I will never work for a major record label again, Anokute says. Island Def JamMusic Group also agreed to give Kanye the rights, title and interest in all of the masters for his sixth and seventh album, but only after the reversion datethe last day of the semi-annual accounting periodwhich is 20 years after the initial release of the seventh album. Kanyes main issue wasnt that the contract itself was impossible to understand but that no one had sat down with him to put it into terms he could comprehend. Kanye was also prohibited from recording anew album prior to 90 days after delivering the effortto Roc-A-Fella. We can walk you through that process and get you on the show to tear down another contract. Ross Guberman [00:01:18] If it works, right? Ross Guberman [00:18:04] So one, you know, one one thing going on here is trying to track chronology in the real world. Kanye Wests Record Deal Is Standard. Its its unfortunately the the words and phrases that are operative to. Right. But then Ive also you know, Ive also indicated which provisions are really in the realm of contract lingo or contract law. LA Man Charged With Hate Crimes Threatened Classmate: I Want You Dead, Jew 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. Right. One seems to be this issue of Ive got to check some legal boxes. Now, with a click of a finger, your music goes wide to 7 billion people if you want it to. If at that time Ye has not recouped his royalties, the reversion date will be extended until the day after the last day in the accounting period after receiving a statement indicating that the royalty account has been recouped. So Im going to give a couple of examples, Ross, that you shared with me about how some of these businesses are doing this, shifting over to plain language. He says the industry must holistically evaluate how to improve for any major changes to shift. Push the button. Musician Kanye West changed all that when he went to Twitter to complain about his many contracts with the recording industry. So the tool, the tool were looking at brief catch, you know, there you go. That was pretty awesome. mrbonesHOK 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. Kanye's Exclusive Recording Agreement In the docs for Kanye's exclusive recording agreement, information includes that grantor's royalty account and the production budget for the. So this is right up my alley and Im calling from calling from the Capitol, right outside the Capitol and Northern Virginia. The deal. He says that what he wants to do specifically is move the entire music industry into the 21st century because he didnt feel like that was adaptive. 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. It shows this sort of left to right set up on this exclusion of liability document. So so talk to me about this profit sharing piece. So also, you know, go like Legal Writing Pro plus I have a book I coauthored with a retired corporate partner called Deal Struck. Its sort of a it, Ross Guberman [00:17:40] hasnt been taken. So heres an amendment. Is this realistic to even talk about plain language and contract drafting? 22% royalty rate for Kanye (and 78% for the record label). Earlier this week, he denounced the contracts being provided by Sony and Universal . Absolutely not. Kanye West's history of inflammatory statements were met with consquences this week. Kanye West is seen at a Donda listening event at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on July 22, 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia. Ye says he wants his four children to own them. Law Insider compiled Kanye West's contract tweetstorm into complete, downloadable contracts. Im going to give people a little bit of background on the Twitter rant about contracts. "Today artists get just 12% of the money the industry makes. So, Ross, this document, why does it matter? 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. 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. Within the deal, Kanye was obligated to release six albums, inaddition tohis initial effort, TheCollege Dropout(2004), within a 12-month span. 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. Its not always clear whats what. According to West's court papers, he's been "laboring" for EMI since 2003, when during the recording of College Dropout he signed a "lopsided" contract with the music publisher. If we were to legit tear down, wed be here till 2021, assuming we all live that long. 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. Ross Guberman [00:23:30] Yeah, I mean, I did try to thread the needle of making everybody happy and try not to, you know, be too rigid on these matters. So come join us right now. So you pay to see your money!!! 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. As artists, we know its something thats been happening, but we get used to a lot of things, like voting numbers or police brutality. But its basically one contract with a whole bunch of stacked on amendments and documents. We were broke college kids right after the recession. 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. I guess my question is, could Kanye read this, do you think? And then if theres some kind of a difference between that amount and the recording costs. Theres a lot we can do. As for Kanye's royalties, the percentages varied for his first, second and third contract periods. They would pay Kanye back after the successful completion of the film, provided it was up to standards. But there theres a lot you can do there, as the GE example has shown. Its a fine line to walk: simplifying without completely changing the meaning of the terms. 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. 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. Its all made from videos. Soundtrack: The Great Gatsby. Tell me what people are talking about. Ye's business manager's inability to . On Wednesday afternoon (Sept. 16), Yeezy shared over 100 pages of documents tweet by tweet, containing information pertaining to his recording agreement with the powerhouse, album amendments, profit sharing agreements, label agreements and documents on his joint album with Jay-Z,Watch the Throne. Its all made from events. In the contract Kanye shared, a lot of the language used to describe this relationship is obviously archaic and can be simplified. . 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 by Kanye West (Record, 2018) (9) 100% agree - Would recommend. Lets get back to the show. It seems that the artists themselves are paying for the production and promotion of their work since their cut goes towards expenses, but the labels cut does not. And then on the contract lingo, contract language side, we approach it differently. The first agreement in the series was around the time PDF were new. Come join me. The partnership was a nightmare for both Negrito and the label, he says. Ideally, he says, artists should have legal representation working in their best interest to point out red-flag clauses: While an artist should be wary of what theyre signing rather than looking solely at the immediate paycheck, young and starry-eyed artists whove never seen so much money may not understand that yet. For Kanye West's profit share agreement with Island Def Jam/UMG, there was a 50 percent profit split for his sixth and seventh album, whichincludes distribution, marketing, recording and any other expenses. 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. Kanye West's music-publishing contract essentially does not allow him to retire - a common provision of such contracts, a source tells Variety. Maintaining the Integrity of the Contract, Lawyer Forward: Finding Your Place in the Future of Law, How to Choose Arbitration Language Consistent with the Relationship. I PRAY IN THE NAME OF JESUS THAT IT DONT LOOK LIKE THIS TOMORROW," Ye wrote in a tweet with the five accompanying images. Mike Whelan [00:14:30] So then talk to me about this after Im looking at the after version of the profit sharing agreement. The first is this one from LinkedIn. Kanye West has been active on Twitter once again. Why is he so decidedly different, incredibly talented, bitingly frank, frequently controversial, and surpris-ingly or arguably humble all at once? He has also encouraged Black artists to sign with labels owned by Black people. West's contracts laid it all out. Thats why we brought contract language expert Ross Guberman onto the Contract Teardown show. Were going to pay that to you. Thats not the game here, Noonan recalls as the mindset when negotiating contracts. And although I didnt start my career with contract language, I certainly immerse myself in it. Musicto other labels within the UMG group of labels, if no other UMG group of labels wants to enter into an agreement through G.O.O.D. And you guys, if you want to see this contract and want to get the show notes from this tear down where we can link you to these documents and to other resources that interpret the document, just go to lawinsider.com/resources. Why should the lawyers watching this thing care other than the sick entertainment value of watching somebody have a breakdown about contracts? Labels generally hedge their bets on younger artists not just so the labels can reap considerable profits, but in order to protect their ongoing existence: Most artists who get signed wont break through, and the success of one major star can help make up for those bad bets. This is the same deal your favorite artist signed, this is their label. What do you expect a young, naive artist to do? 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