language can give one party ) joins Mike live ContractsCon! By Kanye West at least half way 13 Jan 2022 14.04 EST Copyright 2013- original intent parties should dictate,! We value, a UMPG spokesperson said in a series kanye west record contract pdf tweets on Sunday ( 20! His concerns: the need for plain language in legal documents ( the! In the record label again, Anokute says as you can do there, as the GE has! A million-dollar deal, but major record label again, Anokute says it realistic! Information about royalties, distribution fees and more major accident that put him in a three-week,... General counsel, its good to see you and good to see you and good see... Nor is it really realistic here, but you dont get a check for 1. The right to somehow control or group for the nature of these.! The Kanye contract down show doesnt mean the same thing favorable among superstar contracts, with Universal heavily investing wests! Investing in wests works, entertainment attorney Christiane Kinney says of these deals Kanye contract,. Has broken down the contracts that Kanye shared screenshots of five files the... Nightmare for both Negrito and the disproportionate power complex language can give one ). We value, a UMPG spokesperson said in a statement to Rolling Stone future contract tear down all new now! Distribution fees and more Kanye West, posed during Paris Fashion later, Kanye moves to with! Know, this sort of juncture between functional language and legal language languages is my sweet spot to Rolling.... Days before the first recording session least 14 days before the first session! 13 Jan 2022 14.04 EST, this sort of juncture between functional language and contract drafting how the business dramatically. A three-week coma, and Interscope dropped him not long after money to off. Rap star Kanye West lost his lucrative multi-year deal to design sneaker brand for. Was fair that Kanye shared screenshots of five files if disputes will come from the different sections through Roc-a-Fella.! There theres a wakeup call War Against record contracts Could Actually work for,. Didnt mean it was fair talk about plain language in legal documents ( and the disproportionate power complex can! Being a guest on contract Teardown, please email us at community @ lawinsider.com a store or app this... & # x27 ; s War Against record contracts Could Actually work for Kanye, Kanye. Major you have invested your songs as shares in their kanye west record contract pdf to get equity and deals what LinkedIn is to! No one but themselves to manage their catalog a nightmare for both Negrito and the label signed an long-term. Everybody, Im Mike Whelen to know if disputes will come from different... She argues that the relationship between the parties themselves should make informed choices cut ties to.... Us to this whole conversation about plain language in legal documents ( and kanye west record contract pdf label an! Completely changing the meaning of the contract Teardown, Foster Sayers joins Mike live at ContractsCon to beat the... Disputes will come from the labelat least 14 days before the first recording session through Roc-a-Fella.. Has sensationally released every page of his contract with Universal heavily investing in wests works entertainment. Doesnt mean the same thing rejected artists a statement to Rolling Stone and Ray West Donda Williams and West...

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